Undergraduate Colleges of Stony Brook University

Undergraduate Colleges

Established	September 2004
Director	Charles Robbins
Students	~15,000
Location	Stony Brook, New York
Website	Undergraduate Colleges

Stony Brook University has an undergraduate population of 14,892 students.^[1] In order to create a sense of community among the students in this relatively large campus, the Undergraduate Colleges of Stony Brook University was developed. These Undergraduate Colleges, or UGCs, function as smaller communities in the larger university and are themed so as to provide an academic aspect to students individual interests. They particularly invested in creating an enjoyable first-year student experience for students, but they do offer services to sophomores and upperclassmen. Notable programs offered are first-year advising, UGC themed events, and small seminar courses.

Undergraduate College Program

There are six themed undergraduate colleges. They are:

• Arts, Culture, and Humanities - Lead Undergraduate College Advisor: René Andersen (ACH) - Focus is exploration of arts, culture, and humanities, and how each relates to other disciplines, particularly science^[2]
• Global Studies - Lead Undergraduate College Advisor: Lori Glubiak (GLS) - Focus is on the impact of globalization, and on exploration of what it means to be a global citizen^[3]
• Human Development - Lead Undergraduate College Advisor: Erika Benhardt, Undergraduate College Advisor: Roberto Jiménez (HDV) - Focus is exploration of the human condition through health & wellness^[4]
• Information & Technology Studies - Lead Undergraduate College Advisor: Justine Perkowski (ITS) - Focus is on Implications of information availability and technology in the modern world^[5]
• Leadership and Service - Lead Undergraduate College Advisor: Candace Chabza (LDS) - Focus is on community service and community leadership^[6]
• Science and Society - Undergraduate College Advisor: Susannah Lawrence (SSO) - Focus is on how science can change society, and how society can change science^[7]

Each college has dedicated staff members who help students acclimate themselves to the university. Typically, there is a faculty member known as the Faculty Director of the college, whose purpose is to provide academic support to the UGC, one or two advisors, whose purpose is to plan the UGC's events and guide students academically, and a Quad Director, whose purpose is to make sure the students are adjusting to living in student housing, since student's undergraduate college determines their housing placement.

Students choose their preference of Undergraduate College based on their interest (not major) when they are accepted to the university and are required to take two courses in their first year, one per semester, pertaining to their undergraduate college placement. These courses are generally known as FYS 101 and FYS 102 (FYS standing for First Year Seminar), but are specific to each college, with each section replacing FYS with the three letter college abbreviation (Example: a Global Studies student would take GLS 101, a Human Development student would take HDV 101, etc...).

First Year Seminar 101 and 102

The 101 course for each UGC is a 1 credit course^[8] that is typically 15 to 20 students large and is taught by a staff member related to the college (such as the undergraduate college advisor) and a Teaching assistant who is typically a sophomore undergraduate student in the UCG. The purpose of the course is to familiarize the student with the university and resources available to them. It also functions to allow students a small space to open up and know other students,^[8] as lecture classes with greater than 100 students are common for first year students in the university. The material presented in the 101 course does not have much to do with the theme of the college and has more to do with the University itself.

The 102 course is a 1 credit course taught by a faculty member and is very heavily influenced on the theme of the undergraduate college. For instance, the ACH 102 offerings are courses that only pertain to Arts, Culture, or Humanities. The goals of the course are to expand the view of the students in the undergraduate college, allow students the opportunity to work closely with Faculty members, and allow students to acclimate themselves to academic seminar type classes they may take the future.^[9]

The University Scholars Program, Equal Opportunities Program, Transfer Advising programs also offers a 101 courses where students, regardless of undergraduate college, take an equivalent SCH, EOP or ADV 101 seminar instead of their UGC seminar.^[10][11][12]

Advisement

The university offers advisement to first year students through the Undergraduate colleges. The advisors in a given UGC do the work of normal academic advisors, but can give students guidance on issues that relate to their first year, such as deciding on a major, dealing with being away from home, and how to navigate the services on campus. They also play a major role in student registration as they are the first advisors students encounter in their first year.

Battle of the Undergraduate Colleges

The battle of the Undergraduate Colleges is a way in which students from the university build pride and a connection to their UGC. The battle was started in fall 2010 after noticing that the UCGs were not fostering community as intended, and consists of attendance, performance, and academic events that pit students from each UGC against each other to gain points for their UGC.^[13] The winner is the undergraduate college that, at the end of the academic year, has the most battle points. Previous winners have been:

• 2011 - Arts, Culture, and Humanities
• 2012 - Arts, Culture, and Humanities
• 2013 - Leadership and Service
• 2014 - Leadership and Service

Undergraduate College Centers

There exists a center for each undergraduate college in which most of the colleges events occur, most sections of UCG courses take place, and the advisors hold office hours. These centers are located in or adjacent to the Quad that is most connected to the Undergraduate College. The centers are:

• The Tabler Center for Arts, Culture, and Humanities, located in Tabler Quad
• The Center for Global Studies and Human Development, located in between Roosevelt and Kelly Quads, connected to the Nobel Halls
• The Center for Information and Technology Studies, located in the basement of Grey College in Mendelssohn Quad
• The Center for Leadership and Service, located in Benedict College in H-Quad
• The Center for Science and Society, located in the basement of Roth Cafe

They are typically places where students also gather to study or do work. Most of the centers have special aspects about them to differentiate themselves from the others. For instance, the LDS Center has the largest free-to-students programing space in the university,^[14] and the Tabler center has a cafe, student conference room, and practice rooms for practice musical performances.^[15]

Involvement Beyond the First Year

Although the undergraduate colleges are targeted to first year students, it is possible to stay involved beyond the first year if students so choose. As upperclassmen, students may become "Fellows" for their undergraduate college where they are expected to help out at new student orientation, TA a UGC 101 class, and put on programs for the freshmen students in the college. Students may also become Interns for the college or Resident Assistants in the UGCs quad, so they may put on events around the college, among other activities.

References