1. Addressing Graduate Student Wellness through Climate Committees
Dr. Irice Castro, University of California-Irvine/University of Southern California Genia Nizkorodov, University of California-Irvine Cortney Simmons, University of California-Irvine Dr. Jennifer Craig Welti, University of California-Irvine
Monday, March 5, Convention Center, Terrace Ballroom 3 Area 1
JENNIE

2. Session Roadmap
1. Learning Outcomes 2. About & Context 3. Initiatives 4. Student Perspective 5. Activity: Build Your Own! 6. Q&A
JENNIE

3. Learning Outcomes
Ability to explain the value of climate committees for the overall well-being of graduate student populations Ability to initiate new, or modify existing climate committees
JENNIE

4. Departments and Programs Student Demographics
About the School of Social Ecology
Departments and Programs Student Demographics
JENNIE

5. JENNIE
N = 5,196
N = 356

6. N – 5,196 N – 356 Jennie 72% white alone
6.5% Black or African American
1.7% American Indian and Alaskan
14.8% Asian
0.5% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
38.9% Hispanic or Latino
N – 5,196
N – 356

7. History
1) Why it was founded 2) Composition 3) Evolving purpose of our Climate Committee
JENNIE

8. Intellectual development
Initiatives -
JENNIE

9. Emotional development
Initiatives -
JENNIE

10. Student Perspective- Role and Responsibilities
Student liaisons to faculty and administration
Learning about the needs of SE students
Developing strategies to address the needs and concerns of students
Key Goal: Providing student perspective
10 minutes
Cortney
1. Anonymous surveys, townhalls without administrators or faculty present, offer meetings with students, social media, meeting over coffee, taking courses with other students.
Want to help students without identifying them and without feeling singled out.
2. Developing strategies
Soundboard of the effectiveness of existing strategies– lived experiences
Develop new initiatives with student input (surveys, discussions, etc.)
Examples
Genia: Student wellness workshops
Genia: Women in academia.
3. In the room when decisions made
Concerns are shared with key decisionmakers

11. Student Perspective- Benefits
Committee Effectiveness
Perceived Student Benefits
Equal opportunity to participate in conversations
Learning about the ins/outs of campus administration
Student-driven initiatives
Staying informed
Diverse representation
10 minutes
Cortney

12. Student-driven options
Student Perspective- What can be improved
Power dynamics
 Evidence-based
Funding
Student-driven options
Meeting structure
Establishing norms
Low visibility
Event attendance
Member transition s
Student stipends
ower dynamics between students and faculty members. 
Typically a safe setting to air grievances
However, there have been times where students' concerns or ideas were met with mockery or disdain. 
As though these concerns were not legitimate or did not fall under the scope/responsibilities of the CC
Organization of meetings. 
Spend too much time re-visiting old topics. 
One meeting per quarter-- may be more helpful to meet more than once, or have better communication between members during the quarter
Visibility
Student representatives need to do more to make their roles and the Committee more visible within their department
Something I definitely did not do. 
Role does not need to be the main priority, but still should've tried more. 
Website needs some work
Possibly add an anonymous comment box to allow students to air their concerns. 
Member transitions
Committee Members at Large stay the same
Faculty members seem to change often (at least within PSB)
Student members also change
Spending too much time orienting new members to what the CC is, has already achieved, and is currently working on. 
Not dedicated to the position or the goals of the committee-- more of a CV filler or service requirement. 
Poor meeting attendance
Attendance at events
Could be improved with visibility of committee

13. Build Your Own!
1) Makeup of Committee 2) Launching the Committee 3) Collect and Analyze Data 4) Initiatives 5) Evaluation
Irice

14. Questions?
ALL

15. References
Tompkins, K. A., Brecht, K., Tucker, B., Neander, L. L., & Swift, J. K. (2016). Who matters most? The contribution of faculty, student-peers, and outside support in predicting graduate student satisfaction. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 10(2), Stanton-Salazar, R. D. (2016). Contributions of social capital theory and social network models in advancing the connection between students’ school-based learning and community-based opportunities for pursuing interest-driven learning. Building Youth Social Capital through Connected Learning, University of California, Irvine.

16. Thank you for joining us today!
Please remember to complete your online evaluation following the conference.
See you in Los Angeles in 2019!