Academic Programs
The Office of Residential life is committed to providing programs and resources to help residents gain an academic edge. Each initiative is designed to meet the academic needs and interests of our diverse residential community. Learn more about these programs from your RD, RA or other ORL Staff and take advantage of these excellent opportunities to explore and advance your academic standing.
Major Blast (Fall Quarter)
Major Blast is a large-scale resource fair designed to bring representatives from the various undergraduate departments and schools into the residential community to help students explore different academic options. Students have the unique opportunity to speak with academic advisors, counselors or faculty that can help maximize knowledge on academic resources including: majors, minors, specializations, coursework, prerequisites, workload, research, student organizations, and other general aspects of an academic department.
Orientation Part II & III (Fall and Winter Quarter)
This program, in collaboration with the UCLA Orientation Program, provides students with the opportunity to interact with orientation counselors to help plan courses and register for winter and spring classes. Residents will have access to informed counselors who will provide general college advising on such topics as: general education requirements, minimum progress, and course scheduling, etc.
College Bowl (Winter and Spring Quarter)
Photo by Jeopardy! Productions.
Similar to a Quiz Bowl type competition, ORL College Bowl challenges the academic knowledge and skills of our residents. Each winter quarter, floor teams comprised of 4 residents compete against each other in the intra-hall tournament structure. Hall winners then advance to the spring quarter inter-hall bracket to determine the overall "Hill" champion. The moderated tournament is structured first with tossup questions on all topics of knowledge that must be answered individually, utilizing a lockout buzzer system. Then following a correct individual answer, a team gains an exclusive bonus question in which the team may confer on the answer to gain additional team points.
Last year’s champion was Delta Terrace. Winning team Captain Cliff Galiher, of Canyon Point, also won the 2007 Jeopardy! College Championship.
Academic Integration Award (Spring Quarter)
Named after Dr. Alan L. Hanson, Director Emeritus of the Office of Residential Life, this award commemorates his dedicated efforts to integrate students’ academic and residential experiences. The Award funds are distributed like scholarships to deserving student programmers who develop and implement significant academic programs in the residential community. Recognizing an emphasis on relevance, creativity, and experimental initiatives, Awards are determined by committee and presented at the end of each academic year.
2007-2008 Award Recognition
1st Place: "HeART Festival" by Andrea Chung, Josephine Lee and Diana Rocacorba
2nd Place: "Mutts for Midterms Pet Therapy Program" by Earl Duque, Won-Fong Lau, Stephen Foucrier, Rashmi Sahai and Shannon Finley
3rd Place: "Made in LA" by Kelly Shu and Pallavi Reddy
Educational Programs Support (On-going)
Through the efforts of the Educational Programming Committee, several academic initiatives are supported to assist residents and student programmers. Some of these programs include:
- Educational Grants Program
- TA Review Sessions
- Theme Communities
- Faculty Programs
- Lecture Notes
Faculty Involvement (On-going)
Faculty-in-Residence
Campus faculty members who reside within the residential community form our Faculty-in-Residence Program, which creates a unique opportunity for faculty-student interaction.
Faculty Associates
This program is designed to give residents a variety of contacts and experiences with UCLA’s world class faculty. These faculty members complement the work that is done within the Faculty-in-Residence program. RAs, PAs and Residents may work with Faculty Associates to design seminars, programs or lead discussions of interest to the diverse On-Campus Housing student population.
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