SUBJECT:

Reminder - Please RSVP: Faculty Participation in the New Student Welcome Convocation – Tuesday Morning, September 24, 2019, 11:00 a.m.

Dear Colleagues:

We invite and encourage your participation in the 14th annual Welcome Convocation for new undergraduate students. Please note that this event has shifted to Tuesday morning, September 24, 2019, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on RIMAC Field. Details are available at the following link: http://convocation.ucsd.edu/.

Convocation is the inaugural academic event for new freshmen and transfer students, and serves as their formal welcome into UC San Diego's scholarly community, the figurative bookend to Commencement. This year's ceremony will feature welcoming remarks by Associated Students President Eleanor Grudin, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth H. Simmons, Faculty Keynote Professor Gentry Patrick (Neurobiology) and Alumni Board President Jeffrey Belk. Following the ceremony, faculty and students will share an informal lunch on the field. Signage will direct students to designated division/school tables where they can gather and chat with faculty representing each academic discipline.

Strong faculty participation in this milestone event demonstrates the great value we place in this symbolic first step on our students' academic journey. Studies have shown that students identify closer engagement with faculty as one of the keys to a stronger student experience. This year, we anticipate that we will welcome over 9,000 new undergraduates to UC San Diego! We hope you will join us in giving them a warm Triton welcome at Convocation. Faculty participants in previous Convocation programs have shared that they truly enjoyed the opportunity for engagement with our incoming class of undergraduates.

Participating faculty are invited to a pre-Convocation brunch reception at 10:00 a.m. in the RIMAC Green Room, which will serve as the staging and assembly area for the Convocation ceremony. Faculty should plan to arrive no later than 10:30 a.m. as the processional to RIMAC Field will begin at 10:45 a.m. (regalia will not be worn). Please RSVP to evc-events@ucsd.edu by Friday, September 20 if you plan to attend. We hope to see you at Convocation!

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor Elizabeth H. Simmons Executive Vice Chancellor Maripat Corr Chair, Academic Senate San Diego Division