School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS)
Campus Communities
Student Life
Placement Testing and Orientation/Registration
Academic Life

The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS)

The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, formerly Cook College, offers professional and pre-professional curricula in the sciences that are related to the environment or agriculture, covering the spectrum from organisms to ecosystems. Students may earn the baccalaureate degree in a number of majors in the biological, environmental, food and nutritional, marine and agricultural sciences. While all programs are based on a foundation in the physical and biological sciences, the social and human dimensions of scientific practice also are emphasized in majors such as environmental and business economics, environmental planning and design, and environmental policy, institutions and behavior.

The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences also offers a variety of interdisciplinary and certificate programs related to pre-professional (e.g. pre-veterinary medicine) or environmental studies, as well as a cooperative education program, enabling students to earn academic credit while gaining hands-on experience related to their major or career interest. Students in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences will also have access to several accelerated health professions programs, including joint degrees with medical and dental programs offered through the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

There are five residential campus options available to School of Environmental and Biological Sciences students: Busch, College Avenue, Cook, Douglass, and Livingston. Students living off-campus will be encouraged to become a part of one of the five residential campus communities or, in the case of working adults and other non-traditional students, the University College Community. Women will also have the option of selecting Douglass Residential College, located on the Douglass Campus, as their community.

Note to Those Interested in the Biological/Life Sciences:

Both the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences-Division of Life Sciences - offer a number of majors in the broad area of the biological/life sciences. The School of Arts and Sciences offers majors that focus on the biological sciences and their application to biomedicine, while the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences offers majors that focus on the biological sciences as applied to the natural world. Advising is available to assist students with their selection of a major and career path. For further information about the offerings of the two schools, please visit the biological/life sciences web page.

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Campus Communities

Each student will be able to choose, subject to availability, to live on any one of the five residential campuses: Busch, College Avenue, Cook, Douglass, and Livingston. Students living off-campus will be encouraged to become a part of one of the five residential campus communities or, in the case of working adults and other non-traditional students, the University College Community. Women will also have the option of selecting Douglass Residential College, located on the Douglass Campus, as their community.

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Student Life

Student life programs at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and Rutgers provide involvement opportunities through co-curricular social, educational, employment, health and wellness programs to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Through our student life programs we:

• Cultivate a cohesive campus community through the academic and personal development of the student
• Create an environment for individual growth
• Provide opportunities for the development of skills
• Empower students to make changes
• Encourage opportunities to build community by promoting leadership, citizenship, problem solving, and respect for self and others

Helping others is a core principle of the life sciences discipline. In response to that ideal, we encourage our students to create, organize, and participate in various events that support our surrounding community, such as the Halloween Monster Mash, Relay for Life, and the JDF Walk.

Students are encouraged to experiment and develop innovative programs that address future student life needs.

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Placement Testing and Orientation/Registration

Placement Testing

• Rutgers University requires that all incoming first-year students take the Rutgers Basic Placement Exam in both College-Level Math and English. These tests are designed to provide information about your skills in the English language and in mathematics. The test results will be used, along with other information, to place you in the courses and sections appropriate to your level of preparation.

Orientation/Registration

• The orientation/registration program provides an opportunity for you to become familiar with your campus, meet new friends, and prepare to enter your first year of college. At registration you learn your placement test results and discuss your course selection with a college advisor. 

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Academic Life

The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences supports a vibrant undergraduate intellectual life that includes full access by students to learning communities, opportunities for experiential learning including research and other scholarly work, peer and faculty mentoring, academic advising, and other activities that promote student-faculty connections beyond the classroom.

Academic Advising

• Throughout their matriculation, students select courses and develop their academic program in close consultation with an academic adviser.
• During the first year, students are assigned to an academic adviser. In all subsequent years, students are advised by a faculty member in the student's selected program(s) of study.
• Advising notwithstanding, students must assume full responsibility for meeting all curriculum and college requirements and for being sure they have the proper prerequisites for any course for which they register.
• Students are encouraged to meet with their advisers throughout the academic year.

Rutgers Learning Centers

• There are several Rutgers Learning Centers situated on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus which provides a comprehensive array of academic support services to meet the needs of diverse learners. Through this assistance, students are helped to develop effective learning strategies.

Specific services include:

• Academic tutoring
• Study groups
• Supplemental instruction
• Instructional computing
• A learning lab

• The Math and Science Learning Centers provide support services for students seeking assistance in math and science courses.  They also provide outreach programs for K-12 students. They have locations on the Busch and Douglass campuses.

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