Frequently Asked Questions

1. How good does my Spanish, French or Russian need to be?

   You need to have successfully completed at least 3 years of high school Spanish, French or Russian or you need to have equivalent language experience through study abroad, immersion programs or cultural exposure to the language. The brief program application asks you for evidence of success in Spanish, French or Russian. We attract a wide range of speaking levels to the program, from “took three years but not yet confident” to native speaker. This RAP is designed to help you advance from wherever you are so that you won’t lose the language skills that you’ve already invested your time in. The RAP is designed to help you keep and improve your Spanish, French or Russian through partial language immersion, casual exposure to language and culture (movies, music, activities, food, etc.) , and a focus on the contexts within which the language is meaningful.

2. What RAP classes will I take?

   In the fall semester, you participate in HUEN 2843 The Meaning of IT, an interactive seminartaught by Faculty Director Diane Sieberon Information Technology and Global Communications. This 3-credit course fulfills part of the College of Engineering Humanities and Social Sciences requirement. The course will take place in both multiple languages, adjusted to the needs of class members. In this course, we will consider what it means to be engineers and active citizens in a networked digital age. We will examine the big thematic thread of the search for authentic information, whether in digital imagery, viral video, or sound formats. We will look at digital rights management, government regulation of IT and the legal and personal implications of being public on the web, and we will consider the concept of privacy as a recent societal value. The largest portion of the semester will be dedicated to the examination of IT’s modification of our social behavior, and of our means of gathering, interacting with, producing, displaying and using information. We will consider who we are and who we become in social networks, online games, virtual worlds and global collaborative networks. Most fundamentally, we will explore the question of what it means to be human in a rapidly-changing world. You will also get hands-on experience using the basic global collaboration tools used in engineering firms, learn to read the cultural cues of colleagues in other countries, and develop your own professional telecommunications presence and style. Finally, you will examine your online presence, clean up anything you find that does not reflect who you think you are, and develop the public professional identity that you wish to project as an engineer.

   During spring semester, you enroll in the hands-on freshman engineering projects course (COEN 14003 credit hours), with a special focus on engineering for developing communities. This course will be taught in the new Idea Forge design center, which is 40 feet from Kittredge Central.

   Optional class HUEN 3843 Literary Conversations can be taken either as a 1-credit or a 3-credit course with Dr. Sieber. You will read materials ranging from literature and news articles to engineering research papers and technical documents. You will practice your Spanish, French or Russian, with particular attention to Engineering-specific vocabulary. This course fulfills 3 upper-division credit hours of the Engineering College humanities and social sciences requirement.

   New for the 2015/2016 year we will be offering small sections of Calculus and Pre-Calculus. These will be optional but a great option for anyone that has not fulfilled those requirements yet. The smaller sections will allow more individualized attention for the RAP students allowing them a better chance at success in these difficult classes.

3. How does this fit into the Engineering Curriculum?

   HUEN 2843 Informatica global fulfills 3 credit hours of the Engineering College Humanities and Social Sciences course requirement

   COEN 1400 is a technical elective recommended for incoming freshman by most engineering departments.

   HUEN 3843 Literary Conversations counts as an upper-division humanities course toward your 18 required hours of Humanities and Social Sciences.

   All of these courses also count toward two Engineering College certificate programs: International Engineering (which focuses on language and culture and involves an international internship) and Global Engineering (which focuses on international collaborative engineering design and engineering for developing communities). In fact, you will complete 20% of each certificate through participation in the Global Engineering RAP.

4. I’m concerned about living with just engineers, will this be Nerdfest 2015?

   Kitt Central is also home to the Leadership Residential Academic Program, comprised of students from throughout the university, not just the College of Engineering. Kitt Central is centrally located among seven major RAP programs representing students from almost every major on campus. At the same time, we have a quiet community retreat within the residence hall and will attract an interesting and diverse blend of engineering students. We have intermural sports teams, musicians, dancers, artists and professional cooks among us.

5. Do I need to apply to the Global Engineering Residential Academic Program?

   Yes, the brief application is located under the Application tab on this website. Only 50 students will be admitted to this relatively new program during the current academic year; we anticipate that as many as 40 students currently in the RAP will return next year to be mentors and support for incoming 1st-year students and other upper-division students will transfer in. The program has grown to 113 residents in 2014 and occupies the entire 1st and 2nd floor of Kittredge Central. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible if you feel that the goals and contents of this program are right for you, as we will notify applicants of acceptance on a rolling basis. You can expect to hear back from us within 2 weeks of submitting your application.

   Note: The application process for the Global Engineering Residential Academic Program is completely separate from the general application process for the College of Engineering. We have our own online application and review process. You can apply to our program before hearing about your admission to the College of Engineering, but being accepted to our program depends, of course, on being also accepted to the College of Engineering.

6. Is the RAP just freshmen?

   No, not at all. In fact, it is really important to live among more experienced students who can help you understand specific coursework and how things work in each of the majors in the college. We anticipate that as many as 40 students currently in the RAP will return next year to be mentors and support for incoming 1st-year students. Also, a number of Junior and Senior engineers are joining us to practice their Spanish. Associate Dean Sieber and her daughter Isabel also live here, with their labrador puppy Inigo Montoya.

7. Is there a RAP fee?

   Yes. Like all Residential Academic Programs (RAPs) at CU-Boulder, there is a program fee of $850 dollars per academic year for students who live in the RAP. The Engineering College thinks these residential programs are significant for your success as an engineer; we will provide to every Engineering RAP Resident (that, is those who choose to live in Andrews Hall, Global Engineering or Sustainable by Design) a $500 participation scholarship which will defray the cost of these program fees.