Dean of Students’ Column

A Message from the Dean of Students, Ellen Cohen

The 2003-04 academic year is off to a great start! Newly enrolling master’s and PhD students arrived on September 8 for two weeks of math camp and language camp (for our new international students), followed by a fun-filled week of orientation before classes began in full force.

The orientation committee and the Dean of Students Office undertook several initiatives to both inform and entertain new students about life at the Harris School and the University of Chicago, including an expanded version of the student handbook, a series of brown bag lunches during math camp, and several social activities in and around the city. There was a boat tour of downtown Chicago; a scavenger hunt that sent teams around the building, across campus, and all over the city; and an original orientation comedy show by The Second City.

Not only about having fun, orientation week is also intended to integrate new students into the School and the University, and to focus on teambuilding and academic exercises to frame the training they are embarking upon. To this end, the Harris School teamed with Second City Communications (the corporate training, business tools, and corporate entertainment division of The Second City) to bring a fresh approach to communication and cooperative skill building.

But the school year is so much more than just the preparatory weeks in September, and Harris School students are already off to a busy year. Expanding their responsibilities, the Public Policy Students Association (PPSA) will take on the role of awarding student activities fees funding to the burgeoning number of Harris School student organizations, which now include Minorities in Public Policy Studies (MIPPS), Women in Public Policy (WIPP), Community and Economic Development Organization (CEDO), Out in Public (OIP) and the Firearms Education Policy Forum. PPSA will continue to sponsor community outreach programming, social programming, and the annual charity auction to raise funds for student internships.

The School has also made changes in services offered to students. For the first time, students are able to register for classes electronically, from any location, in a service provided by the University Registrar’s Office. During Winter and Spring Quarters, mini-courses will be offered in presentation skills, policy writing, as well as other areas of interest.

I am thrilled that the year is off to such a good beginning and am looking forward to all the new programs and activities in which the School will engage in 2003-04!