Hello OCEAN Friends,

Welcome to our 4th year of the OCEAN initiative. Our community has grown a lot in these first few years, and we are welcoming over 20 new graduate students supporting over 15 partnerships in AY 21-22. Please let us know how you are doing and adjusting as our communities come back together and continually adjust during these times. We continue to have our bi-weekly seminar series which you can attend on-campus or via Zoom. We hope to see you there and support all of your work in Orange County this year.

Best,
 
Associate Professor
Director, OCEAN
Community Engaged Research Seminar
We are now collecting registration for the OCEAN Fall 2021 Seminar. All School of Education graduate students, faculty, and interested community partners are invited to attend.

The seminar will be led by OCEAN faculty, graduate students, and community partners throughout the 2021-22 academic year. The 2021 fall quarter sessions will occur bi-weekly as hybrid sessions on the following dates from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.: 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2. We will be meeting in the newly remodeled Dean's conference room in the School of Education and also doing a hybrid setup on Zoom this quarter.

We have some exciting sessions planned, including a collaborative workshop on getting a partnership started, a faculty panel session on writing about Community Engaged Research/Research Practice Partnership projects, and a practice workshop on getting to the root cause/problem of practice.

If you plan to attend any of the OCEAN Seminars please register here to RSVP and to receive the calendar invite and Zoom link if you plan to participate via Zoom. This will be your RSVP for the fall 2021 quarter. The location and Zoom link will remain the same throughout the quarter.

If you have any questions, please contact Erica Van Steenis: erica.vansteenis@uci.edu 
 
We look forward to seeing you in attendance!
Welcome 2021-2022 OCEAN
Graduate Student Researchers
Please join us in welcoming the 2021-22 OCEAN Graduate Student Researchers. We have a great mixture of returning and new Community Research Fellows. The new OCEAN CRF students will work to complete coursework on Research Practice Partnerships and Design Based Implementation Research, participate in a formal community engaged research partnership, contribute to the OCEAN community through service opportunities, and consistently attended OCEAN seminars. As a whole, we are excited to welcome this fantastic crew of students to OCEAN this year. Welcome!
Partnership: Newport-Mesa
Faculty Mentor: Rossella Santagata
Partnership: Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative
Faculty Mentor: Andres Bustamante
Partnership: Cal Teach
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
Partnership: Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
Partnership: SFUSD
Faculty Mentor: Adriana Villaviencio
Partnership: Newport-Mesa
Faculty Mentor: Rossella Santagata
Partnership: Samueli Academy
Faculty Mentor: Richard Arum
Partnership: TLC Public Charter
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
Partnership: Valley High School
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
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Partnership: El Sol Academy
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Pena
Partnership: GearUp
Faculty Mentor: Andres Bustamante
Partner: SAUSD
Faculty Mentor: Andres Bustamante
Partner: SAELI
Faculty Mentor: Andres Bustamante
Partner: OC Leadership Alliance
Faculty Mentor: Richard Arum
Partner: OC Foster Youth Network
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
Partner: TVT Community Day School
Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Reich
Partnership: El Sol Academy
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Pena
Partner: Blended Learning/Intelligent Tutoring System
Faculty Mentor: Shayan Doroudi
Partner: Samueli Academy
Faculty Mentor: Richard Arum
Partnership: Marco Forster Middle School
& Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano
Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Reich
Partner: OC Environmental Justice & the Crystal Cove Conservancy
Faculty Mentor: Rossella Santagata
Partner: Equitable Futures Nationwide
Faculty Mentor: June Ahn
How to become an OCEAN Community Research Fellow
OCEAN invites doctoral students who want to integrate their emerging skills as researchers with a focus on making an impact with local communities. If you are interested in this work, we encourage you to join OCEAN as Community Research Fellows (CRFs). All interested doctoral students are welcome to join OCEAN and to complete the Fellowship activities (regardless of whether you are officially funded on a project or not). To participate you will commit to participate in several ways (outlined below) and upon successful completion of this participation will receive formal recognition through OCEAN.

Benefits
  1. You can signal this formal CRF recognition on your CVs.
  2. You will have developed deep relationships with UCI scholars who conduct partnership research in education, and can list these advisors on your CV.
  3. You will have access to participate in broader scholarship, networking, and experiences that signal your growing expertise in partnership methods.

How to Participate 
  1. Attend the Community Based Research Workshop Series for the entire academic year (Fall, Winter, Spring).
  2. Volunteer with a local partner. You might join in with an existing OCEAN site and collaborate with an experienced OCEAN GSR (we can make introductions). Or you may have your own site that you work with already, and can build from that.
  3. Regularly interact with Faculty Mentors and peers. We’ll invite you to a shared OCEAN calendar which outlines available office hours and mentorship opportunities.
  4. Assist with OCEAN operations and community development, by taking on a small, specific task for the year (website, newsletter, community coordination, etc.)
  5. Complete the SOE course sequence on community-focused research at some point in one’s doctoral curriculum: Course 1: Research-Practice Partnerships & Course 2: Design Based Implementation Research

If you would like to sign up to learn more about this fellowship and begin participating please reach out to erica.vansteenis@uci.edu
Peer to Peer Support Group
We are excited to begin a research support space for OCEAN fellows and interested students in the School of Education throughout fall quarter.

What: The peer to peer support group is an inviting space for OCEAN fellows and graduate students to share their community engaged research projects, receive feedback on their half-baked ideas, provide feedback to other graduate students and last but not least, build community. 

When: Every other Wednesday 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on September 29, October 13, October 27, November 10, and December 8.

Where: We will meet in School of Education office #3379 or the School of Education courtyard (weather and group dependent)

What to do if you would like to attend: If you are interested in attending please email Erica Van Steenis (erica.vansteenis@uci.edu) and Socorro Cambero (camberos@uci.edu) to get more information and to RSVP.

Given that we are aiming to provide an inviting space for everyone to receive feedback, we have also invited OCEAN faculty to attend sessions and provide feedback to students (you will see a faculty signed up for each session).

We look forward to being in community with you and to seeing you there.
News
Support System
The School of Education’s OCEAN network is leading stakeholders across Orange County to improve support for foster and housing insecure youth.