Campus

A new supplemental health insurance option and a realignment of prescription medications covered under PPOs are among the featured changes in benefits for UC Merced staff and faculty members as the one-month period of Open Enrollment begins at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 31.

During Open Enrollment, every benefits-eligible employee can evaluate current coverage provided by the University of California and explore a range of options for the 2020 calendar year before the enrollment period ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26.

UC Merced hosted its annual Homecoming celebration last weekend.

Current and prospective students and their families, as well as members of the community, took part in the Campus and Community Showcase, including face painting, inflatables, information tables and performances by various student clubs.

The Class of 2009 were pioneers of the Bobcat spirit, overcoming obstacles and defying the odds. Ten years later, we look back at UC Merced’s formative beginnings from the perspectives of those who lived the journey. 

Click the link below to read the story.

Audio has become a top form of entertainment over the past several years, in large part due to the rising popularity of podcasts. UC Merced graduate students are seizing the opportunity to help improve science literacy.

A group of Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) graduate students started RadioBio, a science podcast that discusses biology topics, in 2016. The podcast sparked from a discussion between the students and Professor Fred Wolf during a graduate professional skills development course.

It’s a new school year, which also happens to be a new chapter of the UC Merced Writing Project.

The UC Merced Writing Project is a local affiliation of the National Writing Project, which aims to improve writing skills among students as well as the art of teaching writing among educators.

The National Writing Project’s mission is to enhance student achievement by improving the teaching of writing, and therefore learning, in the nation’s schools.

Lauren Schiebelhut credits the support and opportunities afforded to her at UC Merced with opening the door to her research career.

Schiebelhut — a first-generation transfer student from Fresno — earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from UC Merced in May 2009 but was uncertain about her future.

UC Merced hosted the National Voter Registration and Census Festival Monday, with more than 200 students registering for next year’s election.

The university partnered with the Latino Community Foundation and Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the event. Merced County Elections Department assisted with voter registration.

The fastest-growing public research university in the nation is the fastest-rising university in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings.

UC Merced moved into the top 10 in the country in first-generation student performance in the Washington Monthly 2019 College Guide and Rankings released last week. The university — with more than 73 percent of the undergraduate student population being first generation, double the national average and the highest percentage in the UC system — ranked No. 8, jumping five spots from No. 13 in the 2018 rankings.

UC Merced welcomed the largest incoming class to campus over the past week, as more than 2,000 first-year and transfer students took part in Welcome Week festivities.

Throughout the weekend, families from across the state made their way to Merced to move in their new Bobcat. Among those moving in was Interim Chancellor Nathan Brostrom, who will live on campus during his time at UC Merced.