GIIP News
In the News
January 7, 2008
Undergraduate makes the most of opportunities at UCSC
Overcoming obstacles and pursuing her dreams are two of the life skills Katie Roper says she acquired at UCSC, where several professors encouraged her to take a hands-on approach to her education.
Roper had always wanted to work in Africa, and with the support of faculty mentors, she arranged two separate internships in Kenya, where she produced documentary films about environmental sustainability.
2006
Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program Success Story
Rehan Iftikhar interned in the Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP) from September 2005 – June 2006. While interning, Rehan was responsible for coordinating the Global Information Internship Program (GIIP). GIIP is a self-proclaimed “digital service learning program” that is creating a new generation of “info activists”. The goal of GIIP is to educate student activists in the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and for them to apply these benefits to their respective causes.
The University of California, Santa Cruz has a long history of social and political activism. The student body is notorious for their direct-action protests and the faculty have a reputation for vocalizing controversies. In a world where actions speak louder than words, the energy of activism requires an outlet. This necessity serves as the foundation for the Global Information Internship Program (GIIP).
August 28, 2006
Cabrillo College transfer student taps everything UCSC has to offer
By Jennifer McNulty
Shaeleya Miller has always loved school, but she hit a rough patch during high school that delayed her college career...
She has never considered herself a "computer geek" but nevertheless mastered the latest web-site-building technology and built a site for the Renaissance Scholars Program during a three-quarter course offered by the Global Information Internship Program (GIIP) through the Sociology Department. The popular program trains students in information technology and places them in internships with nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. This summer, Miller helped coordinate a GIIP training camp for community organizations, and she will manage the program during her senior year--even though her Regents Scholarship renders the part-time job optional rather than mandatory.
2005
Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program Success Story
Jamie McPike has been involved in international aid organizations since she first arrived at UC Santa Cruz four years ago. This year she coordinated the Global Information Internship Program (GIIP) as an intern with the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP). CUIP is a program sponsored by the Chancellor’s Office, which employs 38 undergraduates in professional-level internships in departments throughout the University.
In her first and second years, Jamie, a native of Folsom, the identical twin sister of another CUIP intern, Bonnie McPike, and a sociology major, became involved in the Students for a Free Tibet, where she was co-president of the UC Santa Cruz chapter. In her third year, Jamie became a research assistant for the Center for Global, International and Regional Studies where she earned the Santa Cruz Center for International Economics Undergraduate Award. She became a fellow for the Global Information Internship Program and traveled to Kerala, India on an internship studying gender, development and information technology.
March 24, 2003
Alternative spring break will benefit community
By Jennifer McNulty
For UCSC undergraduates Adam Thompson and Matt Donley, the idea of spending spring break sleeping late and goofing off didn't sound like fun.
Instead, they teamed up with several other students from Colleges Nine and Ten to design a community-service project for the week of March 24. Rather than head to Mexico, as many college students do over spring break, they decided to work closer to home and will spend the week volunteering with Barrios Unidos, the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit dedicated to ending youth violence.
2002
Tech Tutors to the Rescue
UCSC students help 'wire' those being shut out of the information revolution
THEY AREN'T your classic superheroes: They tackle such modern-day villains as surly computer servers, indecipherable software manuals, and database snafus. But they rival Superman and Wonder Woman in the minds of those they've rescued.
Consider mild-mannered Melody Liu Shuk Han, a UCSC undergrad who arrived on the doorstep of the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., and proceeded to resuscitate the nonprofit's web site.
"We will be eternally grateful to her," said Frick Curry, the center's director of fundraising. "We're a small nonprofit, and we don't have an information technology expert on staff, or even a consultant. It's catch as catch can."
Liu soared to heroine status as an intern with UCSC's Global Information Internship Program (GIIP, pronounced "jeep"), a new initiative steeped in the issues of globalization. GIIP trains undergraduates in computer skills they take to organizations that need a boost to make the most of today's technology.
... During an internship with the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the summer of 2000, undergraduate Brandon Wright was struck by the disparity in computer know-how between Silicon Valley and the nearby agricultural communities of Watsonville and Salinas.
December 2, 2002
UCSC undergraduate takes tech skills to Hmong, Latino youth in Fresno
By Jennifer McNulty
Sociology major MaryJane Skjellerup is reaching out by reaching back--to Fresno High School, that is.
Skjellerup is using the power and allure of technology to introduce Hmong and Latino youth in her native Fresno to what's available for them at the university.
Skjellerup, a graduate of Fresno High School and a senior at UCSC, has single-handedly launched the Community and Technology Leadership Program to encourage Fresno High students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get on track for college.
