From Your Undergraduate Director…..

September 27, 2005

 

Hi returning Economics Department majors and minors!  Welcome Back!   I hope you had a great summer.  Welcome new Economics Department majors and minors! 

 

In this e-mail I discuss the following topics:  (1) the undergraduate Economics team at UCSD (who we are and what we do); (2)  possibly starting an Undergraduate Economics Student group; (3)  how to get UCSD credit for classes taken at other Universities and abroad; (4) how to get department approval to take Econ 191AB (relevant to seniors with outstanding records in the economics department); and (5) an internship opportunity for Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Native American students.

 

Enjoy your Fall quarter and I look forward to meeting you!  

 

I.  About your Undergraduate team: 

 

A.  Kimberley Newmark:  Undergraduate Advisor.  Kimberley became an undergraduate advisor in the Economics Department in the summer of 2002.  Kimberley was an undergraduate here at UCSD and earned her BA in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology.  You can contact Kimberley via e-mail: knewmark@ucsd.edu, by phone: (858)534-3385, or FAX: (858)534-9795.

 

B.  Mya Andersen:  Undergraduate Advisor.  Mya joined UCSD in the Spring of 2002; she worked in Biology Student Affairs and was the Undergraduate Coordinator at Theatre and Dance. She also has experience at the community college level and at another four year university.  She attended the University of Oregon and has a BS in Environmental Studies and a minor in Public Policy.  You can contact Mya via e-mail: myaa@ucsd.edu or by phone: 858-534-4195, or FAX: (858)534-9795.

 

Kimberley and Mya are your main department contacts.  I have found they (almost) know it all!!   Many of my questions are answered in either the undergraduate program handbook at http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/ugradprog/handbook.shtml, the UCSD General Catalog http://www.ucsd.edu/catalog, or the schedule of classes for the Economics Department http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/ugradprog/courses.shtml.  I recommend you see if these sources answer your questions too!

 

Mya and Kimberley are available in Sequoyah Hall 245.  For the first two weeks of classes, they are available from 8:00am – 12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:00pm.  For the remainder of the quarter, they will be available from 9:00am – 12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:30pm.

 

C.  Dr. Melissa Famulari:  Undergraduate Faculty Director. This is my second year at UCSD.  I am an applied microeconomist, i.e., I test microeconomic models using data.  My research interests are in the fields of labor and health economics, and this year I will be teaching the Economics of Health sequence (138A and B), as well as Intermediate Microeconomics (100A).  When should you come to my office hours?  Well, whenever you’d like to talk to me!  Certainly you should come to talk to me if you are considering graduate school in economics so we can discuss the academic career path.

 

If you need to see me, my undergraduate office hour is Tuesday from 2:00-3:00 in Econ 221 or contact me via e-mail: mfamulari@ucsd.edu or by phone: (858) 534-3878.

 

II.  Should we have an Undergraduate Economics Society?

 

How many of you would be interested in joining an undergraduate economics society?  The gains to such a group is that (1) you would have an informal way to share information about the department, (2) meet other like-minded students, (3) something to put on your resume and (4) a place to discuss life after UCSD.  It also is a good way for you to let the faculty know what topics you are interested in discussing.  Faculty can then attend a meeting and address your questions such as how to get into graduate school or discuss current research in a field of economics (or even what ARE the fields of economics).  The costs are that you have to get it organized and support it!

 

Now, if you are interested in an undergraduate Economics society, then you need to decide who can join.  Do you want this group to be open to all majors in the Economics department or are you interested in limiting it to the top students in the department?  If you are interested in the latter, then we could start a UCSD chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), the national economics honor society.

 

Xenia Feere is an Economics major in her senior year and is interested in forming either ODE or a more general undergraduate student Economics Society.  Please e-mail her if you are interested in getting involved forming such a group in the next week.  Xenia’s e-mail is xfeere@ucsd.edu.   If there is enough interest, then we will schedule a meeting in the beginning of October.

 

III.  Advice on getting UCSD economics credit for classes you take abroad and at other universities: 

 

Study abroad can be a wonderful experience for a student of economics!  However, it takes some careful planning to make this work. 

 

General Recommendations:

First, attend a strong university in the country of your choosing.  Be sure to take classes in the economics department.  Finally, I rarely find equivalent core courses at other Universities.  I recommend that you look for courses that fulfill your economics elective requirements

 

Specific recommendations:

Submit to either Kimberley or Mya your EAP/OAP form with supporting syllabus or detailed course description.  They will give your information to me.  Given the information you show me, I will let you know whether I think it is likely that the class will be accepted for Economics department credit.  The quality of my opinion at this point depends upon the detail you can give me about the course. 

 

When you return: 

The UCSD registrar must first accept the course as either upper or lower division.  Then, you must submit an undergraduate student petition to the Economics Department for the class(es).  YOU MUST PRESENT ALL YOUR COURSE MATERIALS including, syllabus, exams, papers, etc.

 

IV. Obtaining the Department Stamp for ECON 191A-B:  Senior Essay Seminar

 

This senior essay seminar is for students with superior records in the economics department.  It is also a required course for those wishing to graduate with the phrase “with highest distinction” on their diplomas.

 

This class is a tremendous opportunity to write a piece of original research with one of the pre-eminent faculty members in the economics department:  Professor Vince Crawford.  For more information about this class and for some of the most successful papers written in previous years see http://dss.ucsd.edu/~vcrawfor/econ191AB.html

 

If you are interested in these classes, Professor Crawford asks the following:

 

“Please write a short (one double-spaced page or less) proposal of a topic and why it is interesting. Your proposal should represent a real attempt to plan your work, but there will be no penalty if you later decide to depart from it. In the event that the class is oversubscribed, your proposal and your overall record, and possibly an interview with the instructor, will be used to decide who is admitted.”

 

Please submit your proposal to Kimberley Newmark by November 2nd.

 

V.  Internship Opportunity for Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Native American students: 

 

The SEO career program for summer mentored internships offers about 300 internships in over 40 firms in eight areas.  Accounting, Asset Management, Corporate Law, Global Corporate Financial Leadership, Information Technology, Investment Banking, Management Consulting and Philanthropy.  Application deadline:  November 1.  For more information see www.seo-usa.org .