Academics at John R. Lewis College
Meet Our Provost
There are four major components to the academic mission at John R. Lewis College— advising, classroom learning, encouraging academic excellence, and monitoring academic standing. The college provost is a faculty member who is in charge of supervising these four components. At John R. Lewis College, our provost is Professor of Literature, Kimberly J. Lau.
Our Academic Mission:
Advising [show]
Throughout your academic career at UCSC, John R. Lewis College will be your home for academic advising. The Academic Advisers will be important resources for getting help with your classes. The Academic Advisers are the ones who can answer questions about general education and graduation requirements as well as other general academic matters. For more information about advising please visit the Advising website.
Classroom Learning [show]
The UCSC colleges are based on a living and learning model. Not only do frosh live together in the residence halls, they also take the same seminar in their college during the fall quarter. John R. Lewis College's frosh seminar is Introduction to University Discourse: Social Justice and Community. We hope that the course provides students with a thought-provoking introduction to some of the pressing issues in the world today. The course is also designed to help students develop important academic skills such as writing, studying, and reading. For more information on the Core Course, please visit the Core Course webpage.
In addition to the frosh seminar, we also offer some optional courses within the college: Social Justice Issues Workshop (CLTE 85), Service Learning (CLTE 110 and 110B) which is a service-learning field practicum for course credit, and Teaching Social Justice Issues Workshop (CLTE 191). For more information visit the Courses webpage.
Encouraging Academic Excellence [show]
We would like to see you do your best at UCSC. That will mean some hard work on your part and also taking initiative to seek out opportunities.
As a way to encourage student achievement, John R. Lewis College students may graduate with two forms of special recognition. One of them is to graduate with honors. This is based on attaining a minimum cumulative grade point average (see the Academic Advisers for details). A second form of special recognition is to graduate with distinction. John R. Lewis College Distinction is awarded if students pursue three quarters of work through one of two pathways. For more information, please visit the Distinction Pathways webpage.
Academic Standing and Academic Integrity [show]
The fourth academic component of the college is to monitor students' academic standing. When a student’s cumulative (overall) and current (most recent term) grade point averages are 2.0 or better, that student is in good academic standing. If either the cumulative or current G.P.A. falls below 2.0, the student is on Academic Notice (formerly, Academic Probation). Academic Advisors work alongside students to track academic progress and identify tools and resources that support student well-being and help students continue making progress towards good standing and graduation requirements. For more information, please visit the UCSC Academic Standing website.
Good academic standing involves maintaining academic integrity. To maintain academic integrity, it is important students refrain from cheating or plagiarizing. If you find yourself struggling with the material or workload of a course, please reach out for help! If you feel anything may impact your ability to pass a class, it is important to be proactive and check-in with your college advisors. Academic Advisors are here to support you and help identify tools, resources, and strategies that will help you be successful at UCSC. For more information, please visit the UCSC Academic Integrity website.”
