[Orgvpdue] Nov/Dec 2024 DUE Spotlight

Fri Dec 13 14:23:47 PST 2024

Undergraduate Education Monthly Spotlights
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The DUE Monthly Spotlight Series aims to highlight important advances across the Division of Undergraduate Education. The goal is to ensure that our fellow DUE members stay in the know as we collectively work toward DUE’s strategic goals, including boosting graduation rates and reducing equity gaps, among others.

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Honors Students See Hamilton on Broadway
Dr. Echeverria hosted 60 honors students at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on October 10, 2024. Honors Staff Kristine Parada, Maria Rosa, Jovan Smith, and Mayra Jones also attended the event. RSVP for the event filled up in 20 minutes and a waitlist had to be created that included an additional 35 students hoping to go on the trip.

The inspiration behind the field trip came from Dr. Echeverria's fall course entitled, "Principles of Civic Engagement: Start where thou ART." It encourages students to use the arts--their talents and creative interests- to engage with communities and causes important to them. We began the quarter by reading "The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy and the Making of a Culture War," which discusses reviews the history of the Federal Theater Project, one initiative of FDR's New Deal in the 1930s. But it was "attacked on the grounds that it promoted 'un-American' activity, sowing the seeds not only for McCarthyism of the 1950s but for our own era of merciless polarization."  Hamilton seemed a perfect pairing for this reading.

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CRFs meet with Chancellor Wilcox
Chancellor Wilcox and Diane Del Buono hosted lunch for the CRFs in his conference room. The fellows enjoyed conversations reflecting on his experience and accomplishments during his tenure as UCR's Chancellor. The fellows were thankful for the opportunity to connect and learn from the Chancellor and Diane del Buono's experiences.

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Guest Speaker Robert Vargas
Renowned artist Robert Vargas was the guest speaker for Principles of Civic Engagement Course (HNPG002W) on Wednesday, October 15. He spoke and answered questions for the 227 enrolled University Honors students for the entirety of the hour and twenty-minute lecture and stayed behind an additional one hour to continue to answer questions, sign autographs, and take photos with students. He spoke about the Fernando Valenzuela mural he would be working on and that he recently completed. Students requested he continue to be involved with the University and requested that he do a mural at UCR, which he was open to. He continues to talk with Dr. Echeverria regarding future involvement.

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Dinner with Alumni - Law Event
On November 13 the DUE co-sponsored the Dinner with Alumni – Law event, organized by the Student Alumni Association (SAA). The evening included a networking mixer, an introduction by CHASS Dean Daryle Williams and DUE Associate Dean Bob Ream, a panel discussion with eight alumni in the legal field, and a dinner where students, staff, and the panelists continued their conversations.

Highlighted during the evening were the new Pre-Law Advising Services starting Winter ’25.

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UCDC Fiat Lux Scholars Program
Dr. Tanya Golash-Boza, Executive Director of the UC Washington Center (UCDC) program, announced in October 2024 a new scholarship called the UCDC Fiat Lux Scholars Program. It will provide $32,000 of scholarships to support UCDC students (sixteen scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each). The scholarship aims to support students interested in the financial sector. Each UC campus will select students who will be awarded the funds, starting this winter and spring 2025. It should be noted this award is currently open to winter and spring participants only. It is not yet clear if this award will be extended to summer and fall participants.

For UC Riverside, two students have been selected for demonstrating a strong interest in pursuing a career in the financial services sector: Yesenia Benavides and Seetal Neelon.

Yesenia Benavides is a 4th year Business major and is participating in UCDC during winter 2025. “In the future, I aspire to further my career in human resources, with a focus on workforce development and talent pipelines, ensuring that the financial services sector attracts, retains, and develops talent from diverse backgrounds. My goal is to make a lasting impact by creating pathways that are accessible to all, contributing to a more inclusive and diversified industry.”

Seetal Neelon is a 4th year Economics major and participating in UCDC during Spring 2025. “Economic stability for many people today is not a guarantee, with many struggling to survive under more financial distress from events like the pandemic. This difficult situation is why I entered economics, believing I could find the root causes of people's distress and alter them.”

According to UCDC, “This Fund shall be used to provide support for University of California students participating in the UCDC program that will both make UCDC more affordable and will build and diversify the pipeline into the financial services sector. The purpose of the Fund is to reduce or eliminate financial barriers connected to the pursuit of internship opportunities while studying at UCDC.”

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CRFs host Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar
The CRFs hosted a meeting with PBK Visiting Scholar, Dr. Corey Robin, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. The fellows enjoyed a fascinating discussion about national politics, implications at the state and local level, as well as their personal experiences. This was a timely conversation as his visit was hosted prior to the presidential election.

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DUE Staff Complete UCR's Mental Health Allies Program
Susana Brower, Ashley Chrisakis, and Ebony Miles participated in the Mental Health Allies program, co-led by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and The Well, earlier this year. The program was designed to increase community awareness, information and access to mental health support. It is open to all community partners, including staff who are interested in becoming trained ambassadors. Here from our DUE colleagues on their experience.

Susana:
"As someone whose official campus role isn’t in mental health, but whose commitment to support both individual students’ mental well-being and create a campus culture that actively invests in and fosters mental wellness, the chance to participate in initiatives like the Mental Health Allies was empowering. It helped me better understand this topic and how to engage in supportive conversations with students, staff, or faculty who may be experiencing difficulties related to their mental health. It also connected me to a community of others dedicated to making meaningful change at UCR. Supporting our undergrads’ mental health is - I think - inextricably linked to achieving DUE’s mission of helping students achieve success and their “highest potential.”

Ashley:
"Having worked on multiple campuses and now being at UCR for a little over two years, I have seen the impact of programs like Mental Health Allies. I believe it is important to break the stigma of asking for help, programs like Mental Health Allies really aid in fostering this across campus. This program is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow. I encourage others to get involved and help make UCR a better campus for the student, faculty and staff."

Ebony:
"It was important for me to join Mental Health Allies in order to stay informed of best practices to support our students. Based on what I learned I was able to share with colleagues and even put it into practice for myself. One of the most impactful things was being able to understand even more ways to handle different student mental health scenarios. Being a “student facing” professional, you encounter a variety of mental health challenges and the Mental Health Allies leadership team really helped us process more in depth this area surrounding whole health and wellbeing.

Become a Mental Health Ally <https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/counseling.ucr.edu?p=eyJzIjoiMXd0cmxjN1JCdUhHVGp4NmVBV3g0ZHljUmRjIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDAxMDg0MixcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL2NvdW5zZWxpbmcudWNyLmVkdVxcXC9tZW50YWwtaGVhbHRoLWFsbGllcy0wXCIsXCJpZFwiOlwiMmM0NTE0YzFjNDgzNDQzZGFjNDcyN2E4Y2EyMDFlNTlcIixcInVybF9pZHNcIjpbXCI4YWQzNTAzNjcyOWI5YzJhZDU2OTQzY2EwNjZhMzRiZDg1ZmVjMWUxXCJdfSJ9>

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Record Number of R'Courses Offered Winter Quarter
Winter quarter will have a record number of R’Course offerings with 26 unique classes offered!
Many Fall 2024 R’Courses will be returning in Winter 2025, including “Everyday AI” and “Politics of Spaceflight” as well as the popular “Disneyland Imagineering” and “Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

In addition to returning favorites, 13 new R’Courses will be offered in Winter 2025. Topics include everything from “Patient Ethics in Hospital Settings” to “Modeling Music” to “Unveiling Ayurveda’s Secrets.” We’re especially excited about “Local Public Radio Storytelling with 91.9 KVRC News” in which students will produce stories that will be aired on the IE’s NPR affiliate station!

View all R'Courses<https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/engage.ucr.edu?p=eyJzIjoiNDNCWDduTU9kS0ZyWW1CVThqSnphVmdVNjRBIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDAxMDg0MixcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL2VuZ2FnZS51Y3IuZWR1XFxcL3Rha2UtY291cnNlXCIsXCJpZFwiOlwiMmM0NTE0YzFjNDgzNDQzZGFjNDcyN2E4Y2EyMDFlNTlcIixcInVybF9pZHNcIjpbXCI5MzhhNTk1MWRiOTU5Njg3NDg3MWIyMjFjYTYwMzY3OTI4NDJhMzhkXCJdfSJ9>

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UCR Board of Trustee Chair Visits DUE Office
On October 18, UCR Board of Trustees Chair Wally Bakare visited the DUE offices for lunch with three students and VPDUE Rodriguez. Mr. Bakare is a DUE supporter and advocate who launched the Excel+ Career Readiness plus Leadership program and Tilga Internship program within the DUE. We are grateful for Mr. Bakare's partnership and interest in engaging with our students.

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CRF 2024/2025 Peer Mentorship Orientation
The CRF Peer Mentorship Program, is designed to provide personalized, one-on-one mentorship to sophomore students, helping them connect with valuable undergraduate research opportunities. This year the program received over 100 applications for 30 mentee spots. Through this program, the CRFs guide mentees in navigating the process of finding research opportunities, reaching out to faculty, and updating their resumes to align with academic and professional expectations. Fellows also help mentees gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be an undergraduate researcher, including the responsibilities, skills, and opportunities for professional growth that come with research involvement.

The overarching goal of the CRF Peer Mentorship Program is to equip mentees with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in research, fostering a pipeline of talented students prepared to apply for the Chancellor's Research Fellowship. By building confidence and providing critical resources, the program helps cultivate the next generation of researchers, ensuring a strong foundation for continued academic and professional success.

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