Earl Warren College junior and S.P.A.C.E.S. Director of Local Affairs Eric Nguy is one of the center’s 22 part-time student employees. The center will soon move to a new office in the Price Center expansion. (Will Parson/Guardian)
In the far end of the Student Affirmative Action Committee
lounge sits a small office where a staff of 22 students coordinates outreach
and retention programs that focus on promoting equal access to higher
education.
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Related Links April 5, 2007 — "P.U.L.S.E. Referendum Lifeblood of Orgs’ Goals" |
In Spring Quarter 2007, the Promoting Understanding and
Learning through Service and Education fee referendum was birthed after Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed budget cuts that threatened systemwide outreach.
When the referendum was put to a vote, 56 percent of voting students approved
the increase of $7 per student to the A.S. Campus Activity Fee.
The referendum increased funding for the Student Initiated
Access Programs and Services, previously known as the Student Initiated
Outreach and Recruitment Commission and the Academic Success Program. However,
outreach services have taken several hits in state funding this year, with
budget cuts forcing the elimination of several services run by the California
Student Opportunity and Access Program.
P.U.L.S.E. was also responsible for the creation of the
for Education and Service.
The newly created S.P.A.C.E.S. center aims to enact programs
and activities that assist in undergraduate retention, graduation and
matriculation to graduate and professional schools. S.P.A.C.E.S. is also
involved in outreach programs with high schools and community colleges.
“We try to select schools that haven’t been served and the
ones where there are no numbers at UCSD,” said
senior and S.P.A.C.E.S. Student Manager Frida Pineda.
S.P.A.C.E.S. has attended multiple conferences with high
schools in its effort to reach out to underprivileged students. These programs
show students that higher education is possible, provide them with the
necessary resources and information to get into college and demonstrate the
realities of college life.
The center also offers tours of UCSD to high school and
community college students.
senior and S.P.A.C.E.S. Director of Statewide Affairs Kevin Mann said that
these tours are different than those offered by the university, which he
believes can be isolating for some students.
“The tours that we have given tried to encourage students to
participate,” Mann said. “We also tried to show the kind of UCSD that we know,
which is not just science and engineering buildings.”
The tours, therefore, took prospective students to places
such as the
the Women’s Center and other facilities that Mann said are often neglected in
official campus tours. The tours not only serve as an outreach mechanism, but
also help to encourage retention by enlisting UCSD student volunteers.
According to Mann, the volunteers are able to give back to
the community and become a part of the organization and the larger UCSD
community.
With the money raised by the referendum, S.P.A.C.E.S. is
also developing a mentoring program in which freshmen are paired with seniors
in an effort to ease the transition into college life.
The newly formed center has progressed soundly despite the
lack of a professional staff. As a student-led organization, the staff consists
of full-time students who work between 15 and 20 hours per week and who are
members of other organizations.
“It’s like running a $300,000 nonprofit,” Mann said.
With this funding boost, which is shared with SIAPS and
A.S.P., the S.P.A.C.E.S. co-directors hope to further their programs and goals
to serve UCSD students and the greater
community.
S.P.A.C.E.S. is looking into employing two full-time staff
members to work under the supervision of Director of A.S. Administration Lauren
Weiner.
Furthermore, the staff’s main focus would be on S.P.A.C.E.S.
programs, the operation and management of the center and its student employees.
The S.P.A.C.E.S. staff will soon receive a new office as
part of the
expansion, where its members will continue their efforts outside of the SAAC
lounge.
