O-Week Jones College The Rice Experience 53 Academics University Resources Wellness & Diversity Student Life Student Houston and Beyond Academics Academic Advising Your next four years at Rice will be an incredible experience, but you have to get an education at some point, right? Switching from a high school to a college curriculum can be kind of a scary transition, but have no fear! Rice has a number of well-trained faculty, staff and students to help you with your academic transition. A lot of your initial questions will be answered during O-Week, through presentations and academic planning sessions, in time for you to register for classes during orientation week. There is a list of people that are available for your entire career at Rice. They are a great resource and can really help you succeed in your first year and beyond. Divisional Advisors During O-Week, you will have a chance to meet with a faculty advisor within your school of interest, which you designated on your academic questionnaire this summer. He or she will give you general guidance with- in your division of study. These faculty advisors are a great resource for questions on academic rules, regulations and policies, general graduation requirements, campus resources, current educational opportunities for students, course planning, major considerations, study abroad, and other Rice and non-Rice opportunities. Your divisional advisor doesn’t serve as a resource only during O-Week, though. You can continue to meet with your divisional advisor after O-Week and even after you decide on a major. Plus, these advisors are associates at Jones, which means they often come hang out at the college at lunch or during Associates Night. Feel free to chat with them over a meal and tap into their wisdom! Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs) During O-Week and the rest of your career at Rice, you will have numerous interactions with one or more peer academic advisors (“PAAs”). Serving as liaisons for the Office of Academic Advising, PAAs are students that have been broadly trained in numerous areas of academics here at Rice. They are likely to be your first contact with academic advising. Generally speaking, your college PAA team coordinates numerous group and individ- ual activities that attempt to strengthen the academic vitality of your residential college. You may find yourself seeking the advice of a PAA about general graduation requirements, specific classes, research opportunities, studying abroad, professional school requirements, or any topic as it relates to academics. Remember, even if a particular PAA cannot answer each and every one of your detailed questions, they can at least serve as a helpful resource to point you in the right direction of someone else that can. As you become more familiar with aca- demics here at Rice, we hope you begin to understand that academics, learning, and especially advising are all ongoing dynamic conversations that involve multiple perspectives and not just a prescription for registrations. During O-Week, there will be four O-Week PAAs to facilitate all O-Week academic events and help you with any academic questions you have regarding registration and your first year at Rice, but these aren’t the only Oh The Places You’ll GO-Week! 2013 Oh The Places You’ll PAAs. Here is a list of contact information for all of the Jones O-Week PAAs for the 2013-2014 academic year. Feel free to contact them at any time with any questions you may have. Questions? Contact your O-Week PAAs: Pooja Reddy- [email protected] Francie [email protected] 54 Becky Raven- [email protected] Ambi Bobmanuel- [email protected] O-Week Advisors Your advisors, those really cool people who show you the ropes during O-Week, have been specially O-Week trained about many of the basic academic requirements at Rice. The advisors come from many differ- ent educational backgrounds, and all are very willing to help you and answer your questions. They are especially a great resource for questions about the big intro classes, distribution courses, and lifetime physical activity program classes (better known as LPAPs), since many of them have taken the courses themselves. Jones College Major Advisors You don’t have to declare your major until the spring semester of your sophomore year, but it’s always a good idea to meet with these advisors if you are thinking about a particular major. They know about The Rice Experience all of the specific major requirements, as well as special opportunities and events held within your area of interest. They have the most current knowledge about discipline-specific course offerings, curricular sequence, independent study projects, research and internships, professional organizations, and grad schools/careers related to the specific field. You can log onto rice.edu/advising to find a major advisor in your department of interest. During O-Week, you will also attend an Academic Fair, where major advisors and representatives from all academic departments will be present to talk to you about the ins and outs of a specific major and answer any questions you might have. Academics For more on academic advising, a list of major advisors, and a helpful FAQ section, visit: University Resources http://www.rice.edu/advising Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs) The Office of Academic Advising The OAA helps students find opportunities based on their interests and goals. Not only can they assist you with your course schedule, but they can lead you to other resources available Wellness & Diversity outside of the classroom. The OAA works closely with a variety of programs on campus, including the Study Abroad Office, the Center for Career Development, the Center for Civic Leadership, and the Office of Fellowships and Research. The OAA can also direct you in the way of more specialized advising, including transfer student advising, health professions advising, pre-law advising, and academic advising for athletes. Prior to and during Oweek, Life Student PAAs and Divisional Advisors can help you with most specialized advising questions, as they have been extensively trained. To make appointments with an advisor in the OAA, con- tact the office by phone (713.348.4060), by email ([email protected]), or just drop by the office, which is located on the first floor of the RMC in the hallway to the left of the info desk. Houston and Beyond First Year Mentors (FYMS) First Year Mentors are members of the Rice faculty and associates at Jones who provide students with guidance on issues related to both academic and personal development when needed. Each O-Week group is assigned a First Year Mentor, who will participate in some events during and af- ter O-Week, such as O-Week lunches. Mentors have the opportunity to assist new students with their transition to Rice, provide a trusted source of guidance and informed support, share specific 55 knowledge and insights about their own areas of expertise, engage in a residential college commu- nity, and significantly impact the lives of undergraduates. Jones Academic Fellows Each residential college has an academic fellows or mentors society, an honorary service organization dedicated to academic life in the college. Jones College Fellows/Mentors are juniors and seniors who have proven academic achievement, college citizenship, an interest in academic life of Jones College college and a willingness to help fellow students. Providing academic assistance, whether through review sessions for courses like Microeconomics, General or Organic Chemistry, and Physics, or as individual tutoring sessions is one of the primary responsibilities of the Fellows/Mentors Society. Fel- lows also plan lectures and other events to integrate academics within the residential college life. 2013-14 Jones Academic Fellows Name Subject Area Email Vaughan Andrews Bioengineering, MATLAB [email protected] Elzia Broussard LING 200 [email protected] Luis Fernandez CHEM 121/122 [email protected] Ruby Gee English, Chinese [email protected] Jessica Heimann CHEM 211/212 [email protected] Chris Henderson Computer Science [email protected] Ruija Jiang Economics, STAT 310 [email protected] Megan Kirchgessner PSYC 101 [email protected] Alaina Laszewski Writing [email protected] Missy Lucas MATH 101/102, CAAM [email protected] Tim Moon Physics [email protected] Navin Pathak Bioengineering [email protected] Emily Pettigrew MATH 211/212 [email protected] Pooja Reddy Sociology [email protected] Steven Rich MECH 211 [email protected] Oh The Places You’ll GO-Week! 2013 Oh The Places You’ll Lillian Seidel* Writing [email protected] Rohan Shah CHEM 121/122, Psychology [email protected] Cameron Smith* Chemical Engineering [email protected] Stephanie Tzouanas Research, Bioengineering [email protected] 56 *denotes head fellows Placement Tests O-Week Don’t freak out--the placement tests at Rice are really not as big of a deal as you think they are. Placement tests are offered in English and foreign languages. Jones College Writing Requirements Hopefully you’ve taken the writing exam before coming to Rice. This The Rice Experience test is required for all new students regardless of any AP, IB, or trans- fer credit you may have. (Just when you thought you were done with schoolwork... Sorry!) The results will determine whether or not you need to take the FWIS 100 course, Fundamentals of Academic Writing and Composition. Separate from the result of the Composition Exam, all new students are required to take a First-year Writing Intensive Seminar (FWIS) Academics at some point during their first year at Rice (though transfers may be able to substitute previous credit for this class). The seminars are of- fered by many different departments, so you can choose to take one in your major or one in a University Resources completely different major to get distribution credit! You’ll find out more about these courses during O-Week! Language Exams Wellness & Diversity If you are interested in taking a foreign language class, Rice also allows you to take a placement exam in the corresponding language (if you’d like to be placed out of the introductory class).