Undergraduate Students

Ahead of UC Merced's 2023 Fall Commencement, the ceremony keynote speakers have been selected. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, will speak at the undergraduate ceremonies and Keith Alley, former executive vice chancellor and provost at UC Merced, will speak at the graduate ceremony.

Since 2017, Mitchell has been president of the American Council on Education (ACE) - the major coordinating body for the nation's college and universities that creates policies and practices for higher education learners across the country.

After Thanksgiving wraps up, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday take hold of many people's time, attention and dollars. However, there is another day of opportunity — one that holds the potential of creating a positive ripple effect originating at UC Merced and extending across the globe.

UC Merced is part of several new initiatives aimed at increasing the accessibility and inclusivity of data science studies and opening new opportunities for historically underserved students after graduation.

New grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the California Learning Lab are funding collaborations with a sister campus and several community colleges as well as the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) to accomplish these goals.

It's been more than a year since UC Merced joined the 1300 Campaign partnership, continuing its efforts to help students of color attend and succeed at four-year universities. Now it's time for a review and a look ahead.

Veterans with aspirations to pursue higher education will have access to new resources and support through the Veterans Upward Bound Program at UC Merced.

This year, the university was selected as one of the recipients of the Department of Education (DOE) grant, which helps to provide first-generation and low-income veterans with assistance from the application process through commencement. The DOE website states, "the program's primary goal is to increase the rate at which participants enroll in and complete postsecondary education programs."

Ed and Jeanne Kashian, longtime UC Merced donors who have supported the campus since its earliest days, have made a $5 million gift to advance the university's medical education efforts.

Distinguished rankings, new academic offerings, world-class research and campus expansions were among the highlights of the UC Merced State of the University address delivered by Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.

"The state of this 20-year-old institution is unparalleled in the history of American higher education," said Muñoz. "And now I would like to invite you to join me in imagining an even more impactful future for our campus, faculty, staff and students."

Writing is still the most important, and most-used, form of communication in the world.

"Writing is crucial in that it's both a product and a process. It's in the fabric of what we do," said Paul Gibbons, teaching professor of writing studies at UC Merced. "Writing is a way of doing things in the world, of asking for things. It's still a major coin of the realm."

Compelling storytelling is vital to ensuring the action needed to secure a habitable planet for future generations, according to an increasing amount of research.

UC Merced is recruiting students now to become the next environmental storytellers.

Students who are interested in creatively conveying the urgency of environmental issues can make that mission the focus of their studies when the new environmental humanities (EH) major begins at UC Merced in fall 2024.

Dozens of UC Merced students took their oaths as members of the College Corps recently. The program, which provides stipends to students in exchange for working with community partners, is in its second year.

The second cohort of UC Merced's College Corps was sworn in Sunday, Aug. 28.

It's more than just a way to help these students pay for college, explained Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Engagement Brian O'Bruba, who administered the oath. It's an opportunity to develop a service mindset that will last a lifetime.