UC Davis offers a wide variety of resources to help students with academic and financial needs. Here is a sampling of what’s available.
Office of Financial Aid
Contact: financialaid.ucdavis.edu or call 752-2390
Get help with grants, scholarships, loans and work-study.
Located in Dutton Hall, the office has financial aid analysts at the front desk who can assist parents and students on a drop-in basis.
“If [the question] is more detailed than what they can handle at the desk, [students] can be sent to a financial aid officer,” said Trina Wiggins, associate director of Student Services in the Office of Financial Aid.
“We also offer emergency loans for students who [receive] financial aid, but their aid is not [readily] available for some reason, or it has been delayed,” Wiggins said.
The Internship and Career Center
Contact: icc.ucdavis.edu or call 752-2855.
Ready for the world of work? Start here.
“The ICC is open year round to help students with planning internship opportunities and getting ready for career positions when they are done with their degrees at UC Davis,” said Jeanne Shelby, associate director and a project manager of the ICC.
In addition to internship guidance, the ICC also provides career advising and an array of seminars and workshops helping with the career planning process, such as help writing a résumé or preparing for a job interview.
Located on the second and third floors of South Hall, the ICC also advises students on special programs such as the UC Davis Washington Program, the UC Center in Sacramento, Peace Corps recruitment and Human Corps community service.
The ICC also offers on-campus interviews with a variety of employers for career-job positions upon graduation.
“We have about 250 employers that come to do on-campus interviews a year,” said Chris Dito of Career Recruiting Programs.
For more information, visit the “career recruiting programs” link on the ICC’s website.
The Learning Skills Center
Contact: lsc.ucdavis.edu, or call 752-2013
Get help from professional staff and student tutors in a variety of subjects, such as chemistry, writing and math. Located at 2205 Dutton Hall, the LRC offers its services free to all registered undergraduates.
Tutoring is available on an individual basis and in both small and large groups, depending on personal preference and the subject.
Tutoring appointments can be prearranged. Some disciplines, such as chemistry and math offer drop-in tutoring sessions.
“[At drop-in sessions], a student can basically walk in, sit down, and get help,” said Ward Stewart, director of the LRC.
In addition to the LRC’s professional staff members, who usually hold master’s degrees, over 100 student tutors are hired every year.
“They’re students with good GPAs who’ve done well in the classes that they want to tutor and then go through our training,” Stewart said.
Offices of the deans
Contact: Agricultural and Environmental Science: caes.ucdavis.edu
Letters and Science: ls.ucdavis.edu
Biological Science: biosci.ucdavis.edu
Engineering: engineering.ucdavis.edu
These are the places to go for degree checks, graduation requirements, information on minimum progress, major exploration and more.
Advising services
Contact: Visit advisingservices.ucdavis.edu/contact for specific contact information.
Advising services encompasses four main areas – graduate and professional school advising, the student disability center, the educational opportunity program (EOP), and advising transfer and re-entry students, said Tammy Hoyer, the program director of pre-graduate and professional advising.
It is never too early to start planning for graduate school, Hoyer said.
“We like to see students of all years,” she said. “We can do a lot more planning when we see a student early on.… We can tell them about opportunities that would enhance their applications.”
Another area of advising services is the student disability center. The center’s philosophy is to “promote independence and integrated participation in campus life for students with disabilities,” according to its website.
The center staffs professionals who specialize in different areas of disability – learning, hearing, vision, medical, psychological and mobility.
The EOP office assists students who historically have been economically or socially disadvantaged and assists by providing academic and personal advising, according to its website.
Re-entry student services assists students who are 25 or older, or those with families. Services offered include peer advising and academic counseling.
“We get [re-entry students] used to being on the quarter system, and help them with their transition into UC Davis,” said Sherry Sperry, re-entry student services coordinator. “[The center] also helps students get to know each other and create support networks.”
Transfer student services, located at 121 South Hall, helps students who have transferred from other institutions ease their transition into UC Davis.
“We look holistically at the student – we don’t just look at academic performances,” said Alyson Markey, transfer student coordinator and senior natural science major. “We help them pick the right classes and make sure they are connected with the community.”
Markey said social events for transfer students will be planned throughout the school year. Visit the facebook.com group “Transfer Students Unite!!” for more information.
ANNA OPALKA can be reached at features@californiaaggie.com.
