New Ways to Bridge Gap from High School to College

By Ed Abeyta

The majority of high school students are unprepared for the multiple demands of college work and the level of responsibility required by studying away from home. But there are new ways to taste the college experience and visit some of the most intriguing science venues in the West.

In an effort to bridge the gap from high school to college, UC San Diego Extension offers Academic Connections, a summer residential immersion program that gives high school students a taste of the real college experience in a safe and supervised environment.

Eligible students can participate in a non-stop summer program held on the UC San Diego campus or in one of three research laboratories. They are enrolled in classes that mirror the university experience, ranging from engineering to theatre production.

This year high school students have four options for an Academic Connections experience: three weeks on the oceanfront UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, California; one week at the Kohala Center on the Big Island of Hawaii; one week at Biosphere 2 in Arizona; or one week at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

It has never been more important to spark the imagination of our students, expose them to big ideas and give them the tools they will need to be successful in an emerging world we can’t yet imagine. Academic Connection programs focus on the theme of “Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability.”

Now in its second year, Academic Connections students who participate in the Hawaii program will discover that the islands’ root culture is embedded in knowledge of the natural world, self-reliance and ecosystem health. This course exposes students as to how the island thrives ecologically, economically, culturally and socially via first-hand guided tours and hands-on work at locations throughout the Big Island, in partnership with The Kohala Center.

Biosphere 2 is located north of Tucson, Arizona at the base of the stunning Santa Catalina Mountains. This one-of-a-kind facility sits on a ridge at a cool elevation of nearly 4000 feet and is surrounded by a magnificent natural desert preserve. The program with Biosphere 2, which Time Life Books recently named one of the 50 must see “Wonders of the World,” is offered in partnership with the University of Arizona. Academic Connections students will enjoy a unique adventure not found anywhere else. This is a rare opportunity to participate in real-time research on the future of our planet as it unfolds in the specially designed mini-world.

The one week program at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a premier national security research institution, is offered in partnership with the University of New Mexico. The people of Los Alamos continually work on advanced technologies to provide the United States with the best scientific and engineering solutions to many of the nation’s most crucial challenges. The primary responsibility of the Laboratory is assuring the safety and reliability of the nation’s defense program. Though the world is rapidly changing, this essential responsibility remains the core mission.

Those who choose the residential program at UC San Diego, long regarded as one of the nation’s premier research universities, discover why the campus was named the “hottest” institution in the country for students to study science by Newsweek magazine.

According to Newsweek, on a campus where a quarter of the $2 plus billion in revenue is federal research funds, and where there are eight Nobel laureates on the faculty, the science is quite serious. Our chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, an organic chemist, says welcoming undergrads into labs is a priority. High school students as well are getting to see what happens within the inner sanctum of science.

Academic Connections promises a taste of college and delivers with no time to waste. A typical day starts with breakfast at 7:00 am, lectures from 9:00 am until lunch, workshops and labs until 3:30 pm, an afternoon activity, dinner, and social activities from 7:30 pm until lights out at 11:00 pm.

The message is clear. College will not be like the classes you experienced in high school. College is a fulltime job, a community of learning and a wonderful mix of social and intellectual experiences. Academic Connections instructors, typically UC San Diego or other partner university doctoral students, tell it like it is.

Via a combination of lectures, labs, study halls, discussion roundtables and guest speakers, the students get a taste of what college will be like. Courses are selected to represent some of the cutting edge fields of research UC San Diego has to offer in physical and social sciences, engineering, and arts and humanities.

Thanks to community partners, about 10 percent of students receive scholarships, which allows an opportunity for talented students who can benefit from the program but cannot afford to participate without financial assistance.

Jazzed About Joshua

By Henry DeVries

When Thelonious Sphere Monk died in 1982, the world lost one of the giants of American music. Monk is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is remarkable as Ellington composed over 1,000 songs while Monk only left the world about 70. He is one of five jazz musicians to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, the others being Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis and Dave Brubeck.

In a competition named in Monk’s honor, Joshua White, who honed his jazz chops as a teenager at UC San Diego Jazz Camp, was one of three finalists. White eventually seized second place at the most prestigious annual competition in jazz, the Thelonious Monk Institute’s International Jazz Piano Competition.

“This is the jazz world’s equivalent of the Van Cliburn Competition in classical music, so it is a major accomplishment to be selected from an international field of musicians. Just being asked to be there is a huge accomplishment,” said Daniel Atkinson, the founder of the UC San Diego Jazz Camp, where White started learning jazz in 2003.

Jazz Camp allows students from age 14 to 70+ to study, jam and create with some of the world’s finest musicians. Now a member of their ranks is being recognized as one of the world’s great jazz pianists.

George Varga, music critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune, said “His bravura three-song, 17- minute performance, combined sophistication and youthful daring, finesse and flair, introspection and soul. Like few of the 11 other semifinalists— who hailed from as far afield as Israel, Tanzania and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia— White, 26, took repeated chances in his playing, without sacrificing the innate musicality that has made him a favorite of discerning San Diego jazz listeners.”

White was selected as one of the three finalists by an all-star panel of judges that included such jazz piano icons as Herbie Hancock, Ellis Marsalis and longtime James Moody Quartet pianist Renee Rosnes.

“Virtuosity is alive and well in jazz,” said Monk Institute leader T.S. Monk, the son of the late jazz piano giant, after White gave the 12th and final performance at the competition held in the Kennedy Center.

Less than 12 hours after White won the $10,000 prize for second place, he and the two other finalists shared a 10 a.m. car ride to the White House. The musicians were led to a room adjacent to the Oval Office for photos with the nation’s number one jazz fan, President Barack Obama, who has cited the late sax icon John Coltrane as one of his favorites.

“President Obama said some pretty cool stuff about Monk and his music,” said the soft spoken White, who also marveled at the president’s height. “He has a few inches on me, and I am 6- foot-1.”

White said he has been in a great deal of hard work since he enrolled eight years ago as a flute student at Jazz Camp. Offered through UC San Diego Extension, the camp is one of the best ways for proficient musicians to immerse themselves and move toward fluency. Whether the dialect is bebop, cool, fusion, third-stream, Latin, postbop, or freeform, jazz is spoken here.

Jazz Camp is a five-day musical immersion— where musician instructors and students communicate with notes and also with the words that impart jazz history and theory, and all aspects of life as a musician. Students and faculty have agreed that the difference in playing between Monday and Friday – the rate of growth people experience at the camp – is phenomenal. A typical day begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m., when participants have to be encouraged to take a break and get some rest.

“Since I am involved in the auditions each year, I see the degree of progress that a student can make in only five days of concentrated study,” says Atkinson, who is also the jazz programming director for the La Jolla Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. “The students draw a huge amount of inspiration from the faculty, who are real masters of the art form, as well as from one another. They leave the camp with many more concepts than they have been able to assimilate during that one week. “

Atkinson points out that what’s unique about the program is that they teach about a whole spectrum of different styles of jazz. “The focus here is not on how to play an instrument—as the students come with aptitude. The focus is on helping them learn to improvise on their instruments. It’s not just Ellington, Charlie Parker, and Monk, but a whole set of different approaches to improvising.”

The UC San Diego Dalai Lama Event on April 18 is Sold Out

Tickets are sold out and no longer available to the Dalai Lama UC San Diego Event - “The Global Impact of Climate Change: Balance through Universal Responsibility, Compassion and Human Consciousness.” The public will be able to view Dalai Lama’s appearance live on the internet on the morning of April 18 at http://uctv.tv

 

 

University of California to Launch YouTube’s First University-Run Original Channel

By Alison Gang

UCTV Prime rolls out March 1 with new content every week

On March 1, University of California Television (UCTV) will launch a new YouTube original channel, UCTV Prime, the first university-run channel to be included among YouTube’s new production partnerships with recognizable brands like The Wall Street Journal, Madonna and TED. Each week, UCTV Prime will debut 15 minutes of fresh content from throughout the University of California at www.youtube.com/uctvprime and www.uctv.tv/prime.

UCTV Prime’s programming will draw on the tremendous knowledge resources available on the ten University of California campuses, five medical schools, three national labs and other affiliated institutions. Like the UC system itself, UCTV Prime will be a lively place to find new ideas, spark the imagination and discover diverse voices on just about every subject. With documentary mini-series, interviews, commentaries and video shorts each week, UCTV Prime aims to bring to light the innovations, trends, issues and personalities that shape our world.

YouTube users can subscribe to UCTV Prime at www.youtube.com/uctvprime to keep up on the latest programs and browse related playlists populated by content from UCTV’s robust YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/uctv) and other UC YouTube channels. The UCTV Prime website, http://www.uctv.tv/prime, will complement the channel with direct viewer engagement through related blog posts, viewer polls and other interactive features.

The UCTV Prime channel will be anchored by a collection of in-depth, 10-minute documentary mini-series. The channel’s March 1 debut will feature the first installment of “Naked Art,” a four-part mini-series exploring UC’s preeminent public art collections. Then, on April 6, UCTV Prime will debut a three-part series examining the obesity epidemic and how UC San Francisco researchers like Dr. Robert Lustig, whose 2009 UCTV video, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” has become a YouTube hit with over two million views, are working to combat it.

The channel will also feature “UCTV Prime: Vote,” a recurring, 5-minute segment offering election analysis and commentary by UC faculty and experts, and “UCTV Prime: Cuts,” another 5-minute recurring series reporting on research developments, entertaining events and interesting personalities on the campuses and beyond. “UCTV Prime: Cuts” premieres March 6 with a look at innovative canine cancer research and treatment taking place at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and how it translates into cancer care for humans. “UCTV Prime: Vote” kicks off March 13 with UC San Diego’s Peter Gourevitch on who’s driving the debate between austerity and spending, UC Merced’s Jessica Trounstine on factors that decrease incumbents’ responsiveness to voters, and UC Davis’ Giovanni Peri on the economic impact of immigration.

UCTV Prime is one of around one hundred original channels on the YouTube platform created specifically for today’s connected viewers around the world. The new advertising-supported channels feature well-known personalities and content producers from TV, film, music, news, and sports, as well as some of the most innovative new media companies in the world and some of YouTube’s own existing partners, including UCTV, which operates one of YouTube’s most popular education channels, with 50,000 subscribers and over 4,800 videos.

“With technology and viewer habits changing so fast, the whole nature of ‘television’ is evolving,” said Lynn Burnstan, UCTV’s director. “We’re thrilled and honored to take part in YouTube’s ambitious effort to shape the future of the medium. Since UCTV’s beginning twelve years ago, we have continually developed new and innovative uses of television and, today, thefuture is more exciting than ever.”

Based on the UC San Diego campus, UCTV presents educational and enrichment programming from the campuses, national laboratories, and affiliated institutions of the University of California. UCTV delivers science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities and the arts to a general audience, as well as specialized programming for health care professionals, teachers and researchers. UCTV is available worldwide via live stream, video archives and podcasting at www.uctv.tv, on YouTube at www.youtube.com/uctv and www.youtube.com/uctvprime, on iTunesU in the Beyond Campus section, and on cable in select cities throughout California. For a complete list of UCTV’s outlets, visit www.uctv.tv/wheretowatch.

Alaska Airlines Magazine Features Interview with Henry DeVries of UCSD Extension about Certificate Programs

By Elizabeth M. Economou

When Seattle resident Steve Griggs signed up for a certificate program in arts management through the University of Washington in 2002, he had recently left an IT job in the clinical-research industry and wanted to transition into work with an arts organization. Completing the certificate program, he hoped, would help him make that change. “The certificate program was a bridge between my business and creative paths,” says Griggs, who is also a professional jazz musician. Griggs, 51, later pursued a second certificate at the UW, this time in narrative nonfiction.“[The certificate program] combined my passion for research, art and storytelling,” says Griggs, who now works as a freelance writer, composing concert reviews for The Seattle Times and contributing to Earshot Jazz —a monthly newsmagazine featuring profiles, previews and reviews of jazz artists in the Northwest.

Certificate programs designed for working professionals are flourishing on college campuses coast to coast, and provide specialized training, focused instruction and practical application infields as diverse as screenwriting and stream restoration. Courses, which are taught by university faculty or industry professionals, are usually offered evenings, weekends or online (or a combination thereof), and programs average three academic quarters. UW certificate programs, for example, must include at least 90 hours of instruction. Most importantly, certificate programs offer busy adults the opportunity to update their skills, network, develop a personal interest, boost their careers or change fields entirely.
The professional certificate landscape looks nothing like it did more than 40years ago, when James R. Johnston and Lewis G. Kearns established the first certification program in the country to improve the way financial services were provided. Their six-course Certified Financial Planner credential has inspired nearly a dozen certifications in the financial services industry, says Johnston.

“Our program was quite a shock to traditional higher education,” recalls Johnston. There was no interest from universities back then, so Johnston and Kearns established the College for Financial Planning in Denver (now a subsidiary of the Apollo Group, which also operates the University of Phoenix) to host their certification program. Today, there are few colleges and universities that do not have certificate programs or courses in the field.

In fact, continuing professional education is now possible in subjects as diverse as museum studies; 3D animation for digital media; recycling and solid-waste management; cloud computing; teaching English as a second language; and lactation consulting. For example, UCLA(University of California, Los Angeles) Extension touts more than 125 certificate programs, and University of Washington Professional & Continuing Education(formerly UW Extension) also offers more than 125 certificates.

UC San Diego Extension, which features around 100 certificate programs, has seen its enrollment grow by 59 percent in the past four years, says Henry J. DeVries, assistant dean of UC San Diego Extension and co-author of Closing America’s Job Gap, a compilation of narratives about successful graduates of certificate programs.

“Many individuals and organizational leaders believe that an undergraduate or advanced degree, coupled with on-the-job experience, will provide the knowledge and skills sufficient for a professional career spanning several decades,” says DeVries. “But in today’s world, that is not always true. One of the reasons certificates have become so critical is the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, coupled with a globalizing economy.”

Demand for certificate programs is being driven by the desire to improve earning potential, says Cathy Sandeen, dean of UCLA Extension, noting that the typical certificate student has already earned one or more degrees. “More highly paid employees have lost jobs in this downturn than previously. These individuals are seeking a quick way to retool for re-employment,” she says.

Certificate programs are of shorter duration and are less expensive than master’s degree programs; they tend to be geared toward practical application rather than academic knowledge; and they are scheduled at times convenient for working professionals. For any or all of these reasons, they can be a good choice for those transitioning into a new role or career.

Another trend is baby boomers—who are retired or nearing retirement—turning to certificate programs as a way to follow a lifelong dream or passion.“Many are pursuing health care, education, nonprofit or arts-related certificates,” Sandeen notes. Additionally, recent graduates are making themselves more marketable by augmenting their bachelor’s degrees with the practical knowledge and networking skills gained in a certificate program. For example, an art history major might complete a certificate in interior design, or a music major could supplement his or her degree with a certificate in film scoring.

Bradley Snaza, a graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, realized the value of adding a certificate program to his list of credentials. Snaza, 26—who is the assistant restaurant manager and sommelier for the upscale Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington—says sheer curiosity initially led him to pursue a wine trade professional certificate while earning a degree in tourism administration. His interest in wine blossomed, and he spent another year earning a second bachelor’s degree in global wine studies.

Unlike most programs that address viticulture and the study of wine (enology), the wine trade professional certificate offered by CWU’s Office of Continuing Education is one of the few accredited university programs in the United States to focus on the international business of wine, says curriculum coordinator and wine director Amy Mumma. “We created the [wine trade professional certificate] program because there were no other programs that met this need,” she says.

According to Mumma, Washington’s wine industry employs 19,000 people and has a $3 billion economic impact on the state. Most wine-related jobs, she notes, are not found in the vineyard, but rather in marketing, branding, distribution, retail, public relations and import/export.The wine trade professional certificate program boasts a 90 percent rate of placement of its graduates, including jobs with regional businesses such as Swiftwater Cellars and neighboring Suncadia Resort.

Similarly, myriad programs at UCLA are designed to help meet the needs of growing businesses. “Almost all certificates, such as digital media, technology, entertainment and financial services, relate to surrounding local industries,” says Sandeen. “Relevance is a principal goal.” Some of the most popular certificates at UCLA Extension include global sustainability and nonprofit management.

Sometimes the popularity of certificate programs can reflect local intellectual curiosity. Since the 1996 inception of the University of Washington’s certificate in museum studies, some 450 students have completed the program, which is one of the many popular offerings at the university. This comes as no surprise to Britta Simon, assistant director of academic programs for UW Professional & Continuing Education, who explains that the program garners so much interest due to its relevancy and to the combined experience of its instructors, all of whom are museum professionals.

“People realize how important museums are in their communities,” says Simon. “We’ve been wait-listing students for the past five years.” The six-course program is geared toward entry- and mid-level professionals who are interested in volunteering for or working at a museum, and also attracts art and history buffs. In the final practicum, students apply core concepts as interns in local museums, such as the Seattle Art Museum, EMP and the Henry Art Gallery. “Museums carry authority in local communities,” says Simon. “Museum professionals and volunteers join a movement where history and culture are integrated into the here and now, where history becomes present.”

Certificate programs can be a good way to explore evolving interests, as Leslie Widner found. When the graduate of San Diego State University couldn’t find work as a teacher, she found alternate ways to better her community. In her position as a front-office supervisor at a large hotel chain, she noticed the company had no recycling protocol.

“I saw such an enormous amount of waste,” says Widner. Recognizing a need,she decided to do something about it. Not only did she set up a recycling program for her employer, but she enrolled in the sustainable business certificate program at UCSD Extension.

Part of the Solar Trees Project. Copyright Regents of the University of California. Credit: UC San Diego Publications

While learning about weighty topics such as environmental economics and green marketing, Widner applied for an internship at the U.S. Green Building Council in San Diego, which led to a sales consultant job with Pasadena-based Waste Less Living, a provider of composting services to schools and businesses. There she was able to marry her love of teaching and her desire to protect the environment.

“It’s awesome to see the change in how kids think after we spend time together,” she says.

As Widner, Snaza, Griggs, and many others have experienced, certificate programs can offer a way to explore personal interests or bridge the gap to greater career satisfaction.

Will the REAL Lean Enterprise Please Stand Up?

By Jerry Wright

It’s been nearly 3 decades since the continuous improvement management system known as “lean” really began in the corporate world. Lean essentially means without waste and seeks to create value for the customer. Anything that does not add value in the eyes of the customer is waste and should be eliminated or at least reduced. Initially, lean was heavily focused in the automotive industry but has since moved to all industry, the service sector and now even government and health care. This would sound great, but there’s a dark cloud in front of the silver lining.

Many supposed lean enterprises have done all of the right things: they have hired lean consultants to provide training, they have conducted Kaizen (Japanese for Continuous Improvement) events, completed workplace organization (known as 5S) and even created standard work. Yes, these are some of the key foundations of a lean enterprise. However, as most seasoned lean veterans will tell you, this can be nothing more than window dressing. One can visit numerous facilities and see what looks like a very clean, well-organized and seemingly disciplined business that calls itself lean. Upon further examination, you may find a sluggish set of processes that are still laden with busy work that really does not create any value for the customer.

So, how can you cut through the façade and understand if the business really is becoming lean? Well, the “real” lean enterprises will tell you that while they have made good progress, they still have much to improve. Lean is a “journey” and not a destination. That being said, dig a little deeper on some key measures. Are quality complaints trending downward? Are inventory turns improving? Are customer satisfaction measures collected, posted and are their issues being addressed? Is production based on actual customer demand (meaning do we only build to order or replace inventory only when sold)? Is the business actually profitable? If the measures are accurate, these can tell you a lot.

Last, let your eyes tell you the real story in the production or value-creating process. Is there only one piece of work or order in process per person? Or do you see “batches” of work being pushed from one person or area to another? The latter is undesirable, as you may guess. Do employees follow very specific work routines and almost appear as though they are choreographed or is it a little chaotic? Each day our work will have variation but we should have more of a theater production rather than a hockey game in our important business processes per quality guru and author Phillip Crosby. Both may be fun to watch, he states, but one has a rather predictable outcome and the other does not.

Would you like to be able to spot “fake” flow and understand what a lean enterprise really is? Attend a free information session about UC San Diego Extension’s Lean Enterprise Certificate Program on February 28, 2012.  The Spring 2012 program begins March 13, 2012.  Applications are now being accepted.

Register for the Lean Enterprise Information Session >
Learn more and apply for the Lean Enterprise Certificate Program >

Jerry Wright, MBA, PE, is the Academic Coordinator and Lead Instructor for UC San Diego Extension’s Lean Enterprise Certificate Program.  Jerry is currently the Vice President of Lean and Enterprise Excellence at the DJO headquarters in Vista, California. He was one of the key change leaders that helped to introduce lean thinking and transformed the company from a traditional batch and queue manufacturer to a world-class, lean enterprise.  He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.  Jerry is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California and the holder of one U.S. patent.  He is also the Chair of the Southern California Lean Network, an association of more than 50 companies that meet bimonthly to share best practices in lean, excellence and continuous improvement.