New course aims to help students transition into UCLA

A new course meant to help students transition into life at UCLA and provide information about university resources will be offered during Summer Session C and fall quarter.

University Studies 10, a two-unit pass or no pass class, is part of a non-sequential three-course series aimed at helping students learn how to better structure their university course load and maneuver through academic departments. The course is meant for first- and second-year students and transfer students, although it’s open to everyone, said Ernesto Guerrero, an academic counselor who will teach the course.

The course grade will be based on a group project at the end and three required journals at the instructor’s discretion, Guerrero said.

Since other campuses in the University of California system already offer a similar class for incoming students, UCLA administrators decided to create its own transitional course, Guerrero said.

The course will teach students about how to join a student group and other campus programs, which Guerrero said is important to help students feel more connected to their university.

“It’s not just going to be an educational theory course, because the students will be able to practice what they’re taught in class,” he said.

The course will not cost the university any additional funds because both Guerrero and David Maldonado, the other counselor teaching the course, are already full-time faculty, he added.

The other courses in the series, University Studies 20 and 30, will also address specific groups of students at UCLA.

University Studies 20, a transitional course designed for international students, will be offered during the fall and winter quarters. University Studies 30, designed for students on probation or subject to dismissal, will be offered in the winter and spring and does not count toward a student’s unit maximum.

The University 30 course is specifically designed for individuals in the Bruin Readmission Program, which offers campus resources to academically dismissed students, because the class fulfills one of the three course requirements that help a student seek readmission to UCLA.

These additional classes will each be two units, graded on a pass or no pass basis and open to 25 students.

The university may expand the availability of all three classes and add more instructors if the courses are popular over the next year, Guerrero said.

Enrollment for University Studies 10 during Summer Session C and fall quarter opens when orientation for incoming first-years begins in mid-July.

Compiled by Samantha Tomilowitz, Bruin senior staff.