Get Involved

HSI Committees: Volunteer with us!

Are you interested in supporting HSI initiatives and the work of increasing student success at UC Santa Cruz? Join one of our grant committees for an opportunity to be more deeply engaged at UCSC, meet a like-minded community and contribute your skills toward meaningful work focused on social justice and equity through higher education.

Take a look at our committee descriptions below and contact Lydia Zendejas at zendejas@ucsc.edu if you’d like to get involved:

Maximizing Achievement through Preparedness and Advising (MAPA) Committees:

• Math Committee: Be part of the team redesigning Math 2, a foundational algebra course for students at UC Santa Cruz. Committee members will work to create a more collaborative and supportive course design by exploring new pedagogical and assessment approaches. The team will also implement active learning strategies, including flipped courses and use of instructional technology. Members will also work to combine increased instructional support with key intervention strategies helping students overcome challenges academically and socially to navigate the university successfully. Members are also expected to communicate outcomes and results as part of the course redesign.

• Advising Committee: Advising is a key feature to every MAPA grant program and experience. As an Advising Committee member you will work under the leadership and advisement of the EOP Director and the Lead Academic Counselor.  All team members will receive support to develop their professional advising skills with the goal of providing students with academic and personal guidance. Team members should plan on managing student cases to propel their development and success as university students. As part of committee work, the Academic Counselor will also collaborate with campus partners including the Colleges, Academic Departments, faculty, student service units, and student organizations on retention/student success initiatives.

• Sense of Belonging Committee: The sense of Belonging team members help design resources and experiences for students and their families to have a sense of community at UCSC. The team also focuses on creating student services for advising and leadership development. Together these resources and services aim to create a sense of belonging at UCSC through collaborative learning and community building. Committee members may help coordinate services such: peer mentoring, family regional conferences and advisor multicultural training institute.  Hosting quarterly forums is also a key aspect of committee work to increase awareness and transparency around HSI initiatives. Forums create a space for the UCSC community to learn more about HSI objectives and get involved in programming.

• Data Summary Committee: The Data committee supports all components of the grant to ensure we are collecting the data we need for reporting purposes and how to improve our programs. We run reports to track student progress and performance while ensuring we are collecting all the data points we need for our end of the year report. This committee also strategies on how to capture data and what data to capture based on the needs of the other components. Pretty much the other committees tell us what they need to make informed decisions and we produce that data. Another component of this team is to support in creating graphs and charts in support of any presentations or publications.

• Regional Family Conference Committee: The Regional Family Conference committee works to engage student families in interactive experiences where they learn about UCSC and learn how to support their students at the university. Team members work on conference program activities including topics, experts and advisors, lectures, key learnings, meals, and entertainment.