College of Creative Studies
Encyclopedia
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, unique within the University of California system in terms of structure and philosophy. Its small size, student privileges, and grading system are designed to encourage self-motivated students with strong interests in a field to accomplish original work as undergraduates. A former student has called it a “graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
for undergraduates”. The college has fewer than 350 students in eight majors
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
and approximately 60 professors and lecturers. There is an additional application process to the standard UCSB admission for prospective CCS students, and CCS accepts applications for admissions throughout the year.
History
In the late 1960s, the ChancellorChancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of UCSB, Vernon I. Cheadle, was looking for an alternative education
Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
program for undergraduate students which could embody the new thinking of the 60s and also attract attention to his growing university. He contacted a professor in the English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
department, Marvin Mudrick
Marvin Mudrick
Marvin Mudrick taught at UC Santa Barbara from 1949 until his death in October 1986. He created the university's College of Creative Studies in 1967 and was its provost until forced out by Chancellor Robert Huttenback in 1984. He wrote 100 essays on books for The Hudson Review and published five...
, to come up with ideas for this new program. In 1967 the University of California allowed funding for Mudrick to start up the most promising of those ideas, the College of Creative Studies.
The program started with approximately 50 students in 7 majors: Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Music Composition, Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. The experiment
Experiment
An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
al program struck a chord with its students and faculty, and along with the powerful pushing of Mudrick as its provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
, it secured its place at UCSB. The program grew over the years in student and faculty size and in 1975 found its home in a building at UCSB that dates from when the campus was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
marine
Marine corps
A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...
base. In 1995 the college added the major of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. In 2005, with the retirement of Provost William Ashby, the title of the Provost was changed to Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
and the College was placed under the leadership of Dr. Bruce Tiffney.
The Art department includes the only undergraduate book arts program in the University of California system. Recently, the Physics program has become regarded as one of the best undergraduate Physics programs in the nation; its students attend graduate schools with percentages resembling those of Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
s. CCS students have won the UCSB Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research several times in recent years. Literature students run Spectrum, a literary magazine, and Into the Teeth of the Wind, a poetry review.
Philosophy
The philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
of the College of Creative Studies is that certain undergraduate students are capable of rigorously exploring and adding to their chosen field of knowledge. Students skip introductory courses as appropriate and are encouraged to accomplish original work throughout their time at the College: Literature students compile a portfolio of writing, art students put on a minimum of two shows displaying their work, music students perform their own compositions, and science students enter labs by their sophomore years to conduct research and write scholarly papers for publication.
The College considers students to be the most important people involved, not the faculty or administration. It has a low student-teacher ratio, and each student is paired with a faculty adviser with whom they meet at least once a quarter.
Privileges and grading system
CCS students have few general education requirements and may take almost any course in the entire university, including graduate classes, without being required to complete the prerequisites. They can drop classes and change grading options up to the last day of the quarter, a privilege intended to encourage students to attempt taking many units and advanced classes without being penalized in the case that they bit off more than they could chew.In CCS classes, students do not receive letter grades. Instead, the College uses a sliding unit
Credit (education)
A course credit is a unit that gives weighting to the value, level or time requirements of an academic course taken at a school or other educational institution.- United States :...
scale where if a student completes all the work for a class at a satisfactory level, the student receives a full 4 units for most classes. If the student completes less work, he/she would receive fewer units, and if the student goes beyond expectations, a professor may give student more units. This system aims to promote a non-competitive atmosphere that focuses more on the student learning the material rather than learning how to take a test.
CCS students are afforded many privileges to help in the pursuit of their education.
- Fewer prerequisites: If a CCS student can show a capability of taking an upper division or graduate class, even without the prerequisites, the college greatly facilitates the process of getting the student in that class.
- Drop class and change grading: CCS students may drop any class up until the last day of instruction. This privilege is given as a backup if a student happens to try taking advanced classes or more classes than the usual student. They may also change their grading between letter grade or pass/no-pass for classes outside CCS.
- Priority registration: CCS students are among the first students at UCSB to sign up for classes each quarter. They sign up at the same time as honors studentHonors studentAn honors student is a person recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their course work.Honors students may refer to# Students recognized for their academic achievement on lists published periodically throughout the school year, known as honor rolls, varying from school to school, and...
s and athletes. - Higher unit cap: CCS students have a unit cap of 95.5 units per quarter. However, most students take between 15 and 25 units a quarter.
- Building access: All CCS students receive a key to the CCS building and have 24-hour access to it.
- Computer Lab: CCS students have 24-hour access to their own computer lab where they have free InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access, printingComputer printerIn computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
and photocopying. - LibraryLibraryIn a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
checkout: CCS students get quarter-long check-out from the UCSB library and may renew materials up to five times.
The building
The College of Creative Studies is housed in its own single story building, number 494, located between campus dorms, a dining commons, and the University Center. The building was built during World War II and shares the title as the oldest building at UCSB with the other buildings left from when the campus was a marine base.The building contains classrooms, art studios, faculty and administrative offices, an art gallery, computer labs, print and wood shops and a small 100 person theater. For most of its life it was painted brown, but in early 2005 the administrative offices were painted yellow, the college proper was painted green and the Old Little Theatre was painted red.
The building acts as a "home base" for its students, who spend time in the building studying and socializing. Students are allowed to personalize the building, so the walls have stickers and art, classrooms contain couches and modified desks and there are a few roaming stuffed animals.
Although many students and staff members are fond of the building, the college has outgrown it and is looking for funds to renovate it and/or build new facilities.
Notable alumni
CCS alumni include:- Art: Kit Boise-Cossart, Mary HeebnerMary HeebnerMary Heebner Mary Heebner works in several mediums including painting, photography and handmade artists books. Her work is exhibited internationally, and is in collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the University of Chicago...
, Peggy OkiPeggy OkiPeggy Oki is a female American skateboarder and surfer, as well as an artist and environmental activist.She skated with the Z-Boys in the '70s and was the only female member. She appeared in the movie Dogtown and Z-Boys....
, Hank Pitcher, Halsey RodmanHalsey RodmanHalsey Rodman is an artist based in New York.Rodman was born in Davis, California. He makes installations containing assemblages, videos, photography, text and figurative sculpture, which form mythological narratives...
, Don SuggsDon SuggsDon Suggs is an American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Described as polymorphic and stylistically variable, his oeuvre includes paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures and is recognized for its use of color.... - Biology: Angela BelcherAngela BelcherAngela M. Belcher is a materials scientist, biological engineer, and W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. She is director of the Biomolecular Materials Group at MIT and a 2004 MacArthur Fellow.Belcher grew up in San...
(awarded 2004 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship), Carol W. GreiderCarol W. GreiderCarolyn Widney "Carol" Greider is an American molecular biologist. She is Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins University. She discovered the enzyme telomerase in 1984, when she was a graduate student of Elizabeth Blackburn at the University of...
(shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2009), Richard Anthony JeffersonRichard Anthony JeffersonRichard Anthony Jefferson is an American-born molecular biologist, who developed the reporter gene system GUS, a widespread molecular technique...
, John La PumaJohn La PumaJohn La Puma is an Italian-American internist, professionally trained chef and author.La Puma was born in New York, received his undergraduate degree from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, earned an MD from Baylor College of Medicine and trained in... - Computer Science: Jay Freeman (founder of CydiaCydiaCydia is a large genus of tortrix moths, belonging to the tribe Grapholitini of subfamily Olethreutinae. Its distinctness from and delimitation versus the tribe's type genus Grapholita requires further study....
) - Literature: Parry GrippParry GrippParry Gripp is a singer-songwriter as well as lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop punk band Nerf Herder.As a songwriter, Gripp is best known for fake jingles, as in his 2005 solo album For Those About to Shop, We Salute You - a 51-track concept album mimicking various musical styles as product...
, Christine LehnerChristine LehnerChristine Lehner is an American novelist and short story writer. She earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara and a master's in English at Brown University....
, Jervey Tervalon, Max SchottMax SchottMax Schott is a writer of stories and essays. He was raised in Southern California. He received his Bachelor's in Animal Husbandry from University of California, Davis and his Master's in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara...
External links
- CCS Website
- "Professor Urges New College of Creativity: School Designed to Encourage Original Work Proposed for UC at Santa Barbara", April 3, 1966 in the LA Times
- "'Write, compose, invent,' new college tells gifted", Feb 17, 1968 in The Christian Science Monitor
- "About Long Hair", by William F. Buckley Jr., Jun 30 1970, The News and Courier
- "How to build a creative scientist", November 1985, OMNI Magazine
- "Creative Studies: A sharp departure from conventional undergraduate education", 1995, California Higher Education Policy Center
- "Experiencing 4 Degrees of Graduation: Student tackles physics, math, history and literature during his four years at UC Santa Barbara", Jun 2, 2001 in the LA Times
- CCS Offers Faster M.S. Degree for CS Students (2001), Daily Nexus
- The College of Creative Studies May Be Small, but It Knows How to Educate (2002), Daily Nexus opinion piece by a student
- "Will his shouts from the window attract a real superset of prime candidates?", November 15, 2002 in Times Higher Education (about a CCS Math professor)
- Prof To Relearn Dorm Life (2003), Daily Nexus, about the resident faculty member in the CCS dorm
- College of Creative Studies Receives Major Gift for Undergraduate Student Research, UCSB press release from 2006
- CCS Marine Biology Program Admits 13-Year-Old Whiz Kid (2006), Daily Nexus
- "Still in a class by itself: UCSB's College of Creative Studies marks 40 years of top-flight academics", Goleta Valley Voice (2007)