We’re hosting our first ever virtual regional competition for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021! We are hoping to engage 40 volunteers (science background not required).

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is an academic competition for high school students. Teams of students compete in single-team round-robins and head-to-head double eliminations by answering all manner of ocean science trivia.

Quick summary

• We’re anticipating 10–11 virtual rooms simultaneously in the morning, so we really need help with morning rounds.
• 11 teams from four states are signed up so far.
• We’ll have lots of virtual trainings available at the end of January, plus recorded trainings.
• Flexible shifts available. 

Volunteer roles

• Science Judge: Recognizes teams and resets the lockout system/buzzer. This position needs a device capable of running Java.
• Time Keeper/Score Keeper: Combines the two roles of Time Keeper and Score Keeper, however we’ll use an integrated interface so you won’t need to do any mental math or maintain a physical time clock—it will all be in one place online.
• Rules Judge/Room Officiant: Take challenges to competition staff, watches student video screens for signs of cheating, maintains a hard copy scoresheet (in Excel).

Sign up to volunteer.

The Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG) is hiring a diversity and inclusion chair for spring 2021. No prior experience with GPSG is necessary to apply. Please submit your application by Friday, Jan. 8.

The diversity and inclusion chair oversees diversity and inclusion efforts and initiatives for the benefit of the CU Boulder graduate and professional student community. The position also communicates and collaborates with other diversity and inclusion initiatives originating in different offices around campus. Responsibilities include weekly meetings for GPSG officer team and attending assembly meetings.

The pay for this position is $125 every two weeks. The term for this position ends in May 2021. Please contact Em (vpinternal.gpsg@colorado.edu) and Edu (diversity.gpsg@colorado.edu) with any questions about the position.

In alignment with much of campus, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will provide limited support Dec. 28–31. While the IT Service Center and Buff Techs desktop support service will have a reduced staff on hand to provide basic support services during this timeframe, OIT will be available only to assure that critical services remain operational during this period. Support cases that cannot be resolved by IT Service Center or Buff Techs will be addressed starting Jan. 4.

The city of Boulder would like to thank CU students, faculty and staff who participated in the city’s recent Retail S.O.S. gift card program to support Boulder retailers. The program was a big success and is now closed. Purchasers have until the end of the day on Dec. 30 to spend their Boulder Bonus Bucks cards, but the purchased Boulder gift cards do not expire—purchasers can spend those at the over 100 merchants listed.

From now through Dec. 30, the city will fund the Restaurant S.O.S. program to eliminate all delivery fees and other service charges for restaurant orders through Nosh Boulder. New customers can get a one-time $10 off of orders of $25 or more (use coupon code NOSHCITY). As an additional benefit to the local restaurant industry, the company has agreed to cap their delivery fees for participating Boulder restaurants at 15% through 2021. This is a great way to support our local restaurants while dining safely at home!

The offices of the Bursar, Registrar, Admissions and Financial Aid will be closed Dec. 24–25 and Jan. 1, with a large number of staff on leave Dec. 28–31. Normal business hours will resume at 9 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2021.

Struggling with COVID anxiety? Feeling down, hopeless or stuck in a cycle of unproductive worry? Low-cost teletherapy is available through CU Boulder’s Raimy Psychology Clinic, for individuals residing in Colorado. Sessions are held through the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Raimy Clinic therapists can provide help coping with stress, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and other difficulties during this very challenging time! Special low rates are available for all CU Boulder students, staff and faculty, or family members of full-time staff or faculty. Therapy is free for freshman students! Openings for new clients are available now. Email or call now to start the intake process.

For more information, call our intake coordinator, Julia Salinger, at 303-492-5177; email raimy@colorado.edu; or visit our website.

Looking for housing for next semester or next year? The fall virtual CU Housing Expo is still going on through the end of December! Visit the Virtual Housing Expo page to register for the free expo and connect with off-campus property managers, vendors, city offices and to review pre-recorded videos and presentations.

Have questions or additional needs? Please feel free to contact Off-Campus Housing & Neighborhood Relations for assistance.

The 2021–22 McNair Scholar application is now open to all eligible sophomores and juniors at CU Boulder. 

The McNair Scholars Program is a federal TRiO Program at 187 universities across the United States. The two-year program is designed to prepare undergraduates from underrepresented background with high academic potential who are committed to attending a graduate school to earn a PhD or EdD. We support first-generation, low-income and underrepresented juniors and seniors through research funding, professional development and graduate school preparation.

The deadline to apply is Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021.

Please visit the website for more information and to apply. If you have any questions, contact Program Coordinator Joanne Liu at mcnairscholars@colorado.edu.

This spring (2021), STEM Routes partners with several CU faculty members to bring you paid 8- and 16-week research opportunities intended to develop you as a scientist—that means you don’t need previous research or lab experience to apply.

STEM Routes Uplift has been designed with the intent of minimizing the barriers that underrepresented minorities face when engaging with research.

You can apply for a paid research position on up to five of the projects in our database. We encourage you to read through the current projects.  If you don’t see something that interests you now, check back later, as our project pool is being continually updated. 

Check out the website for details and send questions to the STEM Routes team at stem_routes@colorado.edu.

The CU Youth Piano Program has opened the registration period for piano lessons for the spring 2021 semester.

This spring, all lessons will be conducted online. We will re-evaluate the lesson modality every month based on CU and the College of Music guidelines. 

Details about the program: 

• 14 lessons with experienced graduate teachers
• Options of 30, 45 or 60 minutes per week
• Lessons start after Jan. 14 and follow the CU Boulder calendar
• All levels of experience welcome
• Ages 6–18

Get details or pre-register now.

Struggling with COVID anxiety? Feeling down, hopeless or stuck in a cycle of unproductive worry? Low-cost teletherapy is available through CU Boulder’s Raimy Psychology Clinic, for individuals residing in Colorado. Sessions are held through the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Raimy Clinic therapists can provide help coping with stress, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and other difficulties during this very challenging time! Special low rates are available for all CU Boulder students, staff and faculty, or family members of full-time staff or faculty. Therapy is free for freshman students! Openings for new clients are available now. Email or call now to start the intake process.

For more information, call our intake coordinator, Julia Salinger, at 303-492-5177; email raimy@colorado.edu; or visit our website.

For the month of winter break, look for the student and faculty-staff editions of CU Boulder Today in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the publication will take recesses on Dec. 24, as well as Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. As always, the publication is available online.

Need to subscribe? Sign up for the newsletter and be in the know!

CU Boulder's International English Center and Department of Linguistics are offering two remote 3-credit courses for speakers of English as an additional language in spring 2021: Academic Oral Communication in English and English for Academic Purposes.

LING 3200 Academic Oral Communication in English

Remote: Tuesday/Thursday 8–9:15 a.m.
This course improves students' oral communication skills for effective academic interactions. Specific attention is given to presentation skills of developing, explaining and clarifying ideas, and discussion skills including interrupting, hedging and responding to questions. Students deliver formal presentations and impromptu speeches and lead and participate in group discussions. Students improve active listening skills, non-verbal communication and English pronunciation. 

LING 3210 English for Academic Purposes

Remote: Tuesday/Thursday 5:30–6:45 p.m.
This course develops academic English skills for university-level work. Students sharpen English accuracy through academic reading, writing, speaking and listening practice. They learn to express ideas more clearly, both orally and in writing, while engaging critically in class discussions, and giving presentations, including on a researched topic related to their major. Students improve grammatical accuracy, vocabulary development and critical thinking.

Courses satisfy elective credit for undergraduate degree completion. See your advisor for information about how and when to register. 

Struggling with COVID anxiety? Feeling down, hopeless or stuck in a cycle of unproductive worry? Low-cost teletherapy is available through CU Boulder’s Raimy Psychology Clinic, for individuals residing in Colorado. Sessions are held through the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Raimy Clinic therapists can provide help coping with stress, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and other difficulties during this very challenging time! Special low rates are available for all CU Boulder students, staff and faculty, or family members of full-time staff or faculty. Therapy is free for freshman students! Openings for new clients are available now. Email or call now to start the intake process.

For more information, call our intake coordinator, Julia Salinger, at 303-492-5177; email raimy@colorado.edu; or visit our website.

Any student, alumni, faculty or staff is encouraged to submit a play (or two or three) to this year’s New Play Festival—hosted by CU Boulder Department of Theatre & Dance and helmed by graduate students Matara Hitchcock, Ashlyn Barnett, Heather Kelly, Hanna Golan, Nolan Carey and Ben Stasny.

There are four categories:

• Full Length
• 1 Acts
• 10 Minute Plays
• Performance Scenarios

All selected works receive staged readings and are offered a feedback session during the festival. The winner becomes incorporated into the Department of Theatre & Dance's next season as a full production! 

The submission deadline is Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021.

We are also looking for actors, directors, play readers and more! Be a pal and give us a like on Facebook CU Boulder 5th Annual New Play Festival to stay up to date, and be sure to check out our website for more information.