Nicholas Celebrated for Investment in Access and Inclusion
May 24, 2021 - The UC Irvine Office of Access and Inclusion, which serves both the Samueli School of Engineering and the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, held a two-hour virtual open house on April 28, 2021, to celebrate its renaming as the Stacey Nicholas Office of Access and Inclusion. More than 100 attendees joined the virtual event that included a recognition of Nicholas, UCI Foundation trustee and engineer, who made a $5 million donation in 2020 to support and rename the program.
“Founded on the principle of inclusive excellence, OAI was created to promote and facilitate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives with a very focused mission: to recruit, retain and graduate talented students from historically excluded populations that are underrepresented in computing and engineering,” said Sharnnia Artis, event host and assistant dean of access and inclusion.
The open house included an OAI alumni panel in which Guadalupe Davalos, Anjali Krishnan, Theron Smith and Salvador Villalon spoke about their experiences at UCI, their current career status and some of the challenges they have faced. The alumni are working at SoCalGas, Cisco, Lam Research and Accenture, respectively. Davalos talked about using OAI resources such as graduate student tutors, Smith discussed how OAI and Artis helped fundraise to send more National Society of Black Engineers students to the national convention, and Villalon highlighted how Artis advised him on taking action to work toward his goals. Krishnan explained how OAI taught her unique technical skills: “How do I get the job in the first place? How do I apply? How do I interview? OAI helped me with a lot of that.”
Nicholas is active on various dean’s advisory and executive boards for UCI’s engineering and ICS schools and is a strong advocate of programs encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM education. She participated in the program and directly addressed OAI students: “You are so valued by this university, and we want you to feel that every single day. You are the future and the hope of this country, and it is our responsibility to make sure that you feel supported, encouraged and validated.”
Several distinguished UCI administrators also participated in the presentations. Douglas M. Haynes, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion; Brian Hervey, vice chancellor of university advancement; Mike Green, interim dean of the Samueli School of Engineering; and Marios Papaefthymiou, dean of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, all acknowledged Nicholas’s contributions to UCI.
“One of the proudest moments each day is to be a part of the Office of Inclusive Excellence because we’re committed, like the rest of the campus, to a transformative, whole university effort,” Haynes stated. “And that effort is grounded in values. And those values are: expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion and honor free speech.”
Artis gave an update on OAI’s efforts, drawing attention to three pillars: engagement, partnerships and inclusion. Artis explained the various ways OAI helps ensure student success, including undergraduate research opportunities, scholarships, professional development workshops, the SQUASH the Biases series and more.
Many different partnerships, both internal and external, have helped contribute to OAI’s success over the years. OAI partners include the UCI Career Center, the UCI Cross-Cultural Center, Broadcom Foundation, National Center for Women & Information Technology and many more.
Artis also thanked the faculty and staff who help foster an inclusive environment for students. She introduced Roderick Crooks, assistant professor of informatics, and Regina Ragan, professor of materials science and engineering and the Stacey Nicholas Endowed Chair for Diversity in Engineering Education. Crooks and Ragan talked about the value of OAI and how it has assisted them in working toward inclusion goals. “We want to build a program that takes undergraduates all the way to faculty leadership or industry leadership positions,” said Ragan. “It couldn’t happen without the partnerships.”
Discussing the future of OAI, Artis explained that the campus is currently in the “affirming” stage of the Continuum of Inclusive and Equitable Organizational Development, which is a way to measure the progress of how inclusive and equitable an institution is. The ultimate goal is to reach total inclusion. Artis elaborated on what this looks like: honestly acknowledging and repairing racial histories, examining and unlearning our biases and more. “We are offering quarterly anti-racism professional development opportunities for our students, faculty, researchers and staff to enhance their knowledge and understanding,” she said.
The open house occurred on Giving Day, and Hervey summed up the day’s sentiment: “We are so fortunate to have Stacey Nicholas share our commitment to promoting inclusive excellence and helping all our talented students to excel.”
– Sherry Ngo
