“I was thinking how appropriate this name, The Basement, is,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla at the Feb. 6 launch of the campus’s new incubator/accelerator program for student entrepreneurs. “You think about companies that started in a garage or started in a basement—and that’s the whole idea. We want to create a space for our students where they can not only grow, but where we actively nurture them, and nurture their good ideas.”
A 10th-grader struggling with algebra, a teen from a military family, a high school student contemplating college and a homeless youth finding stability in the classroom—these are just a few examples of the local, underserved students who are paired with UC San Diego undergraduate tutors through numerous initiatives. These programs, led by the department of education studies, the campus’s undergraduate colleges and others, allow UC San Diego students to serve as tutors, mentors and positive role models. Yet, the undergraduates often find they learn just as much from their young partners.
Cristina Della Coletta, a professor of Italian literature, is the new dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego. A doctoral alumna of UCLA, Della Coletta was on the faculty at the University of Virginia from 1992 to 2014, serving there most recently as an associate dean.
Some students may choose to skip a meal occasionally to save money. But when it becomes a necessity, not an option, students at UC San Diego can stop by the Triton Food Pantry to get a free box of cereal, or package of pasta—whatever they need to continue to be successful students. A new service for all undergraduate and graduate students at UC San Diego, the Triton Food Pantry was launched by Associated Students Feb. 5 to provide discreet relief for students.
Reflecting its emergence as a regional hub for unparalleled clinical care, research, education and community service, the UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center has been renamed the UC San Diego Donald P. and Darlene V. Shiley Eye Institute, encompassing the Shiley Eye Center, the Anne F. and Abraham Ratner Children’s Eye Center, the Hamilton Glaucoma Center and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Retina Center.
UC San Diego has earned top recognition in The Princeton Review’s new rankings for the return-on-investment the campus offers to students. UC San Diego is ranked the nation’s 31st best college for students seeking great academics, outstanding career preparation and generous financial aid. The campus is also named a great value, taking the No. 21 spot as the best U.S. college for students who are not eligible for financial aid.