Chancellor Yang with Mario Galicia [Credit: Patricia Marroquin, UCSB Graduate Division]
Mario Galicia of the Department of Education of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School was one of the four UCSB graduate students who received the 2014-15 Academic Senate Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. The UCSB Academic Senate presented the award as part of a slate of honors acknowledging the best research, teaching, and mentorship at UCSB on April 23.
Each year, teaching assistants play a vital role enhancing the teaching mission of the University. The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes the contributions of graduate students to the teaching and learning process at UC Santa Barbara. “He knows how to translate abstract and complex theory and methods into palatable lessons that freshman can understand and thrive on,” wrote one of Galicia’s faculty references. “He constantly receives top student evaluations and students consistently rave about him.” Galicia is recognized for the passion with which he approaches his work and is praised for the dedication in serving his students.
Mario Galicia, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Education, is a teacher’s assistant in the Sociology, Black Studies, and Chicana/o Studies departments. Galicia received both a dual B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and Sociology in 2008 and his M.A. in Education in 2013 from UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on youth perspectives in the gang and violence intervention program. His research not only highlights issues associated with the school-to–prison pipeline, but also offers alternative methods for school discipline and classroom pedagogy for marginalized youth. Galicia has presented his research at various academic conferences over the past 3 years and has also published an article in 2013 (“Smoking Guns or Smoke & Mirrors: Schools and the Policing of Latino Boys”) based on his research work. Additionally, he has also worked for various student affairs departments while at UCSB including financial aid, EOP, admissions, and most recently as an outreach and diversity peer at the Graduate Division.