SUBJECT:

Invitation to Participate in the Welcome Week Convocation - September 24, 2013

Dear Colleagues:

Please join us for the 8th annual Welcome Week Convocation and Dinner for new undergraduate students from 5:00 p.m.to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 24 on RIMAC Field. Participating faculty are invited to assemble for a pre-Convocation reception and staging at the RIMAC Terrace beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Convocation serves as the inaugural academic event for our new freshmen and transfer students and welcomes them into our scholarly community. The 40-minute ceremony will feature brief welcoming remarks by Associated Students President Andrew Buselt, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, and distinguished academic keynote speaker and alumna Professor Carol Padden from the Department of Communication.

Following the ceremony, faculty and students will share dinner on the field, providing a valuable and informal venue for students to interact with faculty. Signage will direct students to designated divisional and departmental areas where they can meet with faculty members from disciplines of interest to them. In surveys conducted this past year as part of the strategic planning process, students identified closer contact with faculty as one of the keys to a better, stronger student experience. Robust faculty participation is essential in order to demonstrate to our students the value we place in this first step on their academic journey.

A strong faculty showing will send a message to our students about our commitment to their education and our common academic mission. It is estimated that over 4,500 students and faculty attended last year's event. Note that academic regalia will not be required. For additional information regarding Convocation, please visit:
http://convocationfaculty.ucsd.edu/

Please respond with your attendance plans to evc-events@ucsd.edu by Friday, September 20th. If you unable to attend in person, you may show your support and welcome our new undergraduates by "tweeting" a personal message of welcome and encouragement for display at the event to #UCSDCONVOCATION. We appreciate your support of this important event for our new undergraduates.

Suresh Subramani Executive Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs Alan Houston Interim Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs Steven Adler Chair, Council of Provosts