Spring 2015 Curricular Updates

Every year, faculty add, update, and occasionally discontinue academic programs to ensure our students get the best possible education. This year, we are making changes to the graduate and undergraduate curriculum, as well as to our online offerings.

I am pleased to announce these enhancements to the UC Santa Cruz curriculum:

• We have started a new M.S. program in Scientific Computing and Applied Mathematics, based in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Students learn both computational methods and theoretical modeling, and graduates will be prepared to enter the growing market for data scientists and modelers in computationally intensive environments, including industry and government agencies. This program is open to students from a wide variety of backgrounds, and it can be completed in one year by students with sufficient preparation.
• We have added a B.A. degree in Games and Playable Media. This interdisciplinary program will provide a strong emphasis on experience design, art history, theory, and media creation background, supported by curriculum in programming and technical materials. The major, which will complement the popular Computer Science: Computer Game Design B.S. program, will be administered by the Art Department. 
• A Multilingual Writing Curriculum that will address reading, writing, and comprehension skills of international students has been approved for one year. 
• Environmental Studies has added a concentration in agroecology and sustainable food systems to its B.A. program, starting in Fall 2015. Students will learn about ecological concepts and how to apply them to sustainable agricultural systems and will also develop their understanding of the social, political, and economic aspects of agriculture.
• Latin American and Latino Studies has discontinued two of its undersubscribed combined majors: the LALS/global economics combined major and the LALS/literature combined major. Currently declared students in these combined majors will be supported to a timely graduation, but no new declarations will be accepted. The more popular combined majors with politics and with sociology are continuing.
• Admissions have been suspended for the M.S. in Technology and Information Management.

last updated: June 24, 2015