1 2 Table of Contents 4 Welcome 38 Health & Wellness Student Health Services 6 Academics Mandatory Health History Form Academic Schools and Colleges Counseling and Mental Health Services Classes & Registration Academic Advisors 42 Safety First Year Experience Police Department Support Services Fire Department UConn 2000 Emergency Alert Notification System Next Generation Connecticut Library Services 44 Residential Life Housing Assignments & Accommodations 11 Campus Life Learning Communities Student Activities Special Interest Housing Opportunities for Involvement Supervision Cultural Centers On-Campus Housing Contract Faith Communities Laundry Facilities Commuters Alcohol Policy Military & Veterans Services Phone Service The Arts Mailing Address Athletics & Recreation Husky One Card What to bring to campus 20 Special Programs Items prohibited in residence halls Jonathan, Our Husky Mascot Dining Halls & Meals UConn Traditions & Husky Pride Orientation Programs 49 Getting Around Campus Parent & Guardian Tips Parking Campus Shuttle Buses 32 Financial Matters Off Campus Shuttle Buses Financial Aid Airport/Union Station Shuttle Personal Finances Construction on Campus Billing Paperless E-Billing 53 General Information Payment Plan UConn Phone Numbers & Websites Student Employment UConn-isms FERPA Surprise Your Student for a Special Occasion Student Administration System Downtown Storrs UConn’s Parent & Guardian Handbook is produced by the Office of Orientation Services 233 Glenbrook Road, Unit 4239, Storrs, CT 06269-4239. Phone 860.486.4866. Website: orientation.uconn.edu 3 Welcome It is a pleasure to welcome you to the University of it is important to their growth and development that they Connecticut community. Your new UConn student is about handle the college life situations that arise even though you to begin an exciting and challenging education. It is during may be very tempted to intervene or take control every now the college years that students transition to adulthood and and then. eventually move out into the world to make their own way. Developing independence, autonomy and making Universities like UConn expect students to take responsible choices are some of the qualities that help make responsibility for their education and consequently, this happen. Using technology, students have the ability do things for themselves even though parents may pay to give parents a play by play description of what is going the bills. Please know that UConn has a multitude of on in their lives. In this age of text messaging, e-mail, cell departments, faculty and staff on campus to help them phones and skyping, parents are drawn right into the college along the way; all the student has to do is seek them out. experience more than ever before. This Parent & Guardian Handbook was designed to During this period of transition students may need support enhance your knowledge of the many student services from parents as they are faced with new challenges and and resources that are on the UConn Storrs campus. experiences both in and out of the classroom. However, By knowing what is available, you can suggest 4 where your new UConn student can go for help when a situation arises. By working together, we The University of can help your new UConn student gain the most Connecticut is Top from their college years. Again, welcome to UConn and congratulations! 25 among national public universities Best wishes, according to U.S. News & World Maria A. Sedotti Report. Director Orientation Services UConn Storrs Campus 5 Academics Schools & Colleges Classes As one of the top public research institutions in During students’ time at UConn, they will experience America, UConn’s fourteen schools and colleges offer all types of classes – large, small, lecture, lab, writing, seven undergraduate degrees in over one hundred quantitative, and computing skills. majors. Generally, a small class has a capacity of 25 or 30 The University requires all students to complete at least students, but some may be as small as 19 people. 120 credits toward their degree, however some schools These tend to be more personal than large classes and require more than 120 degree credits for graduation. class participation is common, if not required, by the professor. The typical large class can range from 75 All undergraduate students are required to complete to 400 students and is primarily lecture-based. Class general education requirements in addition to their discussions are usually held during small discussion major course work. General education requirements groups led by teaching assistants. Discussion groups ensure that students become articulate and acquire give students an opportunity to ask further questions intellectual breadth and versatility, critical judgment, or to clarify material covered in the large lecture classes. moral sensitivity, awareness of their era and society, consciousness of the diversity of human culture and After speaking with your students, you may find experience, and a working understanding of the that their professors utilize lecture time differently. processes by which they can continue to acquire and Professors may cover material directly from the reading, use knowledge. Some schools and colleges may add use the text as a “jumping off point” for lectures, and/or to general education requirements. To avoid delaying lecture on material completely different than assigned the progress of their degree, students should always homework reading. A professor’s course syllabus will discuss their progress in completing general education give students an idea of how a particular course is requirements with their advisor prior to registering for taught. classes. Lab courses usually allow students to learn by doing. Students are required to complete at least six credit These class sessions (labs) are typically three to four hours in each of the four content areas, which hours long with class time spent experiencing the include: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Science practical applications of the content taught in class. & Technology, and Diversity & Multiculturalism. Undergraduate students may earn a degree from the The classes your students will take reflect the University following Schools and Colleges: faculties’ requirement for students developing writing, w College of Agriculture, Health & Natural Resources quantitative and computing skills. In the online course w Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture catalog, courses including one or more of these skills w School of Business have a letter following the course number indicating the skill(s) taught. Examples of these letters follow: w Neag School of Education w School of Engineering W - major writing assignments aimed at teaching the w College of Liberal Arts & Sciences student to write clearly. w School of Fine Arts w School of Nursing Q - requires knowledge and use of mathematics and/or w School of Pharmacy statistics above the basic algebra level. 6 Class Registration First Year Experience (FYE) The University’s First Year Experience Program UConn follows a semester system with two helps new students be “successful from the semesters making up an academic year. Registration start.” Over 80% of incoming UConn students for continuing students occurs near the middle of the take advantage of these one-credit small classes semester for courses they wish to take the following (15-19 students) that bring new first years semester. Students must meet with their academic together once a week with other new students. advisor to discuss courses for the following semester before registering for them. Course registration The University offers three types of FYE is done online using the Student Administration courses. The first type is UNIV 1800 University System, also called “PeopleSoft.” In order to use the Learning Skills courses. These are taught by a system students are assigned a Net ID and password team of faculty, staff, or undergraduate student which they will need to change when they first log mentors. They help students get started on the right track to academic and personal suc- into the system. Every University class has a call cess. These classes cover crucial topics such as number that is entered into the system so it can be mastering University academics, adjusting to added to a student’s schedule. Students can access a new living environment, and getting actively the system at studentadmin.uconn.edu. involved with the campus community. The second type is “First Year Seminar” classes for Transfer students. UNIV 1820 Faculty- Student Seminars focus on a topic of the faculty instructor’s personal interest and provide stu- Academic Advisors dents with interactive discussion and in-depth learning. Seminar topics are diverse and in the Freshmen and sophomores are assigned to a particular past have included classes focused on Bioeth- advisor or to a central office of academic advising in a ics, Middle Eastern Culture and Politics, Web school or college. Juniors and seniors are advised by Marketing, Cooking, and Crime Science. faculty members in the department of their major. The advisor helps students develop a program of courses for The third type of course is UNIV 1810, and these registration and is also available throughout the year to are for students in Living-Learning Communi- formulate a plan of study leading to a degree. Although ties (LCs). Students who live together in these the advisor is responsible for providing direction to communities will also take a course together to students in making appropriate academic decisions, it meet their neighbors and enhance the sense of is the responsibility of the students to become familiar community. Some communities have peer men- with the academic regulations and degree requirements tors or continuing UConn students living on the of the University, as well as special requirements of floor as part of the LC, in addition to the Resi- their major. Most students have a permanent advisor dent Assistant (RA) on the floor. by their fourth semester and some even earlier. The University expects students, not parents, to contact For full FYE descriptions and the most up-to- academic advisors. date list of class meeting times visit fye.uconn.