New Start at the University of Arizona

The University of Arizona provides a program to welcome students to college so they can get a head start on earning credits and learning their way around campus. Students typically receive invitations in May of their senior year after being accepted to the University of Arizona, and New Start typically recruits minority students. Unfortunately, their website provides little information, which is why I hope to give you information that many of us lacked when entering the program.

First off, the program is extremely cheap. There is a down payment of about $100 to reserve a spot. After that, it’s free. Yes, the program gives scholarships to cover all costs. Some students ran into financial aid issues with this (I had to pay an extra $200 because they didn’t give me a scholarship for taking one extra unit, which is mentioned below), but most students don’t run into issues, and it’s still much cheaper than taking these classes during the academic year.

Upon entering the program, students are placed into summer courses. The usual options are English (101 and 102, though 109H is rarely, if ever, offered), Mathematics (Algebra through Calculus I), and a Tier One elective (INDV or TRAD courses in the catalog). Workshops are mandatory and are under the course division of Higher Education (H ED). Sometimes, as in 2009, an addition course is open to select students; in the summer of 2009, the course was Minority Careers in Math and Science, funded by the MARC program.

Students tend to like their core summer class. They earn three credits and get a head start on understanding what a college setting is like. Usually, the Tier One course is the most popular, both through a mix of student interest in the subject and exceptional professors and grad students teaching these courses. Unfortunately, students cannot choose to take this course; all classes are designated based on what the New Start program feels will benefit the student most, which usually means an English or Mathematics course unless the student has tested out of both.

The workshops are also extremely popular. Students are divided into “Peer Advisor groups,” all of which “battle” each other in sports and other competitions throughout the six-week program. A university student leads each group, and New Start aims to have the Peer Advisor’s major match the major of the group as closely as possible; for example, all Education majors are grouped together, and all Chemistry majors are grouped together, and so on. These workshops aim to introduce the students to college life: activities center around eating on campus, getting help or tutoring, time management, and learning about oneself to help in the classroom. Workshops also contain a number of ice breakers to have the students get to know each other.

New Start is for students both in Tucson and outside. Students from Tucson typically must commute, which leads to issues for some. Those outside of a Tucson zip code may stay in the dorms. Resident Assistants live in the dorms with them, and New Start provides many activities for these students, from movie outings to parties to hall meetings with entertaining subjects.

This leads us to the extracurricular activities at New Start. First is the Academic Conference. Each year, New Start chooses a different topic for students to base presentations on. In 2009, the topic was “Stereotype Threat,” with students giving formal presentations on stereotypes in the media to how stereotypes affect groups of people to what college campuses need to do in order to correct these stereotypes. Similarly, New Start provides a lecture series, in which professors from around campus give hour-long presentations on the same broad topic as the Academic Conference. Students are invited to interview the professors after the lectures over lunch.

On a less-academic note, extracurricular activities include B.L.A.S.T. and Monte Carlo. B.L.A.S.T. stands for the “Bodacious, Looney Array of Student Talent,” or – in short – a talent show. Monte Carlo is a dance similar to prom, though much less formal. Both take place in the middle of New Start, a thankful break of classes for some.

As its age of 40 years suggests, New Start has been a widely successful addition to the University of Arizona for minority students. It provides a great balance of earning credits and navigating the classroom as well as getting a social life started and meeting new people. New Start comes highly recommended by this University of Arizona student, and I hope to see you there next year!