By Jessica Dunn
Over the years, the UConn Early College Experience Program has undergone minor design changes on the (ece.uconn.edu) website as well as within program marketing materials. With a desire to create a more seamless look and to support our program partners with the resources they need to meet the goals of the program, Brian Boecherer, Jessica Dunn, and Carissa Rutkauskas sat down in July of 2018 to write up a new marketing plan. With a brand new site map in hand, a vision in our minds, two amazing designers, Susan Schadt and Barry Costa, to guide us, we began to create the new and improved UConn ECE look! After many months of strategic designing, rewriting of design and website content, and updating information, we launched the new ece.uconn.edu website in August of 2019. Although we never imagined this project would take just over a year to complete, we are thrilled by the finished product, and we hope our partners are too. Recognizing the unique needs of our 13,000 Students (and their parents), 1,300 Instructors, and 208 high school partners (and 300 Site Representatives), each audience can now easily find the information specific to them by selecting on their icon from the home page, or reference general information from the top navigation menus. Keep an eye out for our new marketing materials!
Being a student is an important role and a title that is central to my identity. I love learning and the longer I have been a student, the clearer it becomes that sharing my thoughts and passions on what I read is central to being a great student. We should always be considering and reevaluating our academic passions, as well as sharing our thoughts with important people around us. When I graduated high school I had pretty clear ideas on what I wanted to study but not very clear ideas on how I was going to use it. I loved foreign languages and politics. I was lucky to have studied Russian throughout my four years in high school and was very excited to continue learning Russian and start learning German at UConn. Some people encouraged me to go into international business, because, that's where the money is. Luckily I was surrounded by people who supported my interests and allowed me to focus my passions without monetizing them. It made my studies and self discovery that much more enriching. I did not go into business; rather, I stayed at the interesting crossroads of language, culture, and politics. True to a liberal arts education, my degree prepared me to do a broad array of things because I learned how to analyze and problem-solve and was practiced at applying rigorous methodologies of inquiry. All of these skills have benefited the Office of Early College Programs and allowed me to do interesting things with my life.
We recognized all award winners at our annual Awards Ceremony in April, presenting them with a plaque and a monetary award over a celebratory dinner with family, friends, and colleagues. It was a night full of admiration and appreciation for the dedication each award winner displays day in and out for their high schools and their students. All award winners have exceeded the program expectations and excelled in preparing their students for the next level in their education.
Art: Along with UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator, Cora Lynn Deibler, certified UConn ECE ART 1030: Drawing I Instructors were able to visit the Thomas J. Dodd Center on the Storrs campus to take a firsthand look at the Maurice Sendak archives. Recently, the Maurice Sendak Foundation chose to share Sendak's archives with the University of Connecticut who are now housing and stewarding the Collection. Project Archivist, Carla Nguyen shared her knowledge with the group who were able to learn more about Sendak's life, and view his original artwork, sketches, books and other materials.