Laurels for faculty and the Art of Regional Change.

The Cal Aggie Student Alumni Association recently received national awards for two programs: SAA Connections (formerly called the Buddy Program) and Aggie Classrooms.

Affiliated Student Advancement Programs, a unit of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, presented the awards during the 37th annual CASE ASAP Network Convention, held in Kansas City, Mo.

The Network Awards recognized SAA Connections as the outstanding internal program and Aggie Classrooms as the outstanding external program. Each had scored top honors in district competitions before advancing to the 2010 CASE ASAP Network Awards competition.

A team of judges from colleges and universities across the country selected the 2010 winners for what they had achieved for their organizations, campuses or communities.

SAA Connections (formerly the Buddy Program)

The Cal Aggie Student Alumni Association launched the Buddy Program in the winter quarter of 2006 with 15 buddies matched with 12 board members based on majors and interests. The program has since quadrupled in size — and taken a new name.

Under the auspices of SAA “connections,” board members show their buddies around campus and perhaps go for coffee between classes. At the same time, board members encourage their buddies to participate in community service projects, and to attend SAA networking and social events.

In addition, the program organizes group study sessions.

“This is a way for incoming students to get academic support and advice about classes from students who have more experience on campus,” said Stephanie Bradley, president of the Student Alumni Association.

“Freshmen and transfer students alike find getting involved on campus through SAA Connections is a way to make the transition to UC Davis easier,” said Bradley, a transfer student who is due to graduate in 2011.

“Encouraging incoming students to take part in SAA can help make UC Davis a home away from home.”

Another transfer student, Jenny De Vita, who graduated in June, said this about her own experience: “It’s more of a challenge for transfer students to meet and feel connected with the rest of the student body.”

The Buddy Program, as it used to be called, “was a great way for me to meet other transfer students” who had become involved in extracurricular activities.

“My buddy, who was also a transfer student and had the same major as me, helped me figure out what classes to take and guided me during the year,” said De Vita, who eventually joined the board of the Student Alumni Association.

Aggie Classrooms

The Student Alumni Association established Aggie Classrooms in 2008-09, in honor of that year’s UC Davis Centennial celebration.

In this program, the Student Alumni Association adopts classrooms in California and beyond — supplying the classrooms with UC Davis posters, pennants, stickers and SAA T-shirts, and sending Aggie volunteers into the classrooms, if they are not too far away.

Katy Byrns said some of her fifth-grade students at ERES Academy in Oakland had never heard of college before the Cal Aggie Student Alumni Association came along.

“Others were told by previous teachers that they’d be lucky to finish high school,” Byrns is quoted as saying on the Aggie Classrooms website.

As the program continues to grow, the Student Alumni Association hopes to “continue inspiring young students to pursue higher educational dreams that will include UC Davis,” said Molly Suarez, a senior, the association’s vice president of Community Development.

Read more about Aggie Classrooms in this article from the winter 2010 edition of UC Davis Magazine.