UC San Diego Measures Campus Climate Progress, Success with Diversity Programs

February 25, 2011

By Judy Piercey

In 2011, UC San Diego continues to celebrate its 50th Anniversary and also continues to emphasize programs and policies that will enhance the campus climate and broaden the richness and diversity of the university community and curriculum. A review of program progress, recently updated on the UC San Diego Campus Climate website, outlines the commitment by the university to changing the institutional dynamic among students, faculty and staff.

“UC San Diego was founded on principles of collaboration, respect and excellence,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “As we work to remain true to our roots, we know we also must be vigilant in our dedication to inclusion, tolerance and outreach.”

“The campus has really pulled together to improve campus climate,” said Penny Rue, vice chancellor for Student Affairs at UC San Diego. “We have already achieved meaningful progress on the common goals developed by students, faculty, staff and administrators.” She continued, “What is striking is the range of campus departments engaged in this work. From admissions practices, to orientation programs, to academic requirements, to the development of physical spaces and permanent public art, nearly every facet of the university—students, faculty and staff alike—is engaged in efforts to enhance the sense of inclusion on our campus.”

“We have very encouraging data to report concerning admissions applications from diverse populations,” said Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor for Admissions and Enrollment Services. “Based upon application results from January 18, 2011, applications from underrepresented freshmen and transfer students for Fall 2011 show an overall 27.4 percent increase,” she said. Brown noted that African-American freshmen applicants were up 12.8 percent from last year, along with 16.8 percent more African-American transfer applicants. Applications from Latinos surged, with freshman applicants up 31.8 percent and transfer applicants up 48.5 percent.

UC San Diego attributes the increase of underrepresented applicants to numerous student outreach efforts, including the university’s diligent work to recruit students from California’s community colleges. In addition, UC San Diego has developed several programs to attract first-generation and low-income students. Beginning with this group of freshmen applicants, both the holistic as well as the comprehensive methods will be used for reviewing applications.

Campus climate and community outreach programs are tracked and regularly updated on UC San Diego’s Campus Climate website. To learn more about the various ways UC San Diego is working to improve the campus climate and to access the February 1, 2011 updates to the Administrative Commitments to Improve Campus Climate, please go to http://campusclimate.ucsd.edu/.

A sampling of UC San Diego’s recent diversity-related actions includes:

• Innovation Day Expo and Symposia (IDEaS)—February 22 through February 25
  A series of presentations on social and cultural innovation is part of this four-day 50th Anniversary event on campus. Topics range from “UC San Diego’s Innovative Approach to Diversity and Social Justice” to “Who Are You? The Changing Face of America.” Go to www.50th.ucsd.edu for information or to register.
• Black History Month at UC San Diego
  From art exhibits to benefits for undergraduate scholarships and a theatrical re-enactment of the inauguration of President Barack Obama, UC San Diego recognized Black History Month with a spectrum of events, featuring an economic empowerment theme. The month-long celebration gives the campus and San Diego community the opportunity to learn, connect and celebrate a rich cultural history while looking forward to a future that holds tremendous possibility. http://blackhistorymonth.edu.
• “Focus on the Future” with Compton High School
  Scripps Institution of Oceanography Director Tony Haymet will visit Compton High School on February 28, 2011, to speak to approximately 200 honors, AP bio and chemistry students from the 10th and 11th grades. Students from the inaugural “Focus on the Future” program will also share about their experiences. The program is a specially designed hands-on, three-week summer course at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, presented through UC San Diego Extension’s Academic Connections Program. http://scripps.ucsd.edu
• Cultural Arts Projects
  Thurgood Marshall College, in celebration of the college’s 40th anniversary and UC San Diego’s 50th anniversary, will present “Martin Luther King & 37th Street,” a new public arts mural installation, for the balance of the academic year 2010/2011. In addition, a Chicano legacy mural will become a permanent part of the university landscape. Also, appropriate places on campus will be identified for the display of indoor and/or outdoor, permanent and/or rotating art representative of underrepresented minority communities.
• University to Poll Students on Campus Climate; Diversity Requirement Under Study
  This spring, the university will take part in a national survey to poll students on their perceptions of a range of factors that contribute to campus climate. The responses will assist UC San Diego in assessing its diversity-related progress and help refine future plans. In addition, it is proposed that incoming undergraduate students will take a diversity course as part of their graduation requirements.
• Funding for Student Promoted Access Center for Education and Services (SPACES)
  The university will match SPACES funds that come from student fees, ensuring that the center will remain open and operational, allowing it to fulfill its mission of providing an environment for student growth and development, and a foundation to create leadership and unity through community engagement. The funding began Fall Quarter 2010 and will be guaranteed for a minimum of three years. In addition, student resource centers for African American, Native American, and Chicano students are open or in the process of being prepared to offer these groups a space for study and socializing. http://spaces.ucsd.edu/
• Inaugural Teaching Diversity Conference
  Teaching students about privilege and discrimination, celebrating their respective cultures and discussing the UC San Diego Principles of Community were among the topics explored at the Teaching Diversity Conference held on campus on January 27, 2011. The conference brought specialists from diverse disciplines such as history, visual arts, psychology and linguistics together to network, share ideas and learn about best practices.
• Council on Climate, Equity and Inclusion Work is Ongoing
  The UC San Diego Council on Climate, Equity and Inclusion, the advisory body to the chancellor, meets monthly and comprises individuals with substantive expertise in diversity from represented constituencies, including faculty, students, alumni, staff, administrators and community members. In addition, numerous other campus units have established councils to advise on diversity and inclusion. For example, the UC San Diego Health System Community Advisory Council on Inclusion and Diversity, made up of community members and UC San Diego Health System staff, provides insight and advice to UC San Diego Health System leadership on a variety of matters pertaining to open communication, community interaction, and staff and program development and support.
• Support for Women and Minority Students
  The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Academic Diversity offers postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to qualified scholars in all fields whose research, teaching and service will shape and expand the campus diversity initiatives at UC San Diego. The Black Alumni Scholarship Fund raised money for an endowment administered by The San Diego Foundation. Proceeds from the endowment are distributed annually to African American students at UC San Diego.
• Director of Development—Diversity Initiatives and Giving
  A new development officer was named last fall, charged with helping to secure private philanthropic support for student-led yield activities and other initiatives that support a diverse curriculum and student body. Among the high priority programs are the ongoing funding of academic minors in Chicano and African-American studies and SummerBridge, a nationally recognized transition program designed to acclimate high achieving students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to academic, social and cultural life at the university.
• Directors of Campus Centers are Also Diversity Officers
  The Cross-Cultural Center, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center and Women’s Center help support the initiatives of the UC San Diego Office of Diversity. They have the ability to bring together historically disenfranchised communities and link them to the larger university community and to affinity groups in the San Diego region. http://community.ucsd.edu/
• The Preuss School UCSD Named National Blue Ribbon School
  The Preuss School UCSD has been named a national Blue Ribbon School and also has been ranked sixteenth in the nation and second in California by Newsweek. The prestigious Blue Ribbon School award annually honors elementary, middle and high schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and helped close gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students. For more information, go to http://preuss.ucsd.edu/
• Partners at Learning
  The Partners at Learning program, through UC San Diego's Education Studies, gives UC San Diego students the chance to work with underserved pre-K through grade12 students and schools. Every year 500 students in UC San Diego's Public Service courses contribute over 24,000 hours to provide mentoring and tutoring to hundreds of students on an individual basis at 40 schools from Oceanside to Chula Vista to El Cajon. http://eds.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/pal.shtml/
• UC San Diego Remains Accessible and Affordable
  To ensure a diverse student population, the campus offers a spectrum of financial aid resources; in fact, approximately 60 percent of undergraduate students receive need-based support. Forty percent of our undergraduates receive the Federal Pell Grant for low income students and 30 percent receive the state Cal Grant, which covers the cost of fee increases for resident students. The university is in the middle of a three-year $50 million scholarship and fellowship fundraising campaign called Invent the Future: the UC San Diego Student Support Campaign. http://inventthefuture.ucsd.edu/
• Admission Programs for First-Generation and Low-Income Students
  UC San Diego introduced new outreach and recruitment programs to encourage first-generation and low-income students to enroll, with the goal of ensuring a more diverse student body and healthier campus climate. The new efforts, which have been added to existing community outreach programs and initiatives, include:
• A special campus-wide calling campaign to notify admitted students from traditionally underrepresented student populations and encourage their acceptance;
• Overnight programs to introduce students from underrepresented student populations to the campus and encourage their admittance;
• Affinity group sessions have been established for African American, Chicano and Native American students and their families to visit the campus to meet with faculty, staff and alumni and learn what it is like attending UC San Diego;
• Chancellor Marye Anne Fox regularly meets in special evening events with parents and students in low-income, third and fourth tier high schools in the county.
• Twelve Faculty Positions Opened to Advance Diversity
  The campus has authorized 33 new faculty searches for the 2010-2011 academic year. Twelve of these searches (36 percent) are specifically identified to contribute to diversity, equity and climate of inclusion at UC San Diego – a number above and beyond the six unfilled faculty positions that UC San Diego originally agreed to reactivate to advance diversity. Funding for the new faculty positions is from the Academic Affairs division operating budget.
• ScienceBridge Program Offers High School Students Hands-On Experience
  The ScienceBridge science education outreach program gives students the opportunity to learn about biotechnology and science production in the classroom at diverse schools such as Castle Park High School, San Diego High School and Mira Mesa High School. ScienceBridge facilitates a variety of outreach programs for students to get hands-on experience with the latest scientific research. With ScienceBridge and other educational outreach programs, UC San Diego is showing its commitment to advancing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and preparing the next generation of science leaders and innovators. www.sciencebridge.ucsd.edu
• Scripps Focuses on Underrepresented Graduate Student Recruitment Scripps Institution of Oceanography is working collaboratively with the Office of Graduate Studies to highlight opportunities for underrepresented students to pursue science majors at UC San Diego by increasing its presence at events like UC Edge and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science annual conference.
• Guide to Black Life Online at UC San Diego
  Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer Sandra Daley, M.D., has published an online guide for African-American students called Black Life. For more information, go to http://www.ucsd.edu/current-students/student-life/diversity/black/
• Student Educational Advancement
  Student Educational Advancement, a Division of Student Affairs, is committed to motivating and preparing educationally disadvantaged and first-generation students to be successful at the university level, and in graduate and professional school. Student Educational Advancement coordinates a variety of outreach programs for students at the elementary, middle school, high school and UC San Diego undergraduate levels, creating a pipeline of students prepared to enter the challenging and rewarding careers of tomorrow.
• The Early Academic Outreach Program
  The Early Academic Outreach Program coordinates several programs to help underrepresented students prepare for and apply for college. The program hires undergraduate students on work-study—who are typically low-income and underrepresented students themselves—to serve as mentors and tutors in the community. This includes educating high school students on the academic requirements for college, assisting with college applications, providing information and assistance with financial aid and FAFSA applications, and much more. http://eaop.ucsd.edu/ In addition, the following programs offer support to UC San Diego students:
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS)—As the primary learning center at UC San Diego, OASIS works with more than 3,000 undergraduates each year to facilitate academic development in a collaborative and supportive environment. OASIS provides free tutoring on campus, peer mentors and counselors, as well as transition programs such as SummerBridge. These services and programs help to acclimate students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds – many of whom will be the first in their families to attend college – to the academic, social and cultural life at the university, thereby helping them to be successful students and campus leaders. http://oasis@ucsd.edu
• Academic Enrichment Program (AEP)—AEP offers UC San Diego undergraduates the opportunity to obtain valuable research-oriented academic preparation in virtually any academic major including science, math, engineering, social sciences and the arts and humanities. A special emphasis is made to increase the number of low-income and ethnically underrepresented students in graduate school and in academic/research professional positions. Former AEP students are now in Ph.D. programs and in professional schools and positions throughout the U.S., and in various foreign countries. http://aep.ucsd.edu/

Media Contacts:
Judy Piercey, 858-534-6128
Kim Wenrick, 858-534-4132