HDAE Highlights

Micro-articles about Our Staff & Communities

Congratulations to Wendy Devlin of Transportation & Parking Services! Her suggestion for a new newsletter name ('The Compass') to represent all of HDAE was unanimously selected and she won a $25 gift card to the UCSB Campus Store. Eric Zobel designed the beautiful new masthead.

With the sponsorship of Community Housing, The Urban Art Workshop has painted two more murals in Isla Vista this academic year. To learn more about these mural masterpieces (nine total!), please visit Keep Art Alive.

Placement & Assignment Services for the residence halls and apartments and the Community Housing Office have recently merged into the new University & Community Housing Services (UCHS). Located on the third floor of the UCen, UCHS handles applications, contracts, wait lists, room assignments, roommate matching, billing, and housing payments for UCSB residence halls and apartments, as well as resources for housing in the community such as rental listings, conflict resolution, move-in/move-out videotaping, and rental advice. Eric Zobel is making them easy to find with beautiful signage throughout the UCen.

CONGRATULATIONS!: Lia Romero of Ortega Dining Commons received a certificate of recognition from the City of Goleta for her CERT volunteer work during the Thomas Fire disaster…Jim Hernandez, Distribution & Logistical Services, has been named Industry Co-Chair of the Postal Customer Council, Sierra Coastal...Residential Dining Services Director, Jill Horst, was featured as one of eighteen "Future Food Service Leaders" in Food Service & Equipment Supplies magazine...Nestor Covarrubias of Transportation & Parking Services welcomed baby boy Daniel Walker (pictured below) on March 23...Manuel Horta of Residential Operations welcomed baby boy Alonzo on March 3...Isidro Rodriguez-Gallegos of Residential Operations welcomed baby girl Adalina Rose on February 25...and Antonio Almanza of Transportation & Parking Services welcomed baby boy Remington Clark on December 10.

At the January Town Hall Cheer meeting for the group previously known as 'Housing & Residential Services’, 30+ items were collected for the AS Food Bank, and $400+ for the Red Cross Thomas Fire and Flood fund. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and caring! See below for a few photos taken at the event. During the recent Spring Town Hall Meeting, the following awards were presented: Francis Murray presented "Exceptional Service to Those We Serve" to Enrique Perez; Danielle Reed presented "Continuous Learning & Growth" to Kristine Lehman; Deejay Johnson presented Respecting & Understanding Individual Differences to Cierra Russell; and Ginnie Thomas presented "Having Fun & Being Passionate About Our Work" to Mickael Blancho. Congratulations everyone!

Residential Operations coordinated a bee hive removal near Anacapa last quarter with Super Bee Rescue. We bee-lieve in saving bees! Did you know? Bees are amongst the most important creatures to humans on Earth. These amazing insects pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants including 70 of the top 100 human food crops. One in three bites of food that we eat is derived from plants pollinated by bees.

The overall results for the Student Satisfaction Survey are in! Total Satisfied: 93.34% and Total Dissatisfied: 6.66% (with less than 1% very dissatisfied). Comments and suggestions are currently being reviewed, but here's a preview: "Everyone is so kind and helpful :)"; "Our comments and opinions are not taken seriously. I doubt anyone will even read or care about what I'm writing right now."; "I love the Ortega!" 

More fabulous work of one of our talented and caring staff members, Eric Zobel, of the HDAE Arts & Culture Committee. Dinosaurs and their compatriots may be extinct from earth, but they are alive and well in our Family Student Housing laundry room!

Not only does our staff strive to create community at UCSB, we are also making a difference in the local community. Kudos to the Residential & Community Living judicial affairs and student conduct team — Leo Ayala, Kristen Burnett, & Yasmin Quigley — for conducting a Restorative Justice training for Santa Ynez High School. Here's a well-deserved thank you note with glowing feedback. Restorative justice is an approach to justice that personalizes the crime by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of each, as well as involving the community.