Professors awarded Faculty Mentorship Awards for Inclusive Excellence

The UCI School of Education awarded Assistant Professor Brandy Gatlin-Nash and Professor Rossella Santagata Faculty Mentorship Awards for Inclusive Excellence. The award recognizes selected faculty for their mentorship and their significant impact in supporting the success of underrepresented minorities (URM) in the School’s academic programs and research mission.

“Brandy and Rossella are fantastic mentors and colleagues,” said Professor Elizbeth Peña, associate dean of faculty development and diversity. “They exemplify what it is to be a mentor-- working with both undergraduate and graduate students to support their growth and intellectual curiosity. For students from URM backgrounds and first-generation students who may not have the generational knowledge, Brandy and Rossella work to make what is often a hidden curriculum less obscure. I am thrilled that their efforts are being recognized.”

Brandy Gatlin-Nash

​Gatlin-Nash established UCI’s VOWEL (Variations in Oral and Written English Language) research lab when she arrived at UCI in 2017. The lab serves as an inclusive space for underrepresented minority students, and particularly for African American students, to contribute to and develop their research.
 
“Brandy’s commitment to inclusive excellence includes mentorship of undergraduates as well as graduate students,” said Associate Professor Elizabeth van Es. “By creating a space for students to develop research skills, she guides students, many of whom are first-generation college going, through independent directed research."
 
In addition to her position as a tenure-track faculty member in the UCI School of Education, Gatlin-Nash serves as affiliated faculty for the Center for Creating Opportunities for Disadvantaged Students. She is co-investigator on a project, LIFTED (Lighting the Way Forward Through Education), whose goal is to provide a pathway for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals to obtain their bachelor’s degree from UCI.

“I am honored to be recognized by the School for something that I love to do and feel so passionate about,” Gatlin-Nash said. “So many students from underrepresented minority backgrounds have the talent and vigor to conduct research and pursue graduate studies; however, they often just don’t know where to start in the process and may not have family members or friends who can provide resources for them. I’m happy to give the brilliant students I work with the experience, knowledge, and mentorship that they might need in order to take the next steps in their academic careers.”

Rossella Santagata

Santagata promoted diversity and inclusion in formal capacities over the years as DECADE (Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience) mentor and Equity Advisor for the School of Education. In addition, she assumed informal roles as a mentor and champion for marginalized students and for junior faculty.
​
"Rossella’s scholarly work allowed many graduate and undergraduate students to actively participate in promoting equity and inclusion,” said Associate Professors Susanne Jaeggi and Hosun Kang. “Her work that focuses on advancing research-practice partnerships with schools and local nonprofit educational agencies both address persistent problems of practice, particularly those affecting educational settings that serve marginalized youth.”
 
Santagata’s leadership of Project CRYSTAL engages fifth grade students, predominantly from Latinx backgrounds, in research on land restoration at Crystal Cove State Park. Since its launch in 2016, through a partnership with the Crystal Cove Conservancy and the UCI Center for Environmental Biology, Project CRYSTAL has served over 3,000 students, with more than 70 percent coming from low-income Title 1 schools in Orange County. 

To date, the project has also involved four School of Education doctoral students and more than 100 UCI undergraduate interns as research assistants and co-facilitators of educational activities.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Santagata said. “The truth is that every student and faculty of color I have worked with have enriched immensely my understanding of inequities that permeate U.S. education institutions. This award is dedicated to them, to their passion, and relentless persistence to fight for a more just society.”
 
About the Faculty Mentorship Award for Inclusive Excellence
Established in 2019, the UCI School of Education Faculty Mentorship Award for Inclusive Excellence honors the contributions of faculty in both the formal and informal work of mentorship that promotes an inclusive climate by advancing students’ academic pursuits and promoting their identities as education researchers and scholars.
​