• UC Davis Adopts Medical Amnesty Protocol
• UC Davis to Open New Center for Chicano, Latino Students
• Experts on K-12 Education Issues

UC Davis Adopts Medical Amnesty Protocol

The University of California, Davis, is introducing a new medical amnesty protocol so fear of getting into trouble won’t keep students from calling for medical help in an emergency related to alcohol or drugs.

The new protocol, in some places called a 911 good Samaritan policy, is part of a trend at colleges toward safeguarding instead of punishing students who misuse alcohol or drugs. And at UC Davis, it builds on recent efforts that encourage students to care for their peers in critical moments. Full news release. 

UC Davis to Open New Center for Chicano, Latino Students

Traditional Aztec dance, mariachi music and contemporary Latin dance will mark the opening of a new facility for the Center for Chicanx and Latinx Academic Student Success at the University of California, Davis, on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

The center is among new and expanding campus initiatives to support the recruitment and academic success of historically underrepresented groups — African American, Chicano/Latino and Native American — and reduce the time necessary for all students to earn their degrees.

UC Davis is also pursuing designation by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, which opens the door to grants to help students succeed in college. In fall 2016, about 23.8 percent of the campus’s domestic undergraduates were Chicano/Latino, and Davis expects to meet the designation’s threshold of 25 percent this fall. Full news release.

UC Davis Sources on K-12 Education Issues

The following University of California, Davis, faculty can address K-12 issues in education for members of the media.

Keep an eye on this and other current expert lists on the UC Davis news website. (“Expert Sources” are located approximately halfway down the page on the right). These resources will be updated regularly.

Transforming math education through computing

Harry Cheng, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis, College of Letters and Science, is director of the UC Davis Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education and can speak about various forms of STEM education. Founded by Cheng in 2010, the center develops educational technologies and curriculum, and provides professional development for teachers to teach K-12 math with hands-on coding, robotics and making. C-STEM is now a UC-approved educational preparation program for undergraduate admission for all University of California campuses. Software, tools and textbooks of the C-STEM program are available for download from the center’s website. Contact: Harry Cheng, hhcheng@ucdavis.edu, 530-752-5020.

K-12 history and social science

A former high school history and government teacher, Nancy McTygue is executive director of the California History-Social Science Project, a statewide network of history educators headquartered at UC Davis. She is one of the lead writers of the state’s History-Social Science Framework, a guide for K-12 teachers adopted by the California Department of Education in 2016. The framework details a four-pronged approach to classroom instruction: content, inquiry, literacy and citizenship. She taught in the Vacaville school district for 11 years. She writes and speaks often on K-12 issues, including this recent blog post “We Can Do Better: Lessons From Charlottesville.” Contact: Nancy McTygue, njmctygue@ucdavis.edu.

Stacey Greer is the director of the History Project at UC Davis, one of five local sites in the state for the California History-Social Science Project and part of the UC Davis Department of History, College of Letters and Science. The History Project at UC Davis provides professional learning for teachers in the greater Sacramento region by bringing together scholars and teachers to improve history-social science education. She directs customized professional learning for specific schools and districts, as well as school-year workshops and summer institutes that are open to all teachers. She can talk about continuing education for teachers. Contact: Stacey Greer, sbgreer@ucdavis.edu, 530-752-4286.