Engaging Immigrant Communities Webinar

Description:

Immigration is a national hot topic. During this webinar members of the Cal State East Bay community will share the responsive programs they created to engage the immigrant community and develop positive relationships across difference.

• In 2014, when a surge in the number of unaccompanied minors immigrating to the United States from Central America created a need for more support of immigrant youth, CSUEB created an Immigrant Community Engagement course. During this course our students probe the dynamics of immigrant experiences and serve at immigrant supporting agencies.
• In 2016-17 after a surge in federal immigration enforcement and arrests, 200+ campus employees and students have been trained to serve as allies to support the unique needs of undocumented students on campus. Our campus also hosted a CSU systemwide Undocumented Student Resource Summit.
• In 2017-18 our campus and community common read is In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero, which tells the story of the author’s life after her parents were detained and deported while she was at school. Campus and community members will engage in structured conversations about immigration and engage in activities that will result in the update of the City of Hayward’s Anti-Discrimination Action Plan (ADAP).

Facilitators:

Andrea Wells is the Senior Coordinator of Operations & Partnerships in the Center for Community Engagement at Cal State East Bay. Her work focuses on establishing and sustaining community partnerships for community-based learning courses; supporting faculty teaching those courses; and maintaining a web application designed to facilitate partnership processes and collect data on community impact. She facilitated campus and community collaborations that have made Make A Difference Week and Book to Action traditions on campus. This spring, she taught Honors Leadership and Service, a course which introduces students to the theory and practice of civic leadership with emphasis on community engagement.

Dr. Diana Balgas is the Executive Director for Transfer Student Programs at Cal State East Bay. She has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, as an educator and administrator. Diana has an extensive background in developing, implementing, and administering programs for underserved, low-income, and racially and ethnically diverse populations. She communicates and collaborates with units across the university to promote a supportive and nurturing campus environment for all students. In 2017, Dr. Balgas was designated the campus liaison for undocumented students.

Dr. Duke Austin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Cal State East Bay. He believes that quality teaching and learning fosters intellectual empowerment and social justice. Through learner-centered pedagogy, experiential education, and educating for a diverse world, he empowers his students to apply critical thinking skills to the world around them and to see the relevance of education in their own lives. In doing so, he prepares his students to become civic leaders who actively contribute to society in intelligent and effective ways. His teaching and research focuses on the sociology of race, class, and gender, immigration, and environmental sociology, particularly stratification in the context of environmental disasters.