spring 2012 pwa newsletter

Inside This Issue

2 Meet the Co-Presidents

3 Community Service Projects

Backpack Drive

Holiday Toy Drive

4 Awards & Recognition

Unsung Heroine Awards

Book Scholarships

9 2011 Conference

10 PWA Interest Groups

11 Upcoming Events

12 Membership Information

Join PWA Today!

Celebrating Women.

Serving our community.

NEWSLETTER | SPRING 2012

Professional Women’s Association

University of California Santa Barbara

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION | SPRING 2012

Meet the 2011-2012 PWA Co-Presidents

Kelly grew-up in Oxnard, California. In her words, she has “always wanted to attend

UCSB.” She graduated from UCSB with a degree in Sociology. After graduation, she

moved to New York for a few months, but decided that Santa Barbara was where she

wanted to be. Kelly returned to UCSB and worked in the Undergraduate Advising Office

for the College of Engineering. There, she was asked to get involved with the Professional

Women’s Association.

For two years, Kelly held the position of Programming Co-Chair on the PWA Steering

Committee. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Kelly and Margaret McMurtrey

became the Co-Vice Presidents of the PWA Steering Committee. Together, they planned

the 2011 PWA Professional Development Conference. Kelly has enjoyed working with

Margaret as a co-vice president and co-president. “Our work styles complement each

other; so somehow, we are able to get everything we need done for PWA, as well as our

jobs.”

Kelly’s favorite part of being involved with PWA is meeting, and getting to know, amazing

women on campus. Taking on a leadership role in PWA gave Kelly the confidence to

apply for an Admissions Counselor position—she has been working in UCSB Admissions

since January 2011.

Outside of work and PWA, Kelly is an avid reader (she read 72 books in 2011!), a

gastronome who enjoys trying new restaurants in Santa Barbara, and a community leader

who volunteers for organizations such as the SB Zoo and SB International Film Festival.

Kelly Erland Admissions Counselor

Margaret McMurtrey

Undergraduate Advisor, French & Italian Studies

Margaret McMurtrey is currently the PWA Co-President and a member of the PWA Steering

Committee. She is a UCSB alumnus. In addition to a B.A. in English, she holds two Masters

Degrees from UCSB, one in Educational Leadership and Organizations and the other in Confluent

Education.

Margaret has a long history of work experience as an employee of UCSB in a variety of positions.

She returned to full time UCSB employment six years ago and is currently the Undergraduate Staff

Advisor for French, Italian, Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies. Since her return she graduated

from the Letters and Science 2007-2008 Leadership Program and served on CSAC (Chancellor’s

Staff Advisory Council) for three years. Previously she has been a member of the Women’s

Center Advisory Board, a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women and

Coordinator of the Women’s Writing Conference at UCSB.

Prior to her current position at UCSB she has been a consultant to small businesses, non-profit

organizations and government agencies. She is a trained facilitator, a nationally-certified trainer

in nonprofit board development and she holds a Work/Life Certificate from Boston College and

Certificate in Mediation and Negotiation from UCSB Extension.


17th Annual Back Pack Drive In August 2011, the Professional Women’s Association, in collaboration

with the UCSB Optimist Club and the Associated Students Community

Affairs Board (CAB), set out to collect 100 backpacks for local

elementary and middle school kids.

The goal of the Annual Backpack Drive is to help local children start

the year off right by providing school supplies to those who might not

otherwise have access to much-needed supplies. This year, a total of

106 backpacks were filled with school supplies and donated to local

schools, including: Isla Vista Elementary, La Cumbre Jr. High School,

McKinley Elementary School, and Peoples’ Self Help.

This year, PWA helped to organize the drop-off locations around

campus, collected the backpacks, and delivered them to local

schools. The Optimist Club helped fill the backpacks with supplies and

CAB donated supplies and storage.

Thanks to all of the UCSB community members who helped us make

this a successful event!

17th Annual Holiday Toy Drive

On December 9, 2011, Santa Clause (known by many in the UCSB

community as Vice Chancellor Michael Young) made his annual pre-

Christmas trip from the North Pole to Isla Vista.

His first stop was a surprise visit to the I.V. Elementary pre-K classroom.

After the children sang Feliz Navidad and other Christmas carols, each

child had the opportunity to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Santa and his helpers brought gifts, cookies, and juice for each of the

24 children in the class.

Next, Santa was the guest of honor at the kindergarten holiday party.

A few weeks before the party, each kindergartener at I.V. Elementary

filled out a gift wish-list. PWA organized the collection and distribution

of gifts for 74 kindergartners. The children, led by Ms. Looker on her

acoustic guitar, sang carols for Santa and received their gifts.

On December 15, 2011, Santa Clause (this time Chuck Champlin,

immediate past president of the UCSB Optimist Club) delivered

another round of gifts to pre-K children at Ellwood Elementary and El

Camino Elementary schools.

The Professional Women’s Association, with the help of the UCSB

Optimist Club and community volunteers, delivered approximately 150

gifts to children in our community. Thank you to all who donated their

time and gifts to children!

Special thanks to Michael Young and Chuck Champlin for their time

and enthusiasm. Thanks to the Optimist Club at UCSB for assisting with

gift collection and distribution. Thanks to the Office of International

Student Services (OISS) for providing gift storage space. Thank you to

Cathe Hendrick, Luz Maria Cabral, Dolly Cook, and all the other

community volunteers who made this event possible. Community

Service Co-Chairs, Mary Anderson and Carol Sauceda, are grateful to

all PWA members and UCSB community members for their support.

Santa Clause (Vice Chancellor)

Michael Young with I.V. Elementary

Pre-K classroom

PWA Community Service

Rochelle Rose and Carol Sauceda

distributing backpacks at

Peoples’ Self Help

A special thanks to everyone who

participated in the gift drive:

“We really want to let you all know

how much our kids appreciated the

special visit and all that you do for us!

Thanks again,

Jayne Valdez” Elwood Elementary


PWA Awards & Recognition

2010-2011 Unsung Heroines

Each year, PWA solicits nominations for the Unsung Heroine Award. The purpose of the award is to recognize

women who have a positive impact on the UCSB campus by going above and beyond their call of duty contributing to

their job, co-workers, the campus, or the community. Take a moment to meet the 2010-2011 Unsung Heroines—

Keri Bradford Publications Coordinator for the Daily Nexus

Ms. Bradford was nominated for the Unsung Heroine Award for going above the call of duty in her

position and offering assistance to students in the American Indian Student Association (AISA) in

order to complete a new organizational publication. She lent her graphic design skills and

professional experience to assist students from the AISA in creating a student resource guide for

Native American Students.

Keri Bradford is described one of her nominators as having “generosity of spirit, integrity, selflessness,

efficiency, and… an infectious positive attitude.”

Another nominator stated that, “Keri worked countless hours each day and night for months to

make sure our students were able to meet their goal…. Keri just got the job done with a smile.”

Because of Ms. Bradford’s efforts, UCSB is now the second campus in the UC system to publish a

Native American Resource Guide for its students. While taking on this project, Keri was also taking

courses at UCLA in and working on campus as the Publications Coordinator for The Daily Nexus.

Angela Bryan Assistant Director, Judicial Affairs and Hate Crime Incident Response Coordinator

In addition to working as the Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs, Ms. Bryan is a graduate student in

the Clinical Psychology Masters program and a campus and community volunteer. Angela works

diligently to investigate cases of academic misconduct with an open mind, looking for both the

facts and the underlying circumstances in each case. She also takes time to follow up with students

and, if necessary, helps them with challenges they may face with re-enrollment.

Ms. Bryan takes initiative to improve communication and the dissemination of knowledge. She

created a paperless database for reporting and has gone to great lengths to make information

about academic conduct available online for student access. She has been proactive in raising

awareness among students about academic conduct, hate crime prevention, and the prevention

of violence against women.

Ms. Bryan also encourages undergraduate students to get involved in student integrity and hate

crime prevention programs. She created a peer education program for academic integrity and

she initiated the Study Integrity Week and Speak up Against Hate Week, both of which are now run

by undergraduate students.

In the words of one of her nominators, “Angie’s new frontier as a professional woman is balancing

the joy of being a new Mom of 4 month old with her career, and her educational goals. Being a

new Mother changes everything, and her ability to balance it all is more than noteworthy.”


Unsung Heroines Continued.

Mia Vela Front Desk Supervisor & Project Manager, Office of Student Life

Britta Dysart Events Manager, Dean’s Office College of Engineering

As Events Manager, Ms. Dysart is responsible for planning and executing campus events of all

types and sizes. When she started in her position, she did not have much documentation of

how past events were organized. She quickly familiarized herself with university policies and

resources. She fine-tuned the event planning process for the College of Engineering by

reorganizing event-planning guides and introducing efficient event timelines.

Ms. Dysart prepares planning timelines months in advance of events and ensures that each

step is completed on time. She works hard to make sure that the University is represented in a

positive manner every step of the way. She works to make events enjoyable for a wide

audience including event stakeholders, faculty, and students. Ms. Dysart’s events consistently

meet and exceed expectations.

According to one of her nominators, “Britta is a truly superstar employee, well deserving of this

award.”

Ms. Vela goes above and beyond her call of duty at the Office of Student Life providing

assistance to students who are struggling with a wide variety of personal issues. In addition to

helping students with day to day issues, she also works with students who are experiencing

crises significant enough to interrupt their school work. She works with students, parents, and

community and campus professionals to ensure that the students she works with have support.

Mia often works with students with serious mental or physical illness.

One of her nominators noted that, “Her work, while it may go unnoticed or unrecognized at

times, truly has a positive impact on the entire trajectory of the lives of students she works with.

When everything falls apart, Mia comes to these students’ rescue.”

In the words of another of her nominators, “Mia manages to keep cool in the face of

everyday pressures and shows kindness and respect towards everyone with whom she

interacts. In her work with students, Mia demonstrates an ethic of care and genuine concern

for their well being—whether it’s in helping them to problem solve or save money, or in saving

them a trip across campus when they’re in distress or overwhelmed.”


Maria Pizano Assistant Superintendent, Custodial Services Physical Facilities

Ms. Pizano has worked diligently and has become one of the first women hired to the position

of Assistant Superintendant of Custodial Services for Facilities Management. According to one

of her nominators, “She is a mentor and advocate for those she works with.”

In addition to her career accomplishments at UCSB, Maria is also deeply involved in the

community. She has participated in mediation training through UCSB and has been a liaison

between her department and the community by serving as a United Way representative.

According to one of her nominators, “She facilitates not only the growth of her employees by

informing them of opportunities that are available to them on campus, but also facilitates

camaraderie by encouraging her co-workers to celebrate their life accomplishments through

organizing potlucks, and department appreciation dinners. She gives of herself at these

events by being someone who cooks her heart out. For me, that is a very kind expression that

you really care about someone when you are willing to cook and prepare things that bring

people together and they can enjoy each other and appreciate each others as co-workers

and friends.”

Unsung Heroines Continued.

Congratulations Unsung Heroines!


Barbara S. Uehling Book Scholarship Recipients

Darlene Gomez

Darlene is a CAMP Scholar and a member of SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos

and Native Americans in the Sciences). She has volunteered for LEAPS at Santa Barbara High

School. As a mother, Darlene has faced many challenges in realizing her academic goals. In her

words, “my educational goals have remained the same even if I have to work twice as hard to

achieve them.”

Darlene has participated in an independent research project in the Ecology Evolution and Marine

Biology department and is taking a full load of upper division science courses. She hopes to obtain

a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the UCSB Bren School of Education and to

eventually complete a Ph.D.

Javier Magana

Javier is a first-generation college student and a fourth year Political Science major. He has worked

two jobs to help support his partner and their son while taking on a full course load and

participating in a research project relating to the November 2010 elections. He has also

volunteered for LEAPS, helping to introduces kids in junior high to science. He hopes to obtain

Bachelor’s Degrees from UCSB and to attend graduate school.

Tina Taylor

Tina’s career goals are to obtain a Masters Degree in Education and to become a teacher. She

also hopes to someday start a non-profit organization to give back to the community she grew up

in. She has worked hard to keep a high GPA while balancing the responsibilities of being a single

mother with her academics. She is two quarters away from completing her Bachelor’s Degree with

a double major in Cultural Anthropology and Black Studies.

Edward Williams

Edward enlisted in the U.S. Navy right out of high school. He is proud to have had the opportunity to

serve his country and to volunteer to help enrich the lives of people in underserved communities he

visited as a service member. Edward completed his undergraduate work at Tuskegee University

and was active in student government and volunteered at local elementary and junior high

schools. Currently, Edward is a graduate student in the Education Department at UC Santa

Barbara. He is also the father of two children. In his own words, Edward’s research interests “are

grounded in equality and access of technology resources in education.”

The Barbara S. Uehling Book Scholarship for Re-Entry and Non-Traditional students is awarded each year to five

students who face unique challenges in completing their degrees as they juggle being a student, parent, wage-earner,

community volunteer, and/or participant in co-curricular activities. UC Santa Barbara defines a re-entry/non-traditional

student as someone who returns to education after a period of time, and/or is married, and/or has dependent children. In

choosing scholarship recipients, PWA also considers financial need.

Mayra Zendejas

Mayra is a third year senior at UCSB and a first-generation college student. She is an expectant

mother who is working hard to achieve her goal of completing her undergraduate work an entire

year early while double majoring in Sociology and Spanish. She is also applying to graduate schools

and hopes to complete a Masters Degree in order to pursue a career as a psychotherapist or a

social worker.

2010-2011 Academic Year


2011-2012 Academic Year

Nathan Alamillo

Nathan is a double major Chicana/o Studies and Sociology. In addition to balancing his

responsibilities as a father, full-time student, and a wage-earner, Nathan finds the time to volunteer

on campus and in the community. Nathan is a student mentor for the Educational Opportunities

Program and a Health and Wellness Chair at UCSB. He also volunteers his time to the Health and

Wellness program as a Sex & Relationship and Alcohol & Drug Peer Educator and is a Safer Sex Peer

Advisor. After graduation, Nathan plans apply to Teach for America. His long-term goal is to pursue

a Ph.D. in Sociology.

Frank Arredondo

Frank is an Anthropology Major. He is a single father and a re-entry student who has participated in

local Cultural Resource Programs, served on several school boards and worked with non-profit

programs. His long-term educational goal is to obtain a master’s degree in Native American studies

and a Ph.D. in Archeology. He hopes to work for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Darlene Gomez

Darleen is a Hydraulic Sciences major. In addition to juggling her responsibilities as a mother and a

full time student, Darleen is a California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) Scholar. Darleen

has worked on an undergraduate research project and presented the results of her research at a

national conference. Darleen’s educational goal is to pursue a Master’s and a Ph.D. degree in Civil

Engineering. She hopes to eventually help provide sustainable hydraulic infrastructure to third world

countries.

Francine Martinez

Francine is a Business Economics major with an emphasis in Accounting. She transferred to UCSB last

year. Francine is a single-parent working diligently to complete her last quarter at UCSB by taking

on a heavy course load. After graduation, she plans to gain work experience in the accounting

field while finishing up the unit requirements to obtain her accounting license.

Laura Zuniga Rios

Laura is a junior double-majoring in Sociology and Spanish. She is a first-generation college student

and a single mother. In addition being a full-time student and working, she is involved in campus

and community life. She holds a leadership positions in both a pre-law student group on campus

and the Santa Barbara Teen Legal Clinic. Her educational goal is to apply for law school and her

long-term career goal is to work in criminal law. In her own words, she hopes to, “help make positive

changes in both people’s life’s and the legal system.”

Congratulations Book Scholarship recipients!


Composing Your Life: Creativity, Community & Career

2011 PWA Professional Development Conference


PWA Interest Groups

The Professional Women’s Association Book Club

For the past fifteen years, the PWA Book Club has met each month to explore a work of

contemporary fiction. Susan Carty has been in the book club from the beginning. According to

Susan, the book club was originally founded by employees in the General Books section of the

UCSB Bookstore—most of whom have long since left the University. Although Susan retired from

UCSB in 2002, she returns each month to participate in the PWA Book Club.

The group chooses the reading list collaboratively and members are encouraged to make

suggestions and book recommendations. Although the main theme is contemporary fiction,

sometimes the club diverges into other genres. The book club occasionally delves into a memoir or

biography. During winter quarter, the book club participates in the UCSB Reads program. The

meetings in December and June are traditionally food-themed. The December meeting

incorporates a cookie-swap. In June, the club reads a food related book and each member brings

a dish from the book.

Interested in joining the PWA Book Club?

New members are welcome!

When: The first Thursday of each month at noon (The Book Club does not meet in January; schedule subject to change)

Where: The Goleta Valley Room in the UCEN

Contact: Susan Carty—[email protected]

Upcoming Reads: May 3: Emperor of all Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

June 7: Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton

July 5: Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

August 2: A travel book of your choice

September 6: State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett

October 4: The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht


Upcoming Events

PWA Professional Development Conference—

Save the Date! The 2012 PWA Professional Development Conference will be held on

Tuesday, May 15th. Be sure to mark your calendars. The theme is Wellness for Life.

For the most up-to-date conference information, “like” the PWA Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/ucsbpwa

Register online at: www.pwa.ucsb.edu

- APRIL -

- MAY -

PWA Learn at Lunch: Probiotics 101

April 24, 2012 – 12-1pm – Flying A Studio, UCEN

Bring your lunch and join us for our next Learn at Lunch presentation: Probiotics 101 with

Katie Falbo and Lynn Hartman. Learn about the health benefits of adding probiotics to your

diet and try some samples.

Staff Appreciation week: Sixth Annual Staff Social

May 16, 2012 – 3pm-4:30pm – Rec Cen Pavilion

Staff Social and Craft Bizarre presented by Staff Assembly, ABOG and PWA. Join us for

refreshments, games, and prizes. Purchase unique hand-crafted items from staff artisans.

More information will be sent via the staff listserv soon.

http://www.facebook.com/ucsbpwa

http://www.pwa.ucsb.edu/


Want to get involved?

Join the Professional Women’s Association Today!

Membership Benefits:

For $15, you will—

Receive a discount on admission to the PWA Professional Development

Conference on May 15, 2012

Be invited to participate in members-only activities

Be a part of an established leadership organization at UCSB

Receive a free PWA mug with paid membership

What is PWA?

The Professional Women’s Association was founded in January 1993. The

purpose of this association is to develop awareness among faculty, staff, and

other campus constituencies of the contributions of women to the mission of

UCSB; to provide activities and support to other campus constituencies that

contribute to the advancement of women; to serve as a networking and

communications channel among women; and to provide a forum to

influence decisions on campus and community issues.

Download the membership form today at: www.pwa.ucsb.edu

Want more info? Contact the membership chair at: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/ucsbpwa

To receive up-to-date info, “like” PWA on Facebook!

http://www.pwa.ucsb.edu/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.facebook.com/ucsbpwa

spring 2012 pwa newsletter

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