CHANCELLOR REPORT

2012-2013

Engaging Education (e²) is a Student-Initiated Outreach and Retention Center for student engagement and academic

excellence.

•It is a supportive and dynamic space for programming that addresses the low rates of recruitment, retention and graduation that historically under resourced communities face within higher education.

•To build a foundation for students to grow and engage in grassroots organizing, student activism, community building both inside and outside the university, and understanding of legacies of social justice struggles.

•e² partners with the University of California community to provide a purposeful, transform active, and relevant educational experience for all students

• Social Justice• Continuing the struggle to increase access to higher education for under-

resourced communities

• Student Power• Students bring unique strategies and perspectives that are essential in a

movement working towards social equities.

• Student Community Center• Through the creation of a physical space, e2 establishes an outreach

and retention center which provides a safe haven for students to dialogue, promote social justice, bridge gaps, and create a sense of community

• Creating a New World Paradigm• Challenge the current educational system to support the experiences

and needs of historically under resourced communities to give birth to a critical consciousness for understanding the role and conditions of education

The enclosed report consists of the statistical and other information gathered from Engaging Education Student Initiated Outreach Programs for the 2012-2013 academic year. The report will touch upon the overall aspects and highlights that took place in Engaging Education. The report will also show areas of improvements for Engaging Education in future years. Within the report we provide the accomplishments of the Student-Initiated Outreach Programs, areas of improvement, demographics and data collected, and areas of growth and development. This collection of information highlights the ability of students to develop high-functioning programs that address their community’s needs in accessing higher education, but also their dedication to maintain a space on campus where students can be active agents of change.

The work of Engaging Education is based on the theoretical framework of popular education through which students are able to discuss and engage in work that allows them to work with and educate their growing communities. This is achieved through the collaborative decision making process Engaging Education employs in moving forward with methods to address community needs through our Student-Initiated Outreach programming. This process has lead to our non-yield programs ultimately yielding students to our campus and to other universities.

During the Academic year of 2012-2013 Engaging Education continued its membership expansion by gaining a new member in our Board of Directors, the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT). Like the other programs that are housed under Engaging Education, AATAT focuses on outreaching to under-resourced and underrepresented students. What is unique to this program is that they take their whole production to the Monterey Bay area and perform in front of at risk high school youth. In addition to performing, the members of the cast answer questions regarding higher education and its importance.

In regards to our SIO Yield Programs, collectively they reached a fifty seven percent yield rate. Over the course of program running, Engaging Education has maintained an over fifty percent yield rate. This success would not have been achieved without the extensive hours of work that Engaging Education student coordinators do to make these programs a reality. These students’ dedication and passion to provide this support to their respective communities attribute to the ultimate success of the programs. Engaging Education has demonstrated that success and positive change can be attained through selfless hard work as well as through innovative action.

To ensure that our programs are successful, we work in a collective manner in program planning and implementation. An example of this collective approach is in the way the SIO programs are funded, which is through the Student-Initiated Outreach Committee - a committee composed of leadership from each outreach program Engaging Education holds. In this committee students conduct research to ensure that the funds they are requesting are cost efficient and necessary. Through the process students hold each other accountable by reviewing the program’s proposal for funding.

Throughout the year of 2012-2013 the Student Initiated Outreach Programs are in a phase where clearer assessments and lessons can further be drawn from each program. There was a need to better format the SIO Program Evaluation and begin to implement a comprehensive review of not only the weekend of the program but the planning and implementation of the program. The proposal submission process, along with the SIO Orientation for all student leaders are areas that are given careful thought and innovation to see how we can better the process each year. As more and more student leadership and student coordinators feel the burden of paying for loans in result working multiple jobs, the coordinating teams are in need of more training to be better equipped to handle multiple tasks at one time and be able to address their realities along with their coordinating team.

Due to the impacted schedules and lives of the SIO coordinators and overall leadership of our Center, we see an area of improvement in increasing the amount of training for all coordinating teams and leadership to include trainings on : budget management, conflict mediation, active listening, working through team dynamics and how to be a student leader. The vision is to have alumni who are in similar fields related to higher education access and retention and allow for current students to build a mentorship network that will allow them to receive concrete feedback on how to successfully coordinate a high functioning SIO program as well as manage their own lives as student leaders. The SIO class is one area that has contributed to the development of our SIO coordinators and will be developed further to train and advance the Student Leadership in being at the cutting edge of SIO programming.

Program Year # of Student Participants

SIR at UCSC Percentages

2006-2007 257 138 53.7%

2007-2008 212 133 63.2%

2008-2009 175 94 53.7%

2009-2010 149 95 63.8%

2011-2012 163 105 64.4%

2012-2013 98 56 57.14%

Through consistent growth and improvement year after year, Engaging Education has increased its capacity to create and implement various types of programming that adhere to the needs of under-resourced and under-represented communities and students at UCSC. Early in the academic year of 2013-2014 the Board of Directors conducted a successful Strategic Planning retreat that gave the opportunity for all the members to share concrete needs of their respective communities and programs that affect their student life before coming to higher education and during their higher education career. Having identified particular needs, the Board of Directors went through a rigorous collective process to identify what Engaging Education could do to address the identified needs and continue to make a positive impact on our campus. Through the Strategic Planning Retreat two campaigns were developed one is Attain, Inform and Demand (AID) and the other is the SAFE campaign.

The AID campaign focuses on conducting research to plan innovative programming that address the inaccessibility of the university for under-resourced and under-represented students due to rising cost of tuition and the cost of living. Through the programming of the AID campaign students will be informed on the cost of university and the steps that we can take as students to make it more affordable. Student coordinators of the Student Initiated Retention programs housed under Engaging Education view this campaign as a vehicle that will allow students from our community a way to advocate for more affordable education.

 The SAFE campaign focuses on addressing hate and race based crimes that occur on our campus. It is a way of building community among students to support one another and ensure that the student voice is heard and acknowledged when addressing race and hate based crimes. By implementing the SAFE campaign Engaging Education hopes to create more awareness on hate and race based crimes that occur on our campus and advocate for the perpetrators to be held responsible and accountable to their actions.

Through the SAFE campaign a program was developed named Joining Underrepresented Students Together in Collaborative Empowerment (J.U.S.T.I.C.E), which focuses on academic preparation and introduction to the campus for thirty participants from the SIO Yield Programs (ORALE, DHE and ASF) that have completed the Statement of Intent to Register to UCSC. The program will be be five nights and six days during which students will attend numerous workshops and will be introduced to some of our faculty to further prepare them academically to enter higher education. By completing the program the participants will be able to successfully transition into their first quarter as college students. The student represented Board of Directors identified that this program was essential to the success of SIO Yield participants. This need was identified after an analyses of the trends in comments from past participants and their experience once they are arrive at UCSC. Some of the trends were students feeling overwhelmed by what was expected of them as college students, lacking a sense of community, amongst other factors. To ensure that the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. program would effectively address student’s needs, Board of Directors consulted with past SIO Yield coordinators and asked what trends they’ve observed in what participants need support in.

Along with J.U.S.T.I.C.E Engaging Education will also continue offering the program called L.I.F.T.E.D. Just like J.U.S.T.I.C.E, L.I.F.T.E.D. serves under-represented and under-resourced students. The difference is that L.I.F.T.E.D goes out to the local communities and builds partnerships with community centers that work with at risk youth with the purpose of understanding what youth are going through that might impact their academic interests as well as impede them from pursuing a higher education. Taking the time to identify the needs of the youth allows Engaging Education to build workshops and trainings that will directly address those needs and guide the participants to search for and build tools that will allow them to improve their communities. Often times under-resourced and underrepresented students do not have access to information that guides them to the realization that they too, like any student, can pursue a higher education.   

The two programs mentioned above as well as the other types of programming that Engaging Education conducts, bridges that gap of who receives information and resources about reaching education while simultaneously building partnerships with outside communities and communities on campus.  As mentioned Engaging Education has successfully increased the number of under-resourced and under-represented students on this campus. This has given the opportunity for our campus to be more diverse and inclusive of different perspectives and stories of students. Although effective outreach is something that Engaging Education has been continuously doing well we also recognize that the next step is to provide graduate school preparation resources. Engaging Education as a student run and led center, understands the different difficulties that under-resourced and under-represented students face when attempting to apply to graduate school and other barriers that are associated with the process. Through graduate preparation resources students will be able to make an informative choice on what schools and programs to attend as well as what is needed to be a competent graduate school applicant.

•Outreach Programs:

• 3-Yield programs: • A Step Forward (ASF)• Destination Higher Education (DHE)• Oportunidades Rumbo A La Educación (ORALE)

• 5-Non-yield programs• Getting Educated Now To Empower (GENTE)• Motivation Conference• Rainbow Theatre • Inspiring Scholars for Higher Education (ISHE)• African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT)

•Retention Programs: • Chicanos And Latinos Educandose (ChALE)

• Umoja• Community Unified Student Network (CUSN)

• Kuya Ate Mentorship Program (KAMP)

• The four Retention programs form a collective called, Ch.U.C.K.

• Each has a specific community focus and operate under the needs of those community

SIO (Student Initiated Outreach)All Outreach programs are student-initiated and student-run. Each targets, but is not exclusively for, historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities. Our Outreach programs seek to create opportunities for, as well as encourage high school students to continue their education at an institution of higher education. Our Retention programs aim to help students reach their fullest potential as learners, and graduate. Each program fosters mentorship, builds a sense of community, and offers social, academic, and emotional support. As the center grows, new programs can be created and supported through e2.

The following is a brief description of the nine SIO programs.

ASF – (A Step Forward), the Filipino Student Associations (FSA) outreach program, brings already-admitted high school and transfer students to UC Santa Cruz for 3 days, immersing them in the college experience. Workshops, mentorship, and networking opportunities allow the participants to discover that the Filipino Student Association and the University are able to assist in their success as undergraduate students.

DHE – (Destination Higher Education), The African/ Black Student Alliance’s (A/BSA) program includes personal, social, and academic workshops that focus on the Black experience here at UCSC. This is a 3-day program that introduces students to African-American student life on campus and gives admitted students an opportunity to meet with the African/ Black community at UCSC.

ORALE – (Oportunidades Rumbo A La Educación), is presented by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA) in support of the Chican@ and Latin@ community at UC Santa Cruz. ORALE is a 3-day program that focuses on the Chican@/Latin@ experience at UCSC while providing already admitted students with workshops about important aspects of college life such as student resources, financial aid, and the Educational Opportunity Program.

MC – (Motivation Conference) The Asian/Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA) in coalition with other organizations and students organize Motivation Conference. This 3- day conference brings high school students, who are not necessarily thinking about college as an option for them, to UCSC with the purpose of encouraging them to seek higher learning. Through workshops and activities, we encourage students to believe in themselves and their ability to succeed in an institution of higher learning, in addition to providing guidance on how to reach their goals.

GENTE – (Getting Educated Now to Empower) (formerly Parent Student Conference PSC) of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA) is a bilingual outreach program for Chican@/ Latin@ students and their parents. GENTE is an all day event, which includes caucuses and workshops on financial aid, admission requirements for incoming students, Educational Opportunity Program, and others.

REACH – (Raising Education Awareness & Cultural Heritage) an outreach program initiated by the Student Alliance of North American Indians (SANAI). The program’s goal and mission is to create awareness about the availability of higher education to Native American students, and to integrate their culture and traditions with their educational goals. We discuss the university experience and introduce financial options and UC requirements. From this, we can create a strong Native community and communicate the empowerment college brings.

RAINBOW THEATRE – Rainbow Theatre was established in 1994 with a mission to create unity, higher visibility, and understanding of the major cultures within our communities. Rainbow Theater’s mission is to foster the spirit of unity across by breaking down cultural walls, providing an outlet for creative talents of various ethnic groups, and focus on the concerns of our communities today.Rainbow Theatre’s outreach program visits different various high schools in California. Rainbow Theatre seeks to heighten student’s awareness of higher education, the process, the requirements, and financial aid resources. Rainbow Theater emphasizes the possibility of attending an institution of higher education regardless of background.

AATAT – (African American Theater Arts Troupe) A student-based organization made up of artists from a variety of backgrounds and majors, the African American Theater Arts Troupe was formed as a vehicle to create unity, higher visibility, and understanding of African American culture, encouraging the celebration of ethnic diversity and cultures at UCSC and in the larger community through both educational and creative outlets. Through its productions and campus and community collaborations, the African American Theater Arts Troupe formed the African American Student Scholarship fund at UCSC, giving out annual awards and providing more than $60,000 in scholarship funding since 1992.

ISHE - (Inspiration for Scholars of Higher Education) is a student created, student initiated outreach program created by the Hmong Student Association (HSA) as a way to bring Hmong refugees to this campus and help create an awareness of opportunities available to Hmong refugees in higher education. Many of the students who participated in this program were recent Hmong refugees who are many times neglected from participating in outreach programs such as these due to the language barrier faced by these students as they try to assimilate into their new environment. The target group for ISHE was Hmong students from the Academy for New Americans, a transitional school in Fresno that helps transition students by preparing them for high school, but not for college. These students are refugees escaping the current genocide of Hmongs in Southeast Asia. By having them participate in the ISHE outreach program these students are given an opportunity to dialogue for the first time about the vast opportunities available to them in higher education and give them motivation to succeed academically and in this new country

THANK YOU

End of Report