Palm-framed vistas of the blue Pacific and the
golden Santa Ynez Mountains. The scent of eucalyptus mixed with the saltwater
breeze. 
Breathtaking
natural beauty combined with enormous intellectual vitality. This is the University
of California, Santa Barbara, and there is no other campus quite like it, anywhere.
Here on the edge of the Pacific, in a setting removed from urban pressures and distractions but vibrant with cultural and academic activity, many of the country's most promising students join a community of scholars whose accomplishments are internationally recognized and whose skills as teachers of undergraduates are evident each day in laboratories and classrooms designed for the 21st century.
UCSB fosters new approaches to learning that are not bound by tradition, stressing collaboration between students and their instructors across disciplinary lines, often in small classes. This is among the chief reasons why so many top students and renowned scholars are attracted to the campus. More than a quarter of all undergraduates are involved in original research, working on teams with graduate students and faculty members. Such hands-on scholarship, conducted under the supervision of professors who are eminent in their fields, fosters critical thinking skills and helps prepare students for future careers and advanced study.
The university enrolls some 19,000 students, about 2,500 of them at the graduate level. Competition for admission is at an all time high. Last year, the campus welcomed the most academically competitive and ethnically diverse class it had ever enrolled.
The College of Letters and Science offers nearly 80 majors, with the biological sciences, communications, and economics among the most popular fields. The College of Creative Studies offers an alternative approach for students pursuing advanced, independent work in the arts, mathematics, or the sciences. The College of Engineering offers degree programs in chemical, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and in computer science. The university also has two professional schools: the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.
A leading research institution, UCSB is one of the 65 research-intensive institutions
selected for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.
The distinguished 900-member faculty includes 
three
Nobel Prize winners and dozens of members of the National Academy of Sciences,
the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
as well as fellows of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
At UCSB, teaching and research go hand in hand. The knowledge that is shared tomorrow comes from research that is done today. Our philosophy of education holds that research, scholarship, and apprenticeship are central to learning and vital to creating the climate of inquiry essential to professors and students alike.
Originally a small, independent teachers' college, Santa Barbara joined the prestigious University of California system in 1944 and has since grown to be an integral and important part of public postsecondary education in the state. Responsibility for governing the University of California system is vested in a corporate board of 26 gubernatorially appointed and elected members known as The Regents of the University of California. The Regents share authority with the University president, the chancellor of each campus, and the Academic Senate, representing the faculty.
Recognition of UCSB's academic quality takes many forms. One of the most prestigious is support from the National Science Foundation. The campus is now home to eight national research centers and institutes, six of which are sponsored by the NSF, including the Materials Research Laboratory and the Institute for Theoretical Physics. The institute's innovative mode of operationa small, superb faculty interacting with groups of visiting scholarshas been widely imitated by leading research centers around the world.
Recently, UCSB was selected to host one of the first three California Institutes for Science and Innovation. The California NanoSystems Institute, a research partnership between UCSB and UCLA, is expected to produce scientific advances in fields critical to the future of California's economy.
The vast majority of students live within walking distance of their classes. Seven miles of bikeways link this closely knit academic community, giving students easy access to a rich array of social, cultural, academic and athletic events.
Another distinguishing characteristic of UCSB is its proximity to two very different communities. Isla Vista, the adjacent student community, is a place for social and civic growth, where students serve on local boards and county committees and perform volunteer service. Nearby Santa Barbara an energetic, mid-sized city with a deep concern for history, the arts, and the environment is highly regarded for its cultural and recreational resources. UCSB students are truly citizens of these communities. Many students serve in the larger Santa Barbara region as volunteers and interns at hundreds of nonprofit and public agencies.
On or off campus, the UC Santa Barbara experience presents opportunities for students to learn, contribute, and grow in a setting of unmatched beauty and in a supportive and collaborative intellectual climate.
UCSB can be reached easily by public transportation. It is adjacent to the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, which offers flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities. Highway 101, California's major coastal route, passes less than a mile from UCSB, with clearly marked exits for the campus. Santa Barbara is also served by Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Lines, with regular shuttle buses between downtown Santa Barbara and the campus, eight miles away.
Click here to open the Library web site in a new browser window.
UCSB's Donald C. Davidson
Library is a major research facility. As a member of the Association of
Research Libraries, the Center for Research Libraries, and the Research Libraries
Group, it participates in cooperative 
programs
and policy development with other major research libraries to provide collections
and services for the UCSB community.
The library has approximately 2.6 million books and bound journals. The collection grows by about 50,000 volumes annually. In addition, the library has an extensive collection of maps, technical reports, satellite imagery, government documents, manuscripts, and microformat materials.
UCSB's library collection is housed in two buildings: the Davidson Library and the Arts Library. Davidson Library houses the general collection as well as several specialized units and services, which offer materials on specific subject areas or in specialized formats. Examples include the Science and Engineering Library (which provides more than 5,000 current serial subscriptions, 300,000 volumes, and 550,000 technical reports), the Map and Imagery Laboratory, the Curriculum Laboratory, and the Ethnic and Gender Studies Library. Also located in the Main Library is the Department of Special Collections, which houses rare books and manuscripts as well as several distinguished collections, including the Wyles Collection on the American West, the Skofield Printers' Collection, the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives, and other in-depth research collections.
Some of the special services in the Davidson Library include computerized access to the catalogs of all UC libraries; computerized access to citations in bibliographic databases and electronic journals in all subjects; general internet access; and a Kurzweil Reading Machine for the blind, jointly owned and operated with the Disabled Students Program.
The Arts Library is a full-service branch library that supports academic programs in art and music. In addition to the substantial book and journal collections, special materials include art auction and exhibition catalogs, more than 60,000 sound recordings, and a collection of music scores.
Computing facilities on campus are readily available to all registered UCSB students. Instructional Computing (IC) has an Open Access lab with both Macintosh and IBM computers for general student use. Access to instructional labs are designated by course requirements. Computing facilities set aside for the use of classes are IC labs (Macintosh: G3 & G4 labs; PC: Pentium 166, 200, 333 & 866 labs; Open Access Lab; and the new Media Center in Kerr Hall), the Humanities and Social Sciences Computing facility (limited to faculty, staff, and graduate students), the Life Sciences Computing Facility, the Oceanography computing facility, the Storke Pentium lab, and the Engineering Computing Infrastructure (ECI). Hours and restrictions vary with individual labs. For additional information visit our web site: www.ic.ucsb.edu (will open in a new browser window).
Click here to open the Instructional Development web site in a new browser window.
Instructional Development enhances teaching and research with its two branches of Instructional Consultation and Instructional Resources.
The Office
of Instructional Consultation offers expertise in various teaching methods,
curriculum development, testing, and evaluation. The Instructional Improvement
Program provides financial backing to faculty involved in innovative instructional
projects. All of this enables faculty to teach in the most effective manner
and to bring to students the fruits of their latest research.
Instructional Resources provides numerous technological aids to support the educational process. Sophisticated student learning and language laboratories, comprehensive media production, and presentation support are among the many services offered.
The newly renovated University Art Museum is located in the shadow of Storke Tower, adjacent to the University Center. Three galleries are devoted to the Museum's permanent collections and two feature regularly changing exhibitions. The exhibition program, balanced between historical and contemporary art, architecture, and design traditions, features art and artists of diverse global cultures. Exhibitions complement academic programs, particularly in the arts and humanities, and interdisciplinary projects are encouraged.
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At the end of each academic year, the museum showcases the work of undergraduate students in the Department of Art Studio. Student internships and courses in museum practices are offered through the Department of the History of Architecture and Art.
The permanent collections include approximately 7,000 art objects, ranging from ancient terra cottas to old master drawings to contemporary sculpture, with work produced in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. The Sedgwick Collection of 15th- 16th- and 17th-century European paintings and the Morgenroth Collection of Renaissance medals and plaquettes are featured in the new "The Renaissance Revealed" Gallery. The Architecture and Design Collection contains the archives of 40 Southern-California based architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and designers.
The University Art Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums. It is open Tuesday, 12:00-8:00 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday, 12:00-5:00 p.m., and is closed on Monday and major holidays. Docent tours are available at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Call the Museum at (805) 893-2951 for information on tours and special programs. Visit our web site: www.uam.ucsb.edu (will open in a new browser window).
Understanding that the arts are an essential component of education, Arts & Lectures serves the university and the Santa Barbara community by presenting approximately 125 cultural events each year. These entertaining and innovative performances, films and lectures enhance the intellectual life of the campus and help to sustain an inclusive and diverse community.
Arts & Lectures' performing arts season features more than 30 international professional artists and ensembles of the highest calibre. Exceptional dancers, musicians (traditional, classical and jazz artists from all over the world), actors and theater companies give public performances and participate in master classes, meet-the-artists discussions and workshops on campus and in the community.
Arts & Lectures presents prominent and provocative speakers who lecture on a wide range of subjects including science, national and world affairs, outdoor adventure, history, the arts and contemporary culture. Frequently, notable writers read from, discuss and autograph their books.
Arts & Lectures screens high-quality and unique international cinema. Award-winning feature films, acclaimed documentaries and silent classics with live musical accompaniment are standard fare. Occasionally filmmakers are on hand to introduce their films and talk with audiences.
Arts & Lectures presents most of its events at UCSB in Campbell Hall. Other campus venues are used as well, particularly for lectures and writers' readings. In collaboration with other Santa Barbara organizations, A&L presents events downtown at the Lobero Theatre, the Natural History Museum, the Unitarian Society and other community sites.
For more information: (805) 893-3535. The Arts & Lectures Ticket Office is located in Building 402 and is open Monday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm. Visit Arts & Lectures' website: www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu (will open in a new browser window).
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