Graduate Services
UC Davis is known for the quality of its student support services. There are many resources to help you contend with the various demands and pressures of graduate student life. UC Davis offers students testing, career planning and placement, and counseling services as well as providing assistance for the handicapped, students from under-represented groups, and veterans.
Housing Services
Housing Services and Facilities
The Davis community offers many on- and off-campus housing options. There are accommodations on the campus for single as well as married students. Rental housing costs in Davis are comparable to those in other university towns and are considerably less than those in major urban areas.
The Community Housing Listing Service
The service, managed by the Graduate Student Association, assists students in locating off-campus rental housing including rooms, apartments, houses, duplexes, mobile homes, and condominiums. Every spring quarter, the ASUCD publishes a helpful booklet on local housing options, Housing Viewpoint. Tenants are surveyed on issues such as the quality of the maintenance and management of their current housing. Their opinions and ratings can help you to choose a new place to live for the coming year. Rental ranges are also included. Copies are available at the Housing Office.
Lysle Leach Hall
The on-campus graduate residence hall. Single, air-conditioned rooms arranged in four- and five-person suites, each with a bathroom, accommodate 178 students. Leach Hall remains open during all vacation periods except summer.
The Atriums
Offers additional on-campus accommodations for single graduate students. The privately owned and managed apartments feature studio and two-bedroom unfurnished units.
Orchard Park and Solano Park
On-campus University family housing complexes, providing 476 apartments to married students or single parents with minor children. Vacancies are filled throughout the year from a chronological list based on the date of application for housing. In Orchard and Solano Parks, parent associations sponsor low-cost cooperative playgroups for children ages 2 to 5 years.
Russell Park
Offers additional on-campus accommodations and child care facilities for student families. The privately owned and managed apartments feature one-, two-, and three-bedroom unfurnished units at rates comparable to, or lower than, similar units in Davis.
Distance Learning Program
Facilities exist for transmitting classes between the Davis campus and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, as well as to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo and various sites in the Sacramento area. These facilities are used primarily for transmitting graduate classes in engineering fields from Davis to Livermore, Vallejo, and Sacramento, and graduate classes in applied science from Livermore to Davis.
The College of Engineering is now also broadcasting nationwide, via satellite, through National Technological University. This program enables engineers at corporate sites anywhere in North America to work towards advanced degrees via television. Information about courses and programs available via television can be obtained from the Dean's Office television manager. Students taking these courses for credit toward a graduate degree must have applied to and been accepted for graduate study by UC Davis.
Libraries
The General Library is ranked among the top research libraries in North America, contains more than 2.6 million volumes, and comprises five units: the Peter J. Shields Library, the Physical Sciences Library, the Agricultural Economics Library, the Loren D. Carlson Health Sciences Library, and the UC Davis Medical Center Library in Sacramento. In addition, the Law Library contains more than 225,000 volumes. A new wing of Shields Library is home to the Center for Advanced Information Technology, demonstrating recent advances in electronic technology for information retrieval and manipulation.
Through the intercampus borrowing program, graduate students may take advantage of holdings in the entire system. An easy-to-use computer program called MELVYL will help you locate material at other UC libraries. The libraries also offer a variety of computer-assisted reference services to connect you with scores of bibliographies and databases. There are extensive collections of periodicals, manuscripts, maps, audio recordings, slides and photographs, films and other materials. The libraries have typing rooms, photocopying services, and computer centers, and offer orientation and instruction programs about the use of library resources.
Miscellaneous
Advising Services
In addition to the resources of your graduate adviser, major professor, and program staff, there is also a campus-wide support network, including the Counseling Center and Veterans Affairs, among others.
Campus Recreation
Recreational services are plentiful on campus and include the Recreation Pool, the Craft Center, Outdoor Adventures, the Equestrian Center, the Bike Barn, and the Campus Airport.
Writing in the Disciplines Program (formerly Campus Writing Center)
The program was established to encourage and improve students' thinking and writing abilities in all academic course areas.
Center for Women in Engineering
The Center provides support and encouragement to graduate women currently enrolled in engineering by providing a study center, job shadowing, mentoring, a support network, gender equity activities, and a small library. The director of the center maintains regular office hours to provide advising and referrals for all women engineering students.
Child Care Services
UC Davis is committed to quality child care through information and referral services, support of University-operated, cooperative and privately managed facilities on campus, collaboration with privately-managed facilities on campus, and collaboration with the City of Davis and the Davis Joint Unified School District. Parents can choose from day care centers, cooperative care arrangements, playgroups, family day care homes, or in-home providers.
The Counseling Center
The Counseling Center offers support for the rigors of graduate student life. The Center is staffed by experienced professionals with training in counseling, clinical psychology and related fields. It provides a supportive and confidential atmosphere for individual, couple, or group counseling. Individual counseling addresses concerns of particular importance to graduate students: identity, performance, stress management, relationships, problem solving, value conflict, and personal growth. The staff can help in defining feelings, clarifying goals, and considering alternatives. Each quarter, different topics specifically directed toward graduate student life are discussed in a group setting. All services are free.
The Cross-Cultural Center
The Cross-Cultural Center has as its mission the fostering of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural community through education and celebration of ethnic diversity, and the establishment of an environment of cross-cultural learning and exchange for the entire campus. Major goals of the Center are the participation of graduate students in programs, activities, and the mentoring of undergraduates from underrepresented groups.
Disability Resource Center
The Disability Resource Center (DRC) offers advising, assistance, and resources to students with physical, visual, communication, or learning disabilities. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the DRC as early as possible in their planning for graduate academic work.
Family Law Clinic
Law students represent clients under the supervision of experienced faculty.
The Graduate Student Association
The Graduate Student Association (GSA), the graduate student government, represents graduate students to the faculty, staff, and administration of the University. The association acts as an advocate for graduate student opinions, needs, rights, and responsibilities within the University and provides many services and activities. All regularly enrolled graduate students are automatically GSA members and are assessed membership fees as part of registration. GSA is run by graduate students who volunteer time and expertise to provide services to other graduate students and to protect and promote their interests at all levels of University administration.
Internship and Career Center
The ICC offers seminars and informational programs to explore career fields and employment trends; colloquia with alumni; workshops on resume-writing, interviewing, and job-seeking skills; a manual that provides guidelines for resume writing, interviewing tips, and information on employment opportunities in government, business and education in both international and domestic settings; a career resources library; and individual career advising. The office also has a special educational placement program for students interested in a teaching career. The Center solicits and maintains files of job vacancy listings, arranges first-hand experiences through internships, schedules on-campus recruiting by employers, and holds several career fairs throughout the year for students to meet potential employers. Advisers are available on an appointment or drop-in basis.
Learning Skills Center
At the Learning Skills Center you can receive help with such things as general study skills, math/science study skills, essay and term paper writing, reading efficiency, English as a second language, time-management skills, test-taking skills, and test anxiety reduction. Learning specialists can help you individually, or you may participate in workshops covering specific areas of study. The Resource Room has self-help tapes and films that let you work at your own pace. The Resource Room also contains a variety of programmed instructional materials, reference books, preparation materials for the GRE, MCAT and LSAT exams, and a file of course examinations given in past quarters. Most materials may be checked out. Group and drop-in tutoring is available to all students. Under certain circumstances, the center also provides individual tutoring sessions for students on academic probation or subject to dismissal. Our services are free to all UC Davis students.
Services for International Students and Scholars
The staff at the Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) can help provide answers to questions from the international community about the campus, the city of Davis, housing, activities, and community resources. In addition, the staff can put students in touch with other students and scholars from their home country and can help with the adjustment to student life at Davis.
Student Health Center
The services of the Student Health Center are supported by registration fees. Regularly enrolled graduate students who have met the health requirements for registration are eligible to use the services of the Center. Most services are provided free of charge. Services offered include the Primary Care Clinic; the Women's Clinic Services; the Urgent Care Clinic; mental health practitioners' services; support services (pharmacy, physical therapy, radiology, and laboratory); and health education programs.
Veterans Affairs
As a veteran, veteran's dependent or reservist you may be entitled to various benefits under state and federal laws. We are here to assist you in taking full advantage of the programs, services and benefits available to you while attending UC Davis. We provide educational benefits, orientations, tutorial assistance, financial support, counseling and advising.
Women's Resources and Research Center
The Women's Resources and Research Center (WRRC) provides the UC Davis community with information and programs on the educational, career, and personal needs and concerns of women. The Center is staffed by professionals and student interns. The Center sponsors the Graduate Women's Support Group and the Graduate and Faculty Women's Network.