This article originally appeared in the fall 2019 edition of the School of Education's magazine, Advancing. To view a PDF, click here.
OCEAN Donor: Stacey Nicholas
Stacey Nicholas supports a three-way partnership between the School of Education, Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano and Marco Forster Middle School.
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A longtime supporter of UCI and Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, Stacey Nicholas was immediately intrigued upon hearing that the School of Education was working to transform Orange County education.
“When I first met Dean Richard Arum, he started talking about his vision for Orange County public education, and how the School of Education partnering with local schools could be a boon to not only the entire county, but the entire nation,” Nicholas said. “When hearing that, I instantly thought about Breakthrough.” Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano supports local, motivated students whose backgrounds are underrepresented in higher education by providing tuition-free academic programming and guidance from middle school through college graduation. Breakthrough recruits its students from nearby Marco Forster Middle School. More than 90 percent of Breakthrough students will be the first in their families to graduate from college; 94 percent are students of color; 89 percent qualify for free/reduced lunch, and English is not the primary language in 84 percent of homes. Nicholas – who currently serves on Breakthrough’s advisory board and has been involved with the program since its inception in 2006 – is funding the partnership between the School of Education, Breakthrough and Marco Forster. “It’s such a win-win to have the School of Education involved, and it’s a great two-way street,” Nicholas said. “It’s an incredible partnership when you have so much data-driven research from UCI to help out the local schools, and for the local schools to, in turn, help influence the next areas of research. |
UCI Trustee and longtime supporter Stacey Nicholas. Nicholas is funding one of the partnerships in the School of Education's OCEAN network.
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“I am especially interested in the impact that OCEAN will have on traditionally underserved student populations.”
OCEAN is comprised of both charter and non-charter schools, which was also appealing to Nicholas.
“There can oftentimes be polarization between schools in regards to their structure and philosophy,” Nicholas said. “Getting involved in the community to close those gaps is crucial – it’s important to work with, instead of against, different constituents.”
This past year, Associate Professor Stephanie Reich and doctoral student Jennifer Renick worked at Marco Forster and Breakthrough SJC. Research at Marco Forster focused on school climate – data was collected that measures student perceptions’ of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement, as well as their sense of belonging. The findings are being disseminated to staff, students and parents, and will be used by school stakeholders to inform research projects and school improvement efforts. Research at Breakthrough seeks to measure the impact of certain programs.
“With her passion, determination, and prudence for creating educational opportunity, Stacey epitomizes the power of collaboration - the power of bringing together stakeholders with varied backgrounds toward one unified vision of supporting underserved students,” said Alex Serna, director of Breakthrough SJC. “It’s individuals like her, and projects like OCEAN, that make education transformation possible.”
Nicholas is a trustee of the UCI Foundation Board. She has been an active supporter of UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering, serving as a member of the Dean’s Engineering Leadership Council and the Diversity Advisory Board. She also supports Applied Innovation and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.
An alumna of UCLA, Nicholas also supports UCLA’s Women in Engineering Program. Nicholas worked as a full-custom VLSI chip designer for TRW, an aerospace company now part of Northrop-Grumman; an Applications Engineer for NCR Microelectronics; a regional sales director at Symbois Logic, and helped her former husband form Broadcom Corporation in the early 1990s.
“I’m so excited that UCI has a world-class School of Education, and it’s right here in Orange County,” Nicholas said. “It’s a jewel and I hope that Orange County can see the value of what we’ve got here and the impact it will have on the community, and how this can be a model to the nation.”
OCEAN is comprised of both charter and non-charter schools, which was also appealing to Nicholas.
“There can oftentimes be polarization between schools in regards to their structure and philosophy,” Nicholas said. “Getting involved in the community to close those gaps is crucial – it’s important to work with, instead of against, different constituents.”
This past year, Associate Professor Stephanie Reich and doctoral student Jennifer Renick worked at Marco Forster and Breakthrough SJC. Research at Marco Forster focused on school climate – data was collected that measures student perceptions’ of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement, as well as their sense of belonging. The findings are being disseminated to staff, students and parents, and will be used by school stakeholders to inform research projects and school improvement efforts. Research at Breakthrough seeks to measure the impact of certain programs.
“With her passion, determination, and prudence for creating educational opportunity, Stacey epitomizes the power of collaboration - the power of bringing together stakeholders with varied backgrounds toward one unified vision of supporting underserved students,” said Alex Serna, director of Breakthrough SJC. “It’s individuals like her, and projects like OCEAN, that make education transformation possible.”
Nicholas is a trustee of the UCI Foundation Board. She has been an active supporter of UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering, serving as a member of the Dean’s Engineering Leadership Council and the Diversity Advisory Board. She also supports Applied Innovation and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.
An alumna of UCLA, Nicholas also supports UCLA’s Women in Engineering Program. Nicholas worked as a full-custom VLSI chip designer for TRW, an aerospace company now part of Northrop-Grumman; an Applications Engineer for NCR Microelectronics; a regional sales director at Symbois Logic, and helped her former husband form Broadcom Corporation in the early 1990s.
“I’m so excited that UCI has a world-class School of Education, and it’s right here in Orange County,” Nicholas said. “It’s a jewel and I hope that Orange County can see the value of what we’ve got here and the impact it will have on the community, and how this can be a model to the nation.”
