Support the Chicanx/Latinx Academic Student Success Fund!

The Sí, Se Puede Academic Success Institute aims to support Chicanx and Latinx students struggling with academic probation and dismissal at UC Davis. The institute consists of a one day academic experience that includes workshops, community building, and academic support. Students participate in this culturally immersive experience that allows them to access resources, build a support system with UC Davis career staff, and connect with other Chicanx and Latinx students who are also facing similar academic challenges. 

Throughout the institute we encourage students to lean into their cultural identities, experiences, and community as a source of empowerment to say “Si Se Puede” and redefine what academic success means to them. Throughout the day students have multiple sessions and workshops where they connect with campus resources and units including academic advising, basic needs, mental health, professional development, writing support, and a study & learning strategist. The sessions and workshops provide space for students to receive one-on-one support from career staff and develop an academic pathway to navigate the probation and dismissal process.

To conclude our institute, we have a student panel where the participants can ask any questions. Our student panel consists of students with a variety of academic experiences who have faced academic challenges and successfully navigated the academic probation and dismissal process. We hope that by having students from our own community share their stories and experiences with the participants, we can redefine and normalize talking about academic challenges that students from our community face.

By the end of the institute our students walk away with an academic plan, different academic resources, and a community that will support their academic success at UC Davis. We recognize that facing academic challenges can be a lonely experience that disproportionately impacts our student community as many of them identify as first-generation college students who come from low-income backgrounds. These identities contribute to many additional barriers they face at our institution resulting in academic challenges. This institute allows us to change the narrative of our students who are at risk of leaving the institution and provide them with the support to thrive as scholars and future professionals. 

Gifts to our crowdfund project support the Chicanx/Latinx Academic Student Success Fund including our current priority of supporting Si Se Puede Academic Success Institute which provides tools such as academic success booklets.