Launch of the Student Engagement Portal

Goals

The purpose of this project is to uplift student leadership within the Sustainability Internships and Community Resources Department. Through this project, we have highlighted how student interns impact our community for the better and the amazing work they accomplish in collaboration with staff, faculty, and community partners. 

The Student Engagement Portal (SEP) also provides a repository for other students to connect with different projects and get involved in meaningful ways, showing campus stakeholders the value that students can add to a collaborative project. 

The Student Engagement Portal (SEP) is a newly-launched dashboard on the Sustainability Internships and Community Resources (SICR) website that showcases past and current sustainability projects conducted by students interns in the department. It highlights the work that students are capable of doing when given appropriate guidance and mentorship, emphasizing the importance of collaboration with community partners and campus stakeholders. 

SEP was created by the desire to increase student involvement in sustainability initiatives while honoring  years of impactful work that students have conducted. The hope is to create a space of collaboration where students could connect with different projects and get involved in meaningful ways. We also hope that the portal will be a place where campus staff and faculty can learn about the impact that students have had on campus. The portal, which uplifts various projects within the SICR department, also provides students with the resources and opportunities needed to take action on environmental issues most concerning to our community. The creation of this portal has contributed to multiple efforts at UCSB. It highlights various works, such as students drafting sections of the 2026 Climate Action Plan (CAP), training other peers on climate resilience and preparedness, and building new models for supporting campus community gardens. Not only does the dashboard serve as a way to highlight these efforts, but it also inspires other students to take on similar opportunities and fosters new ideas that could be implemented within SICR.

Aida Medhin, serving as Writer/Historian, is responsible for the management of the dashboard. In Summer 2025, she began the initial stages of the dashboard development. She started contacting previous and current student interns and scheduling brief interviews with them to discuss their projects and the process of its implementation. After interviewing, Aida writes and uploads project descriptions onto the portal. These descriptions outline project goals, outcomes/metrics, project leads, partners and mentors, and an overview of the project itself. As of Winter 2026, Aida is still in the process of interviewing individuals and finalizing project descriptions onto the portal. However, she has already begun planning promotion of the dashboard through hands-on efforts such as tabling events, social media campaigns, and a Sustainability Poster Show that will take place in Spring 2026. 

By the 2026-2027 school year, the project will transition away from a central organizer, to being built into the work of all the interns in the department.  Incoming students and their supervisors will develop information on their projects for the Portal and will update the entries 1-2 times a year with updates on their progress.