MyAudit Helps Students See the Big Picture

For most college students, figuring out degree requirements, graduation date and grade-point average is often a dreaded chore. Thanks to a new online system, checking academic records just got a lot easier for UC Merced students.

"MyAudit (the campus’ new degree audit reporting system) is a fantastic tool that students can use to check progress in completing their chosen academic programs, and it prepares audits in seconds,” said University Registrar Laurie Herbrand. “Coupled with academic advising, MyAudit helps students create an effective roadmap to assist them in selecting courses to meet their degree-completion goals in a timely manner.”

By showing students a clear picture of how close they are to completing their chosen degree program, MyAudit gives students ownership and control over their academic progress. Although students can view audits at any time, there are key times when viewing an updated report is important:
• before and after registering for classes each semester;
• after filing a Declaration of Candidacy;
• after registering for the final semester of courses.

“MyAudit gave me a clear view of what I need to do next,” said junior psychology major Vinh Tran. “Usually you have to go to the catalog or Web site and compile the information yourself.”

Read More

Future Engineer Merges Academic Passion with Community Service

Joshua Gonzales describes himself as a voracious reader. But with his list of activities and interests, the UC Merced sophomore could also be easily described as a voracious “doer.”

In addition to taking a full load of classes, the engineering major is involved in a number of pursuits. He’s an active member of one of the School of Engineering’s Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) teams, participates in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship club and, recently, Gonzales helped establish a new robotics club on campus.

“My time at UC Merced has opened me up to a lot of experiences,” said Gonzales, 19.

Gonzales spends the majority of his time working with his EPICS team, which he’s been a part of since his freshman year. The team, called Get Science, Engineering and Technology (Get S.E.T.), works with the Merced County Office of Education to develop supplementary science curriculum for elementary school students.

Read More.

Affording College Doesn't Have to Cause a Fright

Halloween may be just around the corner, but ghosts and goblins aren’t what cause high school seniors nightmares nowadays. Concerns over affording college have both parents and students losing sleep at night.

Rather than let you quake in your boots, the University of California has a message of hope to offer: Not only can you afford a UC, but every campus is committed to helping you do so.

"Concern over expenses is the worst possible reason not to attend a UC. UC Merced has been able to offer competitive gift-aid packages to almost 75 percent of our enrolled students," said Kevin Browne, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management. "If a student meets UC admission requirements, he or she deserves to be here, and we can help."

On Oct. 23, UC President Mark G. Yudof announced that he would ask the UC Regents in November to expand the reach of an ongoing financial aid plan to ensure that eligible undergraduate students with family incomes of $70,000 or less will pay no systemwide fees.

Read More

Sophomore Shows Not All College Students are Liberal

Michael Fincher might just be the most politically conservative student on the UC Merced campus. He is the editor of The Right Side, a conservative publication produced by the UC Merced College Republicans, the group Fincher co-founded last year. In his dual role of vice president of external affairs and treasurer, he helped organize a Tea Party event on campus to protest government spending last semester.

Although the sophomore from Madera chose UC Merced because of its rural setting and proximity to his hometown, he has quickly made it clear that he is not interested in sitting still, chewing the fat and watching the grass grow.

“It’s who I am,” he said about being active and outspoken on campus. “I love what I do in the club. Politics is my passion.”

Read More

UC Merced Unveils New Location for Sierra Nevada Research Institute's Environmental Analytical Laboratory

The Environmental Analytical Laboratory (EAL), one of the facilities operated by UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute, has a new home and is hosting an open house Monday afternoon (Oct. 26) to celebrate its new digs.

The laboratory, which had been housed in two separate locations, recently consolidated its operations. It is now located at the main campus in Room 201 of the Science and Engineering Building. The Open House is from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Visitors will be able to learn about services offered and see up close the state-of-the art equipment that covers a variety of researchers’ analytical needs. The EAL supports multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and education programs in environmental, biological, earth systems, ecological sciences and engineering fields.

The mission of the EAL is to facilitate campus-wide research and foster collaboration among researchers. Its goal is to make expensive but frequently needed multipurpose instruments available to all researchers at a modest cost and to provide technical support to meet their needs.

More information about the Sierra Nevada Research Institute’s EAL, its services and equipment can be found on its Web site.

Contact:
Donna Birch Trahan

California’s Economy Boosted Nearly $1 Billion by UC Merced, the State’s Newest Research University

New economic impact numbers reported by the University of California, Merced, demonstrate the Golden State’s return on investment in one of its fastest-growing, yet most underserved regions.

As California’s newest public research university, UC Merced is having a profound, positive impact on the long-term economic health of California and the San Joaquin Valley region—an economy already thriving on the knowledge and discoveries that result from scholarly and scientific research, and the brainpower of hundreds of graduates each year.

Statewide, the university's economic contribution over the nine-year period is nearing the $1 billion mark.

Read more.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Patti Waid Istas

###

Applications Sought For Park and Public Land Managers Executive Leadership Seminar

International leaders in park, protected area and cultural resource management from governments and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply for an Executive Leadership Seminar being offered by UC Merced, the National Park Service, the Institute at the Golden Gate, the Great Valley Center and the National Parks Conservation Association’s Center for Park Management.

The 11-day intensive management seminar on leadership, innovation and organization renewal runs April 27 through May 7, 2010. Participants will have the opportunity to meet industry leaders and innovative thinkers with expertise in leadership and park management, and will be able to form a network of global public land management leaders.

The seminar has been made possible by generous gifts from NPCA’s Center for Park Management, Toyota USA Foundation and The Yosemite Fund.

For information: http://parkleadership.ucmerced.edu.

Read More

MEDIA CONTACT:
Brenda Ortiz

Preview Day: Seeing is Believing at UC Merced

Open to anyone interested in learning more about UC Merced, Preview Day features free food, academic presen-tations, workshops and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about majors in the university's three schools - Engineering; Natural Sciences; and Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. A student panel will share their thoughts on life at UC Merced. There will also be representatives from admissions and financial aid to help prospective students and their families understand the application process.

The priority filing period for fall 2010 admission to the University of California is Nov. 1 through 30. Prospective students can begin the application process online now by visiting admissions.ucmerced.edu, saving the application to submit in November.

Preview Day runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Registration begins at 9 a.m. For information: admissions.ucmerced.edu/preview-day or (209) 228-4682.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tonya Luiz

Grad Student Chooses UC Merced for Innovative Opportunities

Stephanie Huette was an undergrad at the University of Iowa when she first read Michael Spivey's "The Continuity of Mind."

Spivey, a professor of cognitive science, has a long history of studying language and visual perception. According to Huette, he also has a knack for communicating his research in a way that anybody can understand. Not a small feat when it comes to such a complex subject as why humans do what they do.

“I knew I wanted to research language perception in grad school,” Huette said. “When I found out what UC Merced offered in cognitive science research – and that Michael Spivey and Teenie Matlock were a part of it – I knew this is where I wanted to be.”

Read More

'Dear Michelle' Campaign Organizers Focus Energies on Creating Nonprofit

The students behind the campaign to have First Lady Michelle Obama deliver the keynote address for Commencement 2009 in May have set their sights on a new goal: Creating a nonprofit organization to carry on the legacy they began.

“We were very inspired during our time at UC Merced and had planned to start our own foundations and scholarships,” said Sam Fong, ’09, chief financial officer of the Dear Michelle Foundation. “We met around the time of commencement to officially bring the idea to the rest of the group so we could continue the momentum of the campaign.”

Twelve members of the original Dear Michelle Campaign, Chinyerem Amesi, Erica Babalola, David Cheng, David Do, Efferman Ezell, Sam Fong, Chanita Intawan, Jessica Julian, Yang Li, Cybill Navarro, Jo-Anne Rodriguez and Yaasha Sabbaghian, began working on developing the foundation immediately after graduation.

Fong said the group was inspired by Mrs. Obama’s commencement message.

For more information about the Dear Michelle Foundation, contact Yaasha Sabbaghian at (650) 520-0552.

UC Merced Earns High Marks on Sustainability Report Card

UC Merced has earned another accolade in the realm of sustainability.

The campus earned a "B+" grade in the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, an annual report that ranks colleges and universities on their sustainability practices. This year’s report marked the first time UC Merced was included in the ranking.

“The College Sustainability Report Card is one of the most thorough and comprehensive campus sustainability rankings out there,” said Matthew St.Clair, sustainability manager for the UC Office of the President. “The fact that only 25 universities in the country got a higher overall grade than UC Merced, which has only had four to five short years to develop programs, is commendable.”

The 2010 College Sustainability Report Card includes profiles for 332 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Thirty-three California campuses – including four other UC schools – were included in the report and UC Merced’s overall grade placed it among the state’s top seven.

“We are pleased to be recognized for our efforts,” said James Genes, special assistant to the vice chancellor of administration and co-chair of UC Merced’s Sustainability Advisory Committee. “Our first-time grade of “B+” reflects UC Merced’s commitment to sustainability. In California, only three universities did better than us — Stanford, UC San Diego and Pomona College.”

Read more.

Contact:
Donna Birch Trahan

NSF Grant Funds Human Gesturing Research at UC Merced

Cognitive and computer scientists team up to develop new techniques for duplicating human actions in the virtual world

As realistic as computer graphics and animation can be, there is always an unnatural nuance or two that prevent viewers or users from fully believing in what they see. Computer scientist Marcelo Kallmann and cognitive scientist Teenie Matlock at the University of California, Merced, have received about $500,000 from the National Science Foundation’s Human-Centered Computing Program to try to improve that.

The research project will develop new techniques for producing realistic human-like gestures based on data collected from people in real life, with the particular goal of being able to correctly parameterize gestures with respect to objects and arbitrary locations in a virtual environment. The end result can benefit anyone who needs to use animation or computer graphics, from computer game and movie makers to creators of online tutorials.

“The first step for us is to understand how people use gestures to instruct and demonstrate objects and actions in real situations, which will then enable us to create a model to reproduce that interaction for generic situations in the virtual world,” Kallmann said.

Read More.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tonya Luiz

UC Merced Professor David Kelley Receives $1.3M National Science Foundation Grant for Solar Energy Research

Merced, CA – For years, University of California, Merced, professor David Kelley’s research has focused on finding a less expensive method to harness and use solar energy.

While the sun has been used to power small devices such as calculators or landscape lighting, using solar energy on a large-scale basis is costly.

“The technology is good, but it’s expensive,” said Kelley. “The idea is to make solar energy more practical.”

School of Natural Sciences professor Kelley, along with two other UC Merced colleagues, will attempt to do just that by improving existing technology. He received a three-year $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) that use materials other than silicon as semiconductors.

These concentrators work by absorbing sunlight across a wide area then re-emitting it onto a small photovoltaic cell. It’s less expensive to use luminescent solar concentrators because they don’t have moving parts that must track light as the sun moves across the sky.

Kelley, along with professors Valerie Leppert and Boaz Ilan, will attempt to develop new kinds of luminescent solar concentrators, based on nanotechnology.

“Our research will develop the physics to understand how these semiconductors can get rid of the problems of self-absorption,” Kelley said. “This has the potential to be a transformative technology in solar energy research.”

Read more.

Contact:
Donna Birch Trahan

Enrollment Climbs 26% Over Last Year at UC Merced

If UC Merced seems busier this fall, that’s because it is. The school, which began its fifth year of operation Aug. 25, announced today (Oct. 5) that total student enrollment has increased 26 percent over last year.

There are 3,414 students enrolled this fall, up from 2,718 in the fall of 2008 and 875 in the university’s inaugural year of 2005. The current total includes 1,128 freshmen, 145 new transfer students and 71 new graduate students. There are 132 international students who hail from about 30 countries also enrolled this term. Last year, UC Merced had 925 freshmen, 139 new transfers and 66 new graduate students. Based upon admissions numbers and traditional yield rates, UC Merced officials expected 3,200 students on campus this semester.

This puts the campus on track to achieve a total enrollment of 5,000 students by fall 2013.

Read more.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tonya Luiz

UC Merced Receives State's Top Environmental Leadership Award During Governors' Global Climate Summit 2

MERCED, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the University of California, Merced, has won California’s highest and most prestigious environmental honor – the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA).

UC Merced was one of 15 recipients honored at a reception Wednesday night (Sept. 30) in Los Angeles during the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 2, a conference in which local government leaders from around the world discuss climate change.

The campus earned an award in the comprehensive land-use planning category for its 2009 Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP). The 136-page document guides the campus’ physical growth, development and land-use priorities.

“We are excited to receive this esteemed recognition,” said Thomas Lollini, FAIA, associate vice chancellor for physical planning, design and construction. “This is not only a testament to the value of the work the campus has done here. It is an endorsement of the vision of UC Merced as a leader in sustainability and a model for others to follow.”

Campus planners use the LRDP when deciding the locations of future buildings, structures, plazas, parks, roads, infrastructure and natural undeveloped areas. The document also addresses how students, faculty, staff, visitors and vehicles will navigate the campus as it grows to accommodate about 25,000 students in the next 30 years.

Read more.

Contact:
Donna Birch Trahan