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Application and Admission Issues to Consider Who We Are, Program Structure, Student Support Frequently Asked Questions Admission to the program is competitive and open to rising first semester seniors, juniors and exceptional sophomores from all academic backgrounds attending member colleges of The Venture Consortium. (Students from non-Venture schools may apply if there are any available openings.) The application deadline for the Spring program is in mid-October; applications for the Fall program are due in mid-March. Applications must be submitted to individual UES Program Coordinators by the deadline, and selection committees on each campus review and evaluate them. The applications with comments from the on-campus committee are then forwarded to the Director of the program at Bank Street College of Education and the Director of the Venture Consortium for final review. Students of all academic backgrounds may apply. Some students choose to apply to the program because of an interest in education and perhaps pursuing a career in teaching; others apply because of a broad-based interest in issues such as community development, urban environments, policy, culture, systemic reform, and social change. In the written application and in the interview, applicants should be able to articulate why they would like to participate in the program and to describe their particular interest in urban public education. Applicants should demonstrate an ability to adapt to new environments, flexibility, maturity, and a willingness to actively learn in their Bank Street classes, in their classroom placement, and to be an active and supportive member of the UES group. Applicants must be in good academic standing at their home institution. Go to this page for more instructions on how to apply for UES. (back to top) This is an intellectually, physically, and emotionally demanding program. Participants work part-time as interns in a classroom or policy placement from approximately 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM three days a week (and need to travel there and back); they also take a full graduate-level courseload and are in classes at Bank Street from 4:30 to 9:00 most evenings. Students commute to all of these sites around New York City by subway or bus, and find that any spare moment while commuting is used to catch up on reading or class preparation. Please consider the implications of participating in a program that is this demanding of your time and energy, and the issues that may interfere with your full participation in this program. In addition, please keep in mind that most of you will be experiencing graduate-level courses for the first time. While accepted UES students are capable of handling these courses, students should expect that the nature of the coursework is different than undergraduate work and may be more rigorous in various aspects. For example, the Bank Street faculty expects that its graduate students will actively participate in class on a regular basis, complete and incorporate the reading assignments into class discussion, and attend all classes unless they are excused for emergency reasons. The faculty evaluates students on their ongoing class participation, articulation of the concepts covered in the readings, and completion of all classroom assignments. This is the expectation of all of the professors, knowing full well that you are also working three days per week in your classroom or policy placement while going to school in the evenings. Moreover, the living situation will not be the same as living in a dorm on your home campus. While you live with other college students from this program and from various other schools, past program participants have found that initiative, maturity and flexibility are needed in order to get the most out of the living arrangement. Indeed, student participants must adjust to navigating several different environments – Bank Street, a public school and a classroom, your home at the 92nd Street Y, and New York City as a whole. Becoming familiar and comfortable with so many new environments is very challenging! Moreover, the program staff expects each student to actively participate and to conduct themselves responsibly as an individual and as a representative of the UES group of 7-14 students. Finally, please review the program fees and additional expenses (don’t forget to consider the cost of food, transportation, etc.) carefully with your family, school advisor(s) and financial aid office. Tuition and room, in addition to expenses for food, public transportation, books, and personal needs, must be carefully considered before deciding to participate in the program. (back to top) > who we are,
program structure, student support
Maggie Martinez-DeLuca, Director of the program at Bank Street, has been a teacher and involved in the field of education for over 40 years. She currently teaches at one of the public schools in the City and is a faculty member at Bank Street. She is also on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and she is a Math Staff Developer in the New York City, Long Island, and Westchester public schools. Maggie holds a Masters degree from Bank Street. Maggie is responsible for final program participant selection (with Peggy Chang) and for the Bank Street portion of the program. This includes coordinating your class selections at Bank Street, serving as one of the advisement seminar/conference group advisors, and arranging your classroom placement with the New York City schools and cooperating public school teachers. Maggie is also responsible for working with Venture to help determine the current and future direction of the program. Peggy Chang is the Director of Venture's central office based at Brown University in Providence, RI. She is responsible for overseeing the overall management of the program. This includes program operation and development, the on-campus application process, working with Maggie on final program participant selection, program publicity, providing information about the program on the campuses, and billing procedures. Peggy also works with Bank Street to help determine the current and future direction of the program. You may call Peggy at Venture anytime with any questions you may have regarding all aspects of the program - Bank Street curriculum, transfer of credit, housing, financial aid, etc. Peggy may not be able to directly answer your questions, but she can then refer you to the appropriate person at Bank Street, the Y, or on your home campus. The program also includes a second Faculty Advisor, Betsy Grob, a Student Services Support Coordinator, Kristin McCracken, and a staff contact person at the 92nd Street Y, Sandy Cohen. The second Faculty Advisor leads one of the conference groups and is the advisor for half of the UES students. Betsy and Maggie work closely together to plan the advisement piece of the curriculum. The Student Support Coordinator plays a central role in supporting students with their housing/living arrangements, planning group activities, and assisting students in emergency situations. Kristen also works closely with the Venture Director and with Sandy with regards to housing issues and with the UES Director to plan activities. Sandy, the staff contact at the Y will be available to assist UES students with issues related to the Y and their living arrangements, and stays in close contact with the Venture Director and Student Support Coordinator. The UES Program Coordinators are responsible for providing you with information about the Urban Education Semester. They also coordinate the on-campus selection committee process, and advise students about transfer of credit with faculty advisors and financial aid issues with your school's financial aid office. They also work with Peggy at Venture to adequately publicize the program on your campus. In 2006, the Venture Board of Directors established an advisory board of faculty for the program. (back to top) > frequently
asked questions
Who typically applies to and participates
in this program? Rising seniors, juniors, and exceptional sophomores have participated in this program. We say "exceptional" sophomores, because the selection committee takes into account the applicant's readiness for graduate level courses and past experiences with managing multiple responsibilities. Students majoring in education, urban studies, as well as biology, neuroscience, sociology, psychology, history, and cultural studies have participated in the program. The program introduces liberal arts students to the theory and practice of urban education, and it is not a teacher preparation program. Therefore, it attracts students who may be interested in a career in teaching, who want to examine urban education from a policy standpoint, who enjoy working with children, or who are interested in exploring issues of social justice and civic responsibility. How do I arrange for the transfer of credit? All participating Venture schools have approved the Urban Education Semester for credit, and the program appears on your college transcript upon completion of and payment for the program. Each Venture school has a different policy as to how the school and individual academic departments approve credit for the program. Please contact your Venture UES Program Coordinator to find out your school's policy. Many students have been able to have some of the Bank Street courses count towards credit for their academic major. What are the classroom placements like? Can I ask to work
with a certain age group? New York City has one of the most diverse public school student populations and educational settings in the country. UES students have worked with kindergarten through high school age students in bilingual, special education, science and arts education classrooms. The school may possess a traditional philosophy of education or an "alternative" approach. Some of the schools have a primarily Latino, African American, or student of color population. In short, the placements vary with regards to age group, type of classroom, school philosophy and culture. When accepted to the program, participants are asked to express what type of classroom placement he/she would like and why. The program director carefully reviews the student's program application and placement request, and she makes the best placement choice possible for each student. What if I’m interested in education policy? Students who would prefer to focus more specifically on education and policy may do so by requesting such a placement. These settings may include working alongside with school administrators or district policy makers. Since it is our belief that all education policy makers have some knowledge of classroom teaching and learning, the UES advisement seminar will offer students interested in policy the opportunity to discuss the classroom setting with fellow UES participants who are placed there. What are the courses like at Bank Street? Bank Street is a graduate school of education, and the nature of the coursework may be strikingly different from undergraduate work at a liberal arts school. Students are expected to actively participate in class and to apply the theories and issues discussed in the readings to the class discussion. Being active in the classroom is taken very seriously; students are evaluated on their level of participation. Also, all of the courses are related to education and teaching in some way. Consequently, each course looks at education in a theoretical or practice-oriented context. The students at Bank Street include recent liberal arts graduates, experienced teachers focusing on specialization and people interested in second careers in education and in various child advocacy professions. Do I have to live in the housing provided by the program? All program participants are required to live together in dormitory-style accommodations secured by The Venture Consortium. This group living arrangement is an integral part of the UES experience. Participants provide each other with support, friendship and a sense of community as they adjust to the challenges of living and working in a new environment. This is a very intense program, and we believe that students gain a lot from one another by living in a common location. In addition, the program provides a staff Student Support Coordinator, who will meet with the students regularly at the housing facility for meals and informal meetings. (back to top) page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | page 5 |
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