Community

A new landmark study by the UC Merced Community and Labor Center shows farmworkers across California are facing serious health challenges on a daily basis.

The goal of the Farmworker Health Study was to examine agricultural worker health and well-being, in addition to health care access, local and state policies, and health and training needs.

UC Merced's annual month-long fundraising campaign, Give to UC Merced, wrapped up on Dec. 31, 2022, as the most successful in the initiative's history. The effort eclipsed the original goal of $150,000 to raise $952,000 in financial support for students, faculty, research, programs, departments and schools throughout the university.

Throughout the year, the UC Merced Community Engagement Center (CEC) offers a variety of opportunities for students to work for the betterment of the area.

But at the holidays, faculty and staff are invited to take part as well.

Over Thanksgiving, the center raised money to purchase traditional holiday meals for 30 families — with turkey, potatoes, pie, cranberry sauce and a vegetable, said Vernette Doty, CEC director.

     On Tuesday, Nov. 29, UC Merced will kick off the season of giving by launching Give to UC Merced 2022. The campus’s annual fundraising initiative officially begins on Giving Tuesday — the traditional day of philanthropic support held the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday — and lasts until the end of December. This marks the third year in a row that UC Merced is extending the campaign from its original 24-hour period to an entire month.

UC Merced’s commitment to keeping its students and their families informed about all the incredible opportunities the campus offers on Bobcat Day has been awarded first place in the Best Recruiting and Admissions category by the Modo Appademy Awards.

On Monday (Oct.31), UC Merced and Fresno City College (FCC) signed the Merced Promise Pathway Program memorandum of understanding (MOU). The signing of this MOU further extends access for transfer students in the Central Valley.

FCC is the largest community college in the Central Valley region. This partnership will provide students with a dedicated transfer counselor with expertise in UC Merced transfer admissions and knowledge of FCC support services.

    A temporary labyrinth has taken shape on the UC Merced campus.

    The labyrinth, which is an ancient pattern people walk to reflect, was
    built by master designer Lars Howlett. Marked by spray paint now,
    once the final design is determined, the path will be delineated by river
    rocks and decomposed granite.

The University of California, Merced, as the lead agency working in collaboration with partners from Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, was awarded a planning grant for $250,000 to plan and design streamlined pathways for students from high school to postsecondary education to the workforce.

UC Merced has added Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) to its list of partners signed to the Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP).

The ninth partnership will allow hundreds of VUSD students to be automatically accepted to UC Merced if they meet the university’s eligibility requirements.

The program allows students who complete the A-G courses for first-year UC admission with a weighted GPA of 3.5, with no grade lower than a "C," to be admitted to the university through a streamlined process.

Film festivals across the world continue to reach out to filmmaker and Professor Yehuda Sharim to invite him to screen his latest films "El Ojo Comienza En La Mano" (translated to "The Eye Begins in the Hand") and "Letters2Maybe." Central Valley residents do not have to travel far to enjoy either of them because both are also being showcased in Merced.