Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj and Miriam Thompson named Gevirtz School graduate diversity officers

This fall the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP) appointed Assistant Teaching Professor Miriam Thompson and the Department of Education appointed Associate Professor Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj as graduate diversity officers for two-year terms. UCSB Graduate Division requires each department to identify a graduate diversity officer to take the lead on outreach, recruitment, and the support of graduate students from under-served populations within each discipline.

"I aim to be a voice of social consciousness and empowerment for students, faculty, and staff,” Thompson says about her appointment. “My primary objective is to continue to implement CCSP's DEI Strategic Plan and fulfill CCSP’s mission.”

“I am eager to continue the efforts already underway in the Department of Education to deeply integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion into all aspects of our work as researchers, educators, and members of the Santa Barbara community,” Sattin-Bajaj says about her appointment. “I am committed to facilitating collaborations within and across the department, GGSE, and UCSB campus in service of fulfilling our mission as an Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution.”

Sattin-Bajaj is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education. Her research focuses on issues of educational access and equity for immigrant-origin youth and other historically underserved student populations. Her work includes exploratory qualitative studies of immigrant and homeless families’ school choice behaviors; experimental research to develop and test interventions to reduce educational inequities; and studies of school leaders’ responses to xenophobia in schools and society and their sense of preparedness to address the consequences of immigration enforcement and racism for their school communities.

Thompson is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology and is the Director of the Mind and Behavior Assessment Clinic
(MBAC). She is a licensed psychologist (MA-11267), a health service provider, and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Thompson is committed to the fulfilling CCSP’s vision of training the “next generation of diverse scholars.” To fulfill that vision, she is working to include effective pedagogical practices into her courses. Further, she incorporates issues related to social justice, diversity, and equity into her courses.

The Gevirtz School thanks the two previous graduate diversity officers, CCSP’s Miya Barnett and Education’s Diana Arya, for their commitment and service.