UC|21 Implementation Task Force Places Students At Center

Task Force 1, "Place Students at the Center," has as its major goal to make UC a "university of choice, a destination campus, by placing students at the core of our mission."  According to co-leaders, Marlene Miner, professor of English, Raymond Walters College, and Regina Sapona, associate dean, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, task force members are working in small groups to develop pre-proposal ideas that address action steps contained in three sections of the UC/21 Technical Report: "Students First," "Selectivity with Clear Opportunity Pathways," and "UC Anytime/Anyplace." 

"Our entire team will meet January 20 to share proposal ideas and provide feedback," Sapona said. 

"At that time, we may find ways to combine ideas from several pre-proposals under larger headings," Miner added. 

To date, the team is working on proposals that address the following:

Provide Great Student Service as a Recruitment and Retention Tool.  Enhance the One Stop Student Service Center to realize the greatness envisioned at its conception by extending hours of service, responding to student requests more quickly, and expanding self-service web option.

Create a Center for First Year Student Success:  As an evolution of the First Year Experience and Learning Communities Office and First Year Experience Liaisons Network, the proposed center would provide guidance and support to colleges so that all first-year students will be able to participate in a shared experience through a variety of first-year seminars and learning communities.

Raise the profile of honors within the institution.   An enhanced Honors program or college will enable UC to recruit and retain stronger students, better prepare Honors students for graduate study, act as a laboratory for teaching and curricular innovations, create a 24/7 living/learning community for Honors students, provide programming and activities that unify students and faculty from different colleges, and supply our local and global communities with graduates who are ready for research, leadership, service, and global careers.

Create an Urban Institute. To build exceptional programs and to "expand our edge," the creation of an Urban Institute will enable UC to use the urban location and curriculum to create exciting scholarly and research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, to form alliances with the urban community, and to provide opportunities for meaningful civic engagement.

Create clear opportunity pathways. Create better linkages to feeder schools, extend exploratory advising services to CPS, establish pre-admissions advising, establish clear standards for quality academic advising, and become a model in the state for creating clear articulation, transfer, and transition pathways.

Provide pathways for students to pursue individual interests.  Provide a more structured way for undecided students to explore their interests throughout the university during their first year; provide opportunities for all UC students to pursue interdisciplinary areas of concentration.

Begin the 24/7 ideal with Gen Ed. Offer an optional path through Gen Ed requirements via courses that take advantage of flexible time and space, including online courses and distance learning, evening and weekend courses. The vision is to offer more than a menu of course offerings. The proposal envisions building a learning community for these students that will offer them a sense of place and a sense of history.