Berkeleyan

News briefs

18 February 2004

GSI mentoring awards broaden their reach
In a change from previous practice, nominations for the 2004 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs are being sought directly from graduate student instructors, department chairs, and other faculty. The Graduate Council’s Advisory Committee for GSI Affairs and its GSI Teaching and Resource Center, in partnership with the California Alumni Association, will award up to three prizes of $1,000 each to faculty mentors. Recipients will be honored at a special ceremony in early May.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 5. Further details and nomination forms are available at www.grad.berkeley.edu/gsi/pdf/faculty_award.pdf.

Students explore COSMOS
The California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) is a residential program for talented and motivated students who are completing grades 8 through 12. On a typical day, COSMOS students attend lectures, take courses, or participate in labs or course-related field trips. Recreation and study groups are built into the evening and weekend schedules. Special activities and supervised field trips are planned for the weekends.

COSMOS programs are offered at UC Santa Cruz (June 27 - July 24) and at UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz (July 1 - Aug. 7). Selection is competitive, with admission based upon standardized test scores, grade-point average, achievement in science projects and/or competitions, teacher recommendations, motivation, and community service.

Tuition is $1,212 for California residents, which covers room and meals in university residence halls, transportation costs, and other expenses for most field trips. More than a third of California residents usually receive full or partial financial aid to attend. Application and financial-aid forms are available at www.ucop.edu/cosmos; the application deadline is March 15.

Newsletter focuses on new school initiative
The Early College Initiative Newsletter is an occasional publication intended to keep the campus informed about plans to develop a secondary school to be closely associated with UC Berkeley. The project aims at helping prepare educationally disadvantaged students for early college experiences and success in higher education.

The first edition of the newsletter is viewable at www.berkeley.edu:5027/attachments/040210att.doc.