We are excited to announce a new initiative in the Design Cultures & Creativity living-learning program: DCC Families!
Beginning in Fall 2022, the DCC community will be organized into ten families, comprised of approximately 12-15 students—from both the incoming and returning cohorts—each. The new initiative has been designed in response to feedback from recent years, as DCC's former Big Buddies system has failed to deliver the kinds of reliable academic, social, and creative support that our students need and thrive upon.
Within their families, students will have a built-in network of people to support them, whether that means:
- sharing knowledge about UMD, campus, life;
- trading secrets and tips about schoolwork, professors to seek out or avoid, how to balance life's activities and obligations;
- hearing about fun events or exciting opportunities across campus to meet other people and grow as an individual;
- and/or, sustaining their motivation and curiosity about their creative pursuits and interests.
In their Family, students will also find themselves to be the member of a team. They will earn points for participating in DCC events and challenges, and will also joining together in friendly competition against other DCC Families throughout the academic year. It'll be a fun and healthy way for all students to stay engaged in DCC—and connected with their creative impulses—as life and school pull them in different directions.
The inaugural Families will be announced during Welcome Weekend, on Sunday, August 28. All DCC students are invited to a Family Breakfast in order to meet their Family and start building bonds. For students who are unable to attend, Families will be announced via social media and in the first DCC monthly newsletter.
Points-earning for official competition will begin on the first day of class, on Monday, August 29.