Many of us have had a teaching assistant who  encouraged us, motivated us and even inspired us to go to graduate school. As graduate students, we may have experienced the responsibility of being an excellent teaching assistant and should recognize those who embody the qualities of an EXCELLENT, AWESOME, STELLAR teaching assistant.

Now YOU have the chance to be recognized or to recognize someone else through the Academic Senate’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.  Don’t be shy! Ask a colleague to nominate you. Or take the initiative and nominate someone you know for the award.

Past honorees of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award include the GradPost's own Academic Peer Indy Hurt, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography.

Up to four teaching assistants will be recognized with a $1,000 honorarium and a framed certificate. The nomination deadline is December 7, 2011.

Don't wait, apply now! Click here for more information and/or to nominate someone.

The cheese, fruit, cookies and brownies were laid out. The sign-in table held marking pens and blank “Hello My Name Is …” tags. Vibrant ethnic music was playing. Everything was in place for the New Graduate Students of Color Welcome Reception on Sept. 27 at UCSB’s MultiCultural Center Lounge. All that was needed were friendly faces of color. And dozens of them turned out for this lively mixer, with warm welcomes by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Michael Young and Graduate Division Dean Dr. Gale Morrison, among others.

Graduate Division Dean Dr. Gale Morrison welcomes the new grad students.

The reception, sponsored by the Graduate Division and NSF-AGEP, drew nearly 50 people, including new and returning grad students as well as UCSB faculty and staff. There were also those who fit into more than one category: staff members who are also grad students. 

“You have a number of networks that are available to you,” Dean Morrison said in welcoming the new students to “this world-class university.” She called on the students to take advantage of not only their cohorts but also returning grad students and a variety of support staff.

Vice Chancellor Young told the crowd that this summer marked the 41^st anniversary of the completion of his master’s degree in history from the University of Michigan. And it has been 33 years since he completed his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. He told the students that because he was a graduate student of color at two institutions, he has “a sense of the kind of issues and pressures you are wrestling with.”

Diversity & Outreach Peer Advisor Mario Galicia Jr. and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Michael Young speak to the crowd.

The vice chancellor expressed pride in “the structures that we’ve built here to enhance and support the work of graduate students, particularly graduate students of color, at UCSB. For example, I’m very proud of the Graduate Student Resource Center in the Student Resource Building.”

Young urged the students to check out the center and told them that even amid budget cuts, “we continue to try to design and bring about an array of resources to help you all be successful. That’s very, very important to us.”

Also addressing the guests were Director of Admissions and Outreach Walter Boggan; Diversity & Outreach Peer Advisor Mario Galicia Jr.; and Extramural Funding Advisor Francisco Herrera.

Among the new grad students in attendance were a young Rutgers graduate from New Jersey and a 62-year-old college administrator from Sacramento.

LeBaron Woodyard and Phillip Handy are new UCSB grad students.

Phillip Handy of Howell, N.J., is here to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology. He was accepted to five universities but chose UCSB because of its strong Ph.D. program, particularly in the area he wants to research, mixed race populations.

Born to an African-American father and a mother of European descent, Handy said Rutgers University, where he double-majored in psychology and sociology, “is a very diverse school.” He came to UCSB, he said, “because I know that the diversity is here. … So far I’ve been able to have some really good conversations that were enriched because there were people from diverse perspectives in on the conversation.”

Another new grad student, LeBaron Woodyard, has worked in higher education for 40 years.  For the past 20 years, he has been an administrator in the chancellor’s office of the California community college system in Sacramento.  He has taken an 80 percent leave from his job to pursue a Ph.D. in Education at UCSB. Woodyard plans to do his research and dissertation on Distance Education.

Woodyard, who said he’s not one to rush into decisions, selected UCSB after much research and conversations. The 62-year-old said earning a Ph.D. is “something I’ve always wanted to do but I never had time to do it.” With his children grown and gone, “this is on my bucket list.” Woodyard’s goal is to find ways to improve the retention rate of distance education students.

One factor that weighed in Woodyard’s decision to choose UCSB is its welcoming nature. “I was made to feel that I was wanted here. And that’s very important to me,” he said.

As Dr. Morrison told the new graduate students of color: “You’re going to have fun … and you’re going to work hard.” Judging by the laughter and smiles in the crowd, the grad-student newbies already have the “fun” part down. Now it’s on to the “work hard” part.



A former Bren grad student's innovative design inspired a piece of oil-spill recovery equipment by Elastec/American Marine that has earned a $1 million top prize.

Victoria Broje, working in a research group led by Bren Professor Arturo Keller, redesigned a standard drum oil skimmer at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management in 2006 for her Ph.D. dissertation.

The design was patented, and shortly before Broje received her Ph.D., UCSB officials completed a deal to license the patent for the technology to Elastec/American Marine, the nation's largest maker of oil-spill recovery equipment.

Elastec/American utilized her design to create a piece of equipment that was entered into the 2011 Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE competition, earning the top prize.

"I'm happy that my Ph.D. research resulted in a fundamental change in approach, which significantly improved oil-spill recovery efficiency and allows many people to benefit from it," Broje said in a UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release.

Michael Witherell, UCSB's vice chancellor for research, praised the Russian-born physicist turned oil-spill recovery expert. "When you give a very bright and innovative graduate student like Victoria Broje an important problem to work on, new technology is often the result," he said in the release. "It is a great story of success."

To read more about this graduate student success story, read the UCSB press release.



The Graduate Student History Association of Claremont Graduate University is pleased to announce its fourth annual spring conference: “The Politics of Unrest: A Transdisciplinary Conference.”

This conference will explore both political protests and nonviolent resistance in countries and cultures around the world.  States have used political violence to intimidate and maintain authority, while protesters have resorted to rebellions, terrorism or sit-ins to demand changes in policy, regime, or political structure.  Coverage of recent political uprisings, such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring movements, is prominent in the news media and signals the ongoing importance of this topic.  While this conference assumes a historical vantage point for understanding the ongoing role of unrest in society, we welcome papers from multiple disciplinary perspectives on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to: the interrelationship(s) between political change, violence, non-violence, the state, theory, terrorism, civil rights movements, genocide, the media, and memory.

The conference will be held on the campus of Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, on April 13 and 14, 2012.  Proposals for papers should be made in the form of abstracts of no more than 250 words and submitted to gsha@cgu.edu by Sunday, January 15, 2012.



Before the quarter is out, we will be offering a few more of our Finding Funding overviews in the GradPost headquarters! This is a great opportunity to make sure you are in the know about all of the ways to find funding here as a graduate student! If you bring your laptop, you can follow right along and begin basic funding searches during the workshop. Or if you prefer, you can just watch and learn. I'll be on hand (your funding peer) to answer any questions you might have about using our funding search engines and other finding funding resources and to fill you in on some lesser known resources. These workshops will be capped at 10 students to make sure we have plenty of space, so RSVP soon to guarantee a spot!

Here is the schedule:

Friday November 18^th, 11am-12pm

Friday December 2^nd, 10am-11am

Interested? RSVP to Courtney at fundingpeer@graddiv.ucsb.edu. Include your name, department, and email address, as well as which session you would like to attend.

**The GradPost headquarters are located in the Graduate Student Resource Center on the first floor of the SRB building (right across from the main desk and the computer lab). You'll see GradPost signs in the window!



Nearly 200 colleagues, friends and family members paid tribute to Lynn Wilcoxon, a 27-year employee of UCSB’s Graduate Division, at a memorial service Thursday, Nov. 3, at Corwin Pavilion. Wilcoxon, the division’s Director of Academic Services, died Oct. 5 after a long battle with cancer.

Speakers included Dr. John Hajda, UCSB professor of music; Lynn’s sister Barbara; Graduate Division Assistant Dean Christian Villaseñor; and Graduate Division Dean Dr. Gale Morrison.

At the service, Hajda announced establishment of the Lynn Wilcoxon Memorial Graduate Fellowship Fund, which will support graduate fellowships for single mothers.

“Lynn would be thrilled a fellowship for single mothers was being named in her honor,” sister Barbara told the gathering.

Barbara recounted Lynn’s love of singing, telling the story of how as a child, Lynn sang “Beautiful Dreamer” at the top of her lungs at home. The whole neighborhood could hear her, Barbara said.

The family often vacationed at Sardine Lake in the Sierras, where Lynn and Barbara enjoyed fishing. One day, Barbara said, the two sisters caught the limit of fish (10) in one hour. Back at the dock, the men were shocked and amazed at the young girls’ catch. 

According to her sister, fishing was such a passionate pastime for Lynn that two days before her passing, she expressed a wish to go fishing for one last trout.

Wilcoxon, who earned her B.A. in History from UCSB in 1973, began working at UC Santa Barbara’s Graduate Division in 1984. “Working life was a joy” for Wilcoxon, her sister said. “She loved working with the students.”

Graduate Division Assistant Dean Christian Villaseñor speaks at the service.Wilcoxon had three children, Lauren, Brian and Eric. “She believed strongly in education,” her sister Barbara said. “Her children are a reflection of that.”

A touching photo slide show of Wilcoxon throughout the years was presented at the service, with musical accompaniment from friend and former colleague Mark Patterson.

During the memorial service, friends, family members and colleagues used many words to describe Wilcoxon: gentle, compassionate, strong, tireless, dedicated, religious, committed, protective, caring, disciplined. Even “well dressed.”

Dean Morrison summed it up by stating, “The right words for her are heart and soul.”

To donate to the Lynn Wilcoxon Memorial Graduate Fellowship Fund, which will support graduate student fellowships for single mothers, mail a check (made out to UC Regents with “Lynn Wilcoxon Fund” in the memo area) to Christian Villaseñor, Assistant Dean, Graduate Division, University of California, Santa Barbara, 3117 Cheadle Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2070.



The University of California, Santa Barbara, has launched a fundraising campaign in an effort to help support our campus community.

If you know of anyone who would like to donate to "The Campaign for UC Santa Barbara," please direct them to the following link for full details:

The Campaign for UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara grad students Graham Hagen-Peter and Bryan Norman, along with their professor, are about to embark on a two-month expedition in the TransAntarctic Mountains. And they are taking you with them.

Dr. John Cottle, assistant professor of earth science; logistics coordinator Joanna Prince; and the grad students are  PQed (that’s physically qualified), prepared and packed (see the breakdown of items here) for their scientific adventure.

Professor Cottle, who has also done extensive research in the Himalayas, has created a blog, Geologists on Ice  (http://www.antarctica360.net/), especially for this trip to help offer insights into what team members are doing and how they are doing it.

UCSB grad students Bryan Norman, left, and Graham Hagen-Peter.Cottle said he and the students, who leave Thursday, Nov. 17, will utilize a satellite phone, laptop and other mobile devices to blog about their adventures two to three times a week. And they won’t have to worry about blogging in the dark. The last sunset in Antarctica was on Oct. 23 and the next won’t be until the end of February.

Cottle explained in a UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release why he created the Antarctica blog.

“There's an inherent curiosity about what happens when you go down there,” he said in the release. “What is it like? I really wanted to use this as a mechanism to increase people's understanding of what we do when we go down there."

The researchers will focus their work on rocks that are 400 million to 600 million years old found in a subduction zone preserved in the TransAntarctic Mountains. Because these rocks aren’t normally associated with the subduction process, the team will seek to learn why the rocks are there, how they formed and what they can reveal about modern and ancient subduction systems.

Bryan Norman, a native Santa Barbaran, is an M.S. student at UCSB. He earned a B.S. in Geology from UCSB, completing a senior thesis on geological mapping in eastern Nevada. Antarctica is the focus of one of two graduate studies projects.

Graham Hagen-Peter is pursuing his Ph.D. at UCSB. He earned his undergraduate degree in geology from the University of Vermont. He is hoping that 22 winters in Vermont will help prepare him for the Antarctic summer. Perhaps not.

“It's usually around minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) where we'll be staying and working,” Cottle said in the news release.

To read the full press release about the trip and the blog, visit this page.



Dr. Gerardo Aldana, associate professor in Chicana/o Studies, has just released research findings on new interpretations of Mayan ritual texts.

Dr. Aldana's research work on the Mayan calendar's correlations to the Gregorian calendar in part led to his discovery of the verb being misread or misinterpreted.

A verb usually represented in a pictorial drawing from the Aztecs and a hieroglyph writing from the Mayan both speak of the same concept, yet have commonly been misunderstood for a long time.

Dr. Aldana's work will surely help forge a new path of research epistemology for Mayan historians, researchers and scholars.

To read the full article, please follow the link below:

Ancient Mayan Ritual Texts 

Lisa August-Schmidt, left, and April RidlonGrad students Lisa August-Schmidt and April Ridlon may be new to the UCSB neighborhood, but they are already fostering a sense of community here. August-Schmidt and Ridlon, who are in their first quarter as Ph.D. students in the Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology department, were disheartened to see anger and negativity surrounding recent protests at the UC campuses in Davis and Berkeley. Feeling the need to have the UCSB community come together to support shared values of civil discourse, freedom of expression and nonviolence, the pair have been instrumental in organizing “In Solidarity” on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion and Storke Plaza.

The event will begin at 4 p.m. in Corwin with an Open Forum involving students, faculty and administrators. In an open-mic format, participants may express ideas and pose questions to the campus community. A panel of students, faculty and staff will moderate the discussion. At 5 p.m., there will be a peaceful community procession to Storke Plaza, where a Candlelight Vigil “to reaffirm the common values at the foundation of our campus community” will take place.

August-Schmidt said she and Ridlon were disturbed when learning about the use of pepper spray on peaceful student protesters at UC Davis on Nov. 18. Ridlon had worked at a lab at UC Davis, and August-Schmidt graduated from UC Berkeley and had worked there until this past summer.

“My fiancé and youngest sister are current students at Cal,” August-Schmidt told the GradPost, “so seeing the violence there really hit close to home, and I was not comfortable sitting idly by while my friends, family and fellow students fight for my right to affordable education.  Feeling somewhat isolated from the rest of the movement, April and I decided to create the type of event we wanted to participate in here at UCSB.”

Katya Armistead, left, and Miles AshlockSince the pair are new to the campus and had never done any political organizing, they sought the guidance and help of Katya Armistead, Assistant Dean of Students and Director, Office of Student Life, and Miles Ashlock, Associate Director of the Office of Student Life. Both are third-year grad students in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.  “We have been extraordinarily impressed by the outpouring of support from the administration,” August-Schmidt said in praising the efforts of Armistead, Ashlock and others.

“We want to give our campus the opportunity to come together in solidarity with our fellow students and faculty across the UC system to show support for free speech and higher education funding in a safe environment,” August-Schmidt said. “April and I believe that holding a candlelight vigil will reinforce our commitment to nonviolence and unity as a campus community while allowing folks to participate without fear of arrest or retribution.  We hope that this event can serve as an example for other universities hoping to unite and mobilize their campus communities.”

Said Ridlon: “If there is any good that can come of something like this, I hope that it includes better communication and unity within and among the UC communities, and a commitment from all parties that our campuses should be a safe environment for political and intellectual discourse, no matter what the subject.”

Look for the event on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ucsbosl.

This school year, The GradPost at UCSB is pleased to kick off our "A Day in the Life" series with one of our students from the Life Sciences department, Jacob Torres. Please read on to gain a little more insight into what goes into "A Day in the Life" of a father of two and STEM graduate student here at UCSB. 

A Day in the Life

Name: Jacob Alexander Torres

Discipline / Emphasis: Cellular and Molecular Biology

Research Interests / Goals:

"My interests are so broad and I enjoy science so much that as long as I am given a project and a defined goal to accomplish I will be content. For right now, I am working with animals studying polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in Thomas Weimbs’ lab. Apart from my current work on PKD my own scientific goals include gaining as much insight and knowledge from across the scientific spectrum. My continual pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong goal and being able to pursue my own scientific endeavors would be my ultimate objective."

GradPost: “What’s it like enduring the grind of being a graduate student and a parent for you?”

"First off, I wouldn’t call graduate school a “grind” but rather an experience. Being a parent has its challenges in and of itself and compounded with graduate school it can be difficult to find time for research and family. I have been able to use my family life as a way to keep myself grounded, allowing me to be able to separate my graduate school experience from my parenting responsibilities. When my research is progressing slowly I know that there are other areas of my life that I can rely on to be a source of inspiration and encouragement."

GradPost: “What’s been a source for motivation and / or drive for you?”

"I have drawn the most motivation from both of my children and from my brother. Each of them has given me a new perspective that I could not have gained in any other way. My outlook on life hasn’t always been the most positive or optimistic yet through them I have been given insight into myself. They have allowed me to grow into who I am today keeping me on the correct trajectory for the future."

GradPost: “Name the accomplishment you are most proud of, and why.”

"My most valued accomplishment has culminated in me having the opportunity to answer this question. Being accepted to graduate school was an important milestone in my life. I am the first in my family to receive a college degree and will be the first to receive my PhD (cross my fingers). Growing up I was raised by very intelligent parents yet neither of them had a desire for higher education for me or themselves. Moving away from home to create my own dream has been quite an empowering and simultaneously humbling experience. I am most proud of who I am now because I have been able to create my own identity; apart from what my parents or family believed I should do or who I should have become. Forging my way into the world has been a difficult and sometimes gut-wrenching process but has created the person I am today."

GradPost: “What makes you, you?”

"There are a few things that really define who I am. First I have my attributes that make me want to become a great scientist such as my objectivity (to a fault some might say), being analytical along with my persistence and tenacity. Then there is another side of me that always wants to better myself in as many ways as possible. Fortunately for me these two sides complement each other well. My objectivity allows me to question my own behavior opening the door for introspection. At the same time this gives me an opportunity to analyze myself to how I can improve in the future.  This routine has become more balanced the older and more experienced I have become; I haven’t always been so open to my own thoughts and that shows me that there is still a lot of room left for improvement." 

GradPost: “Where did you grow up?”

"I grew up in southern California in the Coachella Valley. Most people only know of the Coachella Valley because of Palm Springs but now my home town Indio has become quite popular because of the Coachella Valley Music Festival. People now love that there is a huge festival there, but I will always think of it as “the desert”."

GradPost: “What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?”

"I wouldn’t call anything I do pleasurable “guilty”. Being guilty just takes all the pleasure out of it. However, I have been known to play Civilization on the computer for days on end when given the opportunity to. I also immensely enjoy sugar, but who doesn’t?"

GradPost: “What’s playing in your iPod right now?”

"The music I listen to is focused on just making me feel good. As of lately it has been mostly Passion Pit, Phoenix, Miike Snow and Foster the People that have been bringing joy to my workdays."

GradPost: “Any advice or final thoughts?”

"In terms of the graduate school experience, I would tell new graduate students to not believe what others tell them the graduate school experience is or has to be. I find it very common for people to tell me how stressed I should be, how difficult grad school is, how experiments never work, how I shouldn’t have time for myself and multitude of opinions to the same effect. I personally find those comments detrimental to my well being and my overall performance. In my experience people will use the preconceived idea of graduate school as being hard, time-consuming, arduous or stressful as excuses for their own behavior or shortcomings outside of school. Creating my own vision of graduate school allows me to create more opportunities to enjoy myself through my research, association with people on campus as well as enjoying the Santa Barbara area. I always keep in my mind and close to my heart that I am truly blessed to have the opportunity that has been presented to me. When others try to influence my perspective in an attempt to throw me off track from what I know to be my reality, it can make life difficult when it wasn’t difficult at all to begin with. Keeping a positive view on the world makes accomplishing great things possible and makes the experience fun at the same time. Just remembering to be yourself and keeping what you value most at the center of your conscious experience will always yield great dividends and happiness."

GradPost: We would like to thank Jacob for taking time to share with us a little of what his life as a gradaute student entails. Yes, our students live very diverse lives outside of campus, just as we experience a great deal of cultural diversity on campus. "A Day in the Life" is proud to help provide the content to bridge the two worlds for our graduate student population.  

Christina Fudurich studying for finals.Fall quarter finals week is always such a busy time with loads of grading, exam proctoring, and holiday travel planning all wrapped up into such a short period of time.  If you are a teaching assistant this quarter, you may be inspired to know just how packed the library has been lately, and if you think your students are just cramming, think again.  Library traffic has been consistantly high for several weeks now.  

Late Friday afternoon,  I was rushing out from the 6th floor offices to take the elevator down and I happened to catch one of my department's undergrads making use of the little space left to study.  Her name is Christina Fudurich, and yes, I did ask permission to take her photo.  I was originally in the elevator and already two floors down when I jumped out and ran back up the stairs to snap this shot.  

Good luck, Christina, and to all of our fantastic students here at UCSB!

(Editor’s Note: In the following feature, the GradPost introduces you to a new staff member in the Graduate Division this year: Francisco Herrera.)

Francisco Herrera joined the Graduate Division in June as its Institutional Research Analyst. But the title doesn’t begin to describe all the contributions of this multitalented staff member.

In his role as institutional research analyst, Herrera manages and interprets admissions, enrollment, funding and other data related to graduate studies at UCSB and develops internal reports for faculty, staff, research and course activities. He designs and analyzes survey instruments for strategic planning purposes. He also prepares reports for external reporting agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the Council of Graduate Schools. And he is helping to create a new graduate student satisfaction survey after successfully completing a new online Doctoral Exit Survey.

“My goals are to make access to data more easily accessible for our partners on campus with regard to graduate studies,” said Herrera, “and to help improve graduate programs through the development of comprehensive surveys that will inform the Graduate Division and campus, through feedback from faculty, students and alumni.”

Another role for Herrera at the Graduate Division is as Extramural Funding Advisor. He has been a presenter at pre-doctoral funding workshops for students considering graduate school and for first- and second-year graduate students, where he informs them about funding opportunities from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, and various awards from the Department of Defense.

“I also presented at a workshop on fellowships for minority graduate students, and my colleagues covered writing strategies and presented examples of successful applications,” Herrera said. “As the Extramural Funding Advisor for the Graduate Division, my goal is to identify various funding opportunities for our graduate students so that they can accomplish their research and academic goals.”

Other responsibilities for Herrera include serving as the Graduate Division’s Fulbright Program Advisor and as a representative on the UC Campus Climate Assessment Local Work Team.

As Fulbright advisor, Herrera helps students interested in studying abroad with the application process and helps to coordinate the campus Fulbright candidate interview committee.  “It’s been a very rewarding experience having the opportunity to hear about the exciting research that our graduate students are involved with, and providing them with feedback on their application essays,” Herrera said. “We’ve traditionally had good success in having our graduate students receive Fulbright awards, and hopefully I can help continue that success.”

On the UC Campus Climate Assessment team, he will contribute to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive campus community at UCSB. UC President Mark Yudof approved funding for a comprehensive and systematic campus climate assessment to include faculty, staff, graduate and professional students, and the undergraduate population at the 10 campuses and the Office of the President. Herrera was appointed to serve on the local UCSB panel, chaired by Maria Herrera-Sobek, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Academic Policy and Professor of Chicana/o Studies.

Herrera came to the university from UC Davis, where he was an Evaluation Analyst at the Center for Education and Evaluation Services (CEES) in the School of Education.

He is a UCSB alumnus, earning a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2000. He also holds Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Education from UCLA.

When not serving on committees, writing reports, interpreting data and working with grad students, the Goleta resident enjoys hiking, especially at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

“While working at the CEES Center at UC Davis, I had the opportunity to work with the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, where I worked closely with park rangers in developing surveys for their educational outreach programs for K-12 students,” Herrera said. “Having the opportunity to hike the trails alongside the park rangers and seeing parts of the park not always open to the public was a terrific experience and I have enjoyed going back as often as I can.”

Editor’s Note: The following article – written by UCSB alum William “Woody” Robinson, who graduated with Dean’s Honors in Spring 2011 – is reprinted with permission from UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Geography.

After graduation, everyone is looking for the same thing: work. However, continuing your education may be a better investment of your time. Aside from a higher starting salary and specific subject expertise, graduate students receive the combined benefits of a college schedule and the experience of a trained professional. Also, these graduate programs are more accessible than you may think. Here are a couple things to consider when deciding if graduate school is right for you.

Money: A graduate degree will set a much brighter future for your professional career. Last year people with graduate degrees earned nearly double the salary of those only completing their undergrad. While graduate programs are far from free, scholarships are readily available. Just make sure to compare scholarships and avoid one with military commitment - unless that’s what you’re looking for!

Time: You’ll gain industry-specific knowledge with the flexibility of an undergraduate schedule. In the workforce, it may take several years (sometimes longer) to reach your ideal position. Graduate school is a way to bypass that process quickly and efficiently. Plus, if you choose the right school (hint: UCSB), you’ll have monthlong winter breaks!

Simply put, consider a graduate degree if you’re having trouble finding your path after college. For Geography, UCSB’s Remote Sensing and GIS are great disciplines to continue your education post-graduation. Plus, instead of working on Christmas Day, you’ll be able to hit the slopes of your local ski resort!

Woody Robinson is a recent UCSB Geography graduate who works with FindTheBest; he recently redesigned their data-driven comparisons to help users make more informed decisions on anything from Test Prep to Mountain Bikes.

To see a screenshot of FindTheBest search engine results comparing scholarships, grants, fellowships and student loans, based on minimum and maximum funding, award type, whether or not it is college specific, and other criteria, click here.

Hot off the presses:  UCSB jumps from 34th to 17th in Kiplinger's 2012 list of the top 100 best values in public colleges and universities based on outstanding education and economic value.  As a matter of fact, we are just one of six University of California campuses to make the top 25! If you ask me, that takes a little bit of the sting out of the recent fee increases.  

Jump to the full press release on our university home page:  UCSB Ranks No. 17 Among Nation's Top 100 Best-Value Public Universities

Diversity makes our graduate education experience rich, and with the release of the 2011/2012 international student census, we are proud to study with students from all over the map!  This academic year, a total of 588 new and returning international graduate students enrolled at UCSB, and the total census, which includes undergraduates and Education Abroad Program (EAP) students, brings us to 1,233!  Overall, that is a 12% increase over last year, and if you just consider the new international students, we are up 37% when compared with new international students last year.

Dr. Mary Jacob, Director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, informs us that international students make up 1% of our undergraduate population and 18% of our graduate population.  She also shared a spreadsheet of counts with the GradPost.  Check out the maps below and click the markers to see how many of our international students come from each country. At UCSB, we are the world!

UCSB International Graduate Students for the 2011/2012 Academic Year

Total 2011/2012 International UCSB Students (Undergrad, Grad, and EAP)

I recently received an email about "Santa Barbara Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day" and I thought I'd pass the information along to you; I'm personally planning on attending myself. 

The celebration is brought to you by The Martin Luther King Committee of Santa Barbara. The MLK Committee of Santa Barbara has planned a day's worth of events for Monday, Jan. 16, including a rally, march, entertainment and food.

The MLK Committee of Santa Barbara is a committed group of people who work hard at keeping Dr. King's memory alive.

For more details and a full list of events, please click on the following link:

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

In the first program of its kind offered on a University of California campus, all grad students offered Teaching Associate appointments for the 2012 Summer Teaching Institute for Associates (STIA) program will have the opportunity to partner with an experienced faculty mentor and a peer group.

UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas requested the expansion of the faculty mentoring component, which will allow participants to share experiences, insights and knowledge related to successful teaching at the university level. The program will be facilitated by Summer Sessions and Instructional Development.

Upon finishing the mentoring program, the grad student associates will receive a certificate of completion suitable for inclusion on a CV; and a credit toward UCSB’s Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT), as well as the STIA program (Summer Teaching Institute for Associates).

Summer Sessions points out that in this competitive job market, the mentoring program experience both enhances a student’s professional development as a university instructor and serves as an attractive asset to potential employers.

The teaching associates will meet with their mentors and peer group (up to seven other associates) once before the start of the session and three times during the session. Before the term begins, the mentor will work with the associate to refine and polish the associate’s course syllabus. During the term, the mentor will lead discussions on teaching strategies and pedagogies, and participants will be able to address issues as they arise in the classroom.

Why participate? Read what a few recent summer associates said about their mentoring experience in STIA:

“No matter how much experience you have, being able to get personal feedback on your teaching and your class from a world-renowned faculty member who has been teaching for decades is priceless.”

“Meeting with the mentor and other associates was useful for getting feedback and advice on specific situations that came up in the course of teaching the class. Often, solutions or approaches were suggested that I wouldn't have come up with by myself or by talking with other people in my department. It was also a good way to let off a little steam.”

“It was great to have a place to discuss ideas about teaching and logistics with other people going through the same things . . . the mentor and other associates had new insight into difficulties I had this summer. Some advice I took and some I will take next time. (Because not heeding it turned out to be a mistake!) Overall, it is an experience that helped me last summer and will continue to help me in my future courses.”

For more information, grad students should contact the graduate staff advisor for their department or Cindy Bumgarner at c.bumgarner@summersessions.ucsb.edu.

On this day that we take as holiday to observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I'd like to offer some words that speak to what Dr. King's memory means to me. Although Dr. King existed during the civil rights era of the 1960s, I feel his messages can be accepted across cultures and belief systems. I believe this because as the youngest of three children born to immigrant parents it was very difficult growing up at times in conditions of extreme poverty.

As a child I remember living in the Rampart district of Los Angeles and feeling a sense of constant fear. As a child born in Los Angeles, CA in the 80s and raised in San Bernardino through the 90s I've witnessed much change and turmoil in my young life. Yet, one of my earliest school memories was celebrating Black History Month. Mainly because my birthday is in February and the beginning of the month meant my birthday was coming, but later on I grew to gain a deeper significance to the hstory. I used to love listening about figures such as Lucy Terry, Phillis Wheatley, George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, Dr, King, Malcolm X, etc. I enjoyed listening to them overcoming struggle and sharing their stories to motivate others of the same. I do also remember there was always a phrase used to describe these figures as being, "important to building a better America."

It is this latter phrase that made me believe that I, as the child of immigrant parents, had a duty to become the best American possible in order for my parents' struggles to have been legitimized. As such I looked to figures such as Cesar Chavez and Dr. King because they appealed to me in a way I felt coincided with how I was raised and how I wanted to mold myself as an adult. I listened to their speeches and watched videos of them in class. I was convinced of becoming a public figure to help our community because of people like Dr. King. Although it was very sad to hear how his life ended shortly I never forgot the messages in his "I Have a Dream" speech.

It took me a couple years after high school to remember how important Dr. King had actually been to my earlier development of agency and the pursuit of knowledge. It was after I enrolled in junior college and transferred to UCSB that I remembered what it felt like to be inspired by such great figures. It was in Chicana/o Studies 1A, with Dr. Ralph Armbruster-Sandvoval, that I was confronted with that feeling again, except this time it was to a different Dr. King speech; "The Drum Major Instinct". The speech spoke to me of personal reflexivity and allowed me to start seeing that we are to try to better ourselves and help others, not to help ourselves and try to fix others.

At the time I heard the speech there were rallys on campus regarding evictions of local tenants. I was new to UCSB and had never been at a rally, nor was I looking to being possibly arrested, as was the preconceived notions I had prior to arriving to UCSB. I witnessed how students, staff and faculty bound together and collectively dug into their thinning pockets to assist our community members in need. I began to see that people are capable of coming together to help those with greater needs. The "Drum Major Instinct" as Dr. King calls it, began to steadily beat inside of me. I began to think about a future full of serving a public in need of resources and information. I applied to pursue a Ph. D. because I wanted to be in a better position to do so. Four years into graduate school and the beating has only gained rhythm and gotten stronger inside of me since then.

I was fortunate enough to have a system of support set up through our community of underrepresented students, student affairs support staff and faculty. As I hope to assume my role in the "real world" I will strive my hardest, regardless of personal gain and struggle, my drum major and my agency, will go on. I have included "The Drum Major Instinct" speech below in case anyone is interested and has the time to listen to it.

 Here's a link to the full text and audio recording:

"The Drum Major Instinct"