UC DAVIS ATTRACTS MORE REGENTS SCHOLARS

The Regents Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship offered by the University of California. Only the “best of the best” students, those with the highest academic and personal achievements, are awarded the scholarship. More students than ever are accepting the honor and choosing to attend UC Davis. In the most recent year, the campus increased the number of students who received the scholarship by 53 percent!

Why are more students accepting the award and choosing UC Davis?

• The prestigious nature of the award.
• Greater financial support. The Provost provided funds to increase our award levels so that we offer the best package of almost all the campuses. Not only was the dollar amount of the honorarium increased (approximately $7,500 in 2004-05), but it was also awarded for the full four years for entering freshmen. In the past, the honorarium amount was reduced after the first year.
• “Lunch On Us”. A highly effective recruitment program in which potential Regents Scholars are invited to a one-on-one lunch with an administrator, faculty member or peer during the UC Davis Welcome events on campus. Those candidates who participated in the lunch chose to attend UC Davis at a significantly higher rate than those who did not attend the lunch.
• Guaranteed slot in the Integrated Studies program, an invitational honors program, including housing in the very desirable new residence halls in the area designated for the Integrated Studies program
• Better timing of the offer. We are now notifying Regents Scholars of their award at the same time that we notify them of their admission to the campus.
• A new brochure. With funding from the Vice Provost, we developed a new brochure “Congratulations. You Have Been Selected As a Regents Scholar at UC Davis” to distribute to candidates.
• A new informational website. (http://why.ucdavis.edu/finances/regents.cfm)

The Regents Scholarship Administrative Advisory Committee identifies candidates for the award by evaluating the Comprehensive Review scores of all admitted students and developing a pool of candidates from the highest qualified students. Offers are made to those selected. In 2003-04, 70 students accepted the offer. In 2004-05, the number of acceptances rose dramatically to 107. Once offers are made the Regents Scholarship Administrative Advisory Committee becomes actively involved in the recruitment of these students.

As a Regents Scholar, a student not only becomes a member of a select group, but he or she is also afforded certain privileges such as, priority registration, extended library loan period, transcript notation, membership in the Regents Scholar Society and a guaranteed space in the residential Integrated Studies (IS) honor program. The IS program is the oldest such program in the UC system and in this intimate community, highly talented and motivated students live and study together in a supportive academic setting. The Regents Scholars Society provides a forum to promote continued success through membership standards and community reaffirmation. The Society actively organizes service activities and work parties as well as participation in Welcome Week, Picnic Day and other outreach programs to help the campus community. The Regents Scholars Society allows its members to interact across majors and different class levels, to network, to find common interests and to become part of the UC-wide system of Regents Scholars Societies.

The rise in the number of Regents Scholars at our campus is a great indicator of the success that we are having in our achieving our campus Strategic Vision goal to “Enroll and graduate academically talented and diverse undergraduate, graduate and professional students.” One Regents Scholar noted that “Although I was accepted by other institutions (including UCB, UCSD, and UCSB), … I chose to attend UC Davis because of its recognized strength in my field of interest… the friendly feel of the campus, the innumerable extracurricular and academic opportunities and the university's outstanding overall reputation which made me certain that it was the right choice for me.”