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UC DAVIS: Office of the Provost September 26, 2005 MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE AND ACADEMIC FEDERATION RE: Special Call for Proposals: Freshman Seminar Program I am writing to encourage faculty to develop special Freshman Seminar courses that address issues related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their aftermath or the "My Personal Compass" initiative. The implications of these hurricanes relate to a wide range of topics including emergency and disaster response, medicine, disease, toxicology, animal welfare, oil and gas supplies, transportation, economics, geography, public policy, socio-economic issues, communication, and history. The offering of such seminars would be a very meaningful and appropriate response by the campus community and would provide an invaluable learning opportunity for our students. At the September 28 Convocation, Chancellor Vanderhoef will announce a year-long project intended to encourage people of different beliefs to listen to one another. Modeled after National Public Radio's This I Believe program, it seeks to encourage thoughtful and respectful sharing of philosophical, spiritual, political or civic beliefs by inviting members of the campus community to write brief 350- to 450-word essays for consideration and discussion. The offering of a seminar on this initiative would provide an opportunity for our students to be directly involved in this campus-wide effort. For more details, see the Dateline article at http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=8374 and a special My Personal Compass Web site that will be posted on September 28 (http://mypersonalcompass.ucdavis.edu). Curriculum and discussion guides posted at NPR's This I Believe Web site may also be of interest (http://www.npr.org/thisibelieve/getinvolved.html). As many of you know, the Freshman Seminar Program is designed to give first-year students the opportunity to study with a faculty member in more informal, small group settings on topics of mutual interest. Freshman Seminars are administered by the Teaching Resources Center and they are Senate-approved special one- or two-unit courses that are given an FRS subject code designation. I hope you will consider participating in this unique opportunity to work with our first-year students by developing a seminar that deals with one of these important events. If you are interested in offering one of these special seminars, please complete the "Proposal to Teach a Freshman Seminar" material found on the TRC web site (http://trc.ucdavis.edu/trc/freshSem/FRSapp.html) and return it to the Teaching Resources Center at your earliest possible convenience in order to meet the October 14, 2005 deadline for Winter 2006 quarter and the January 13, 2006 deadline for Spring 2006 enrollment. If you have any questions about the program, please contact Janet Chambers at the TRC (530) 752-6050; trc@ucdavis.edu). Fred E. Wood Interim Vice Provost -- Undergraduate Studies 05-101
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