Student Forum III of the University of the 21st Century
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Buehler Alumni Center AGR Room
3:00 – 5:00 pm
Dreams and aspirations for UC Davis as the University of the 21st Century
How can the student experience be enhanced?
Grad students need more funding to pursue their advanced degrees
Students need more active learning
Students need more independence
Take more responsibility in their education
More engaged in learning instead of grades
Interested in UCSC’s narratives instead of grades
Stanford 2025 envisioning initiative would be of interest
Student forums and discussion groups
Putting different disciplines together so there is collaborative learning
More technology in the classrooms
Using innovative technology to bring the world into the classroom
TedX at UCD was received well
Bringing more applied research to the students’ education
Faculty getting more student involvement in research
There seems to be more diversity but not equity on campus
The culture is Eurocentric – leaders need to be more equitable
Student experience varies widely
Cross cultural center is an island on campus
More equity balance and excellence
More global world - need to change the power structure
Mrak Hall is not accessible
Include student in the process of governance
Leverage diverse students on committees
Respect the diversity of opinions and cultures
Tech affects learning – good tool but can be a distraction
Needs personal discipline to use technology well
Use of more on-line education
Students would prefer to interact with their professors and students
The advantage of discussion and hearing different points of view
Business schools have the case format to orchestrate discussion
1
Grades are based on class participation
Need the residential college experience
There could be on-line interactive discussions with video conferencing
Some disciplines may be better adapted to on-line courses
New campus planning should have town halls to invite input from students
It would affect housing, classrooms and parking
Students need more information at orientation about the campus
Only 10 – 20% of students vote in the ASUCD elections
Students don’t know what’s going on.
Aggie is now on-line and no longer printed
MyUCDavis has improved communications among students
They are able to access information about the campus
Consider incentives to encourage students to use the website
Sustainable Agriculture
Receive 12 units of internship on the student farm to expand knowledge about
agriculture and sustainability
Dreams and Aspirations:
Be more connected to Sacramento legislators with a Sacramento campus
Have more students be civically engaged
Students don’t know their legislators
Have students register to vote
Leverage faculty
Develop incentives with faculty to have students engaged in research
Help with personal growth
University writing program
Incentives to faculty to encourage students to write
Innovative ways to deliver teaching
Change criteria for tenure
Add mentoring and advising
Knowledge transfer
Tech transfer important to engage new business
Incentive structure of grades need to be evaluated
Students are more concerned about grades than knowledge
Student jobs on campus pay minimum wage
2
Better paying jobs off campus
Add service component to jobs to make the jobs more attractive
Credit GE class on higher education to attend University of the 21st Century forum
Important to learn soft skills by attending classes and lectures on campus
Declare mission to replace a major
Undeclared major is not a good decision
At Cornell you build your own program and negotiate with your advisor
Create your own Ph.D.
Students navigating their own education
Could be multi-disciplinary
Need classes in sequence
More mission/less discipline
Appreciation of a discipline or course of study
First year of college would be exploration – broader areas
Introductions to a wide range of topics
Essay could be your mission
At the end of the first year, revise the mission
It would be an intellectual journey
Learning communities
Students researching and teaching students
Interdisciplinary education important
Stretch your creativity and imagination
Residential arrangements based on missions
Cross cultural interactions
3
4