SUBJECT:	Freshman Seminar Program – Call for Proposals,
	2006-07 Academic Year

I am pleased to announce the continuation of the Freshman Seminar Program during the 2006-07 academic year. UCSD Freshman Seminar 87 courses provide a very important expansion of our undergraduate educational program and are part of a University of California system wide commitment to enhance the first-year experience of all undergraduates. I encourage every faculty member to participate in the Freshman Seminar Program.

Many faculty who have taught Freshman Seminars have told us that they provide an ideal opportunity to teach in the way that most of us find teaching to be at its very best: a small group of students who have elected to enroll in a course because of their excitement for the material being covered and absent the pressures of a letter grade. Faculty have also told us that they have found the teaching experience rewarding, and many have repeated their seminars or have developed new seminar topics.

Freshman Seminars meet for 8-10 contact hours per quarter, are taken P/NP, and have a maximum class size of 20 students. Freshman seminars are taught on an off-load basis and a $1,500 stipend is provided each time a seminar is offered, not as salary, but as funding available to support various academic expenses (e.g. research, travel, supplies, and seminar instruction enhancement).

To teach a Freshman Seminar, complete a Proposal web-form located at http://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/faculty/freshmanseminars.html. The deadlines for submission of proposals for each quarter during the upcoming academic year are listed at the beginning of the web form. If you wish to offer a Freshman Seminar during Fall Quarter 2006, your immediate action is needed. The due date for submission of proposals for Fall Quarter seminars is: Tuesday, April 11, 2006.

Complete program details are posted on the Freshman Seminars website, http://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/faculty/freshmanseminars.html. Please feel free to contact Mark Appelbaum (x2-4358) or April Burcham (x2-5855) with any comments or questions.

Your participation in this initiative is greatly appreciated. Its continued success is very important for the University of California, our campus, and most importantly – for our students.

Marsha A. Chandler Senior Vice Chancellor - Academic Affairs