· Engage freshmen in a highly interactive classroom experience led by ladder-rank faculty.
· Expose students to new and unfamiliar fields of study.
· Create close contacts with professors and future mentors. /
Faculty from all units on campus are encouraged to submit a course proposal by submitting a simple application on-line at www.discoveryseminars.ucr.edu. Our intention is to provide this opportunity to all freshman students who would like to take part in a course of this nature by offering approximately 30 courses per quarter on a variety of topics.
The seminars will be taught as sections of the college-level First-Year Seminar courses (ENGR 92, HASS 92, or NASC 92). Preference for enrollment will be given to freshmen; sophomores may enroll on a space-available basis. Seminars will enroll at least twelve students and not more than twenty, and they will meet at least ten hours during the quarter. Grading will be S/NC, valued at one unit of course credit.
Course Proposal Submission and Review
Faculty who wish to teach a seminar course are asked to submit a simple application on-line. The application must include the title of the course, a brief course description, a short list of readings (if applicable), a scheduled time and location, and preference for Fall, Winter or Spring quarter. The topic of the seminar must be in the faculty member's academic discipline. The seminar must be offered in a suitable room such as a department seminar room that is not available as a general assignment classroom. A brief biographical statement about the instructor should also be included.
All seminar applications will be reviewed by a campus-wide ad hoc committee consisting of one representative from each of the Bourns College of Engineering, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and an Associate Dean from each of these three colleges. The ad hoc committee recommendations will be forwarded to the Executive Committee of the college of the proposing faculty member, where a decision on the final disposition of the proposal will be made.
Faculty Incentives
Each ladder-rank faculty member who teaches a seminar on an overload basis will receive $1200, not as salary, but as a fund available to support his or her academic/research expenses. The home department of the faculty member will receive $300 to be used in support of the department's mission. The faculty member may optionally designate their $1200 fund for use by his/her department. Funds can be carried forward to the next fiscal year. Faculty will be eligible to receive the $1200 award only once in each academic year. Teaching a Discovery seminar will not count as part of regular workload and will not result in any reduction of teaching responsibilities.
For more information, please contact:
Emily Papavero
Principal Administrative Analyst
Office of Undergraduate Education
(909) 787-4234