Community Development and Social Justice Program

The Community Development and Social Justice Scholars Program (CDSJ) provides eight undergraduate students with a service learning opportunity that integrates the classroom and service in preparation for graduate study in social welfare, public policy, urban planning, and public health. Participants enroll in a sequence of courses that will enrich their community-based learning with opportunities for reflection and community building within the cohort. Each participant receives a $3,000 scholarship.

Learn more about the four different CDSJ fields!! (76k).

Additionally, students are paired with an AAP Graduate Mentor who provides students with mentoring in their areas of interest, as well as advises them on the graduate school application process. Scholars also develop their resumes and/or curriculum vitae, personal and professional statements, and obtain strong letters of recommendations from professors and employers.

Students apply for the AAP Community Development and Social Justice Program in the Fall quarter. The program requires a three term commitment (Winter, Spring, and the following Fall).


Eligibility Requirements

• Be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time at UCLA
• Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of United States with a valid social security or individual tax identification number. All legal permanent residents must submit a copy of their valid permanent resident card or passport stamped I-551.
• Have Junior level standing (at least 90 units)
• Have a 2.90 GPA or higher
• Demonstrate academic potential for graduate study, and plan to apply to graduate school in the Fall 2007
• Express an interest in graduate or professional school in social welfare, public policy, urban planning or public health
• Students who participate in the McNair Research Scholars Program and Educators for Tomorrow Program may not apply to the CDSJ program.
• Students who receive the AAP Scholarship or Wilson Scholarship will not be eligible to receive a CDSJ stipend.

Selection Criteria

Applicants are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Academic record, plans, and career goals
• Demonstrated financial need
• Community service
• Demonstrated desire to pursue a graduate degree in social welfare, public policy, urban planning or public health
• Compelling essay responses

For more information, please feel free to contact us.

Jennifer Garcia,
Graduate Coordinator
jgarcia@college.ucla.edu
(310) 794-4186

We are pleased to announce the Fall 2008 graduate school placements for the AAP Community Development and Social Justice Program:

• Tifhanie Coleman, Cal State LA, MSW
• Cheye Ann Corona, UCLA, joint MA degree in Urban Planning and Latin American Studies
• Ebonie Ellington, Columbia University, MSW
• Kristina Gustafson, Johns Hopkins University, MPH
• Christina Kaoh, Harvard University, MPP
• Jennifer McGee, UCLA, MPH
• Robert Rodriguez, UCLA, MSW
• Serena Salinas, UCLA, Afro-American Studies, MA

The CDSJ Scholars took a "Toxic Tour" of Los Angeles on March 1st, 2008. This bus tour exposed some of the environmental injustices in low-income and communities of color in South Los Angeles neighborhoods. We saw many health hazards such as schools and homes located near freeways and refineries. We also learned about how community organizing efforts are helping to create positive changes for the neighborhoods we visited. The tour highlights many cross-cutting themes among the CDSJ fields of public policy, public health, social welfare, and urban planning.

CDSJ students had an opportunity to present to graduate students and faculty in UCLA's School of Public Health during National Public Health Week 2008. The CDSJ presentation focused on toxic pollution and environmental injustices in Los Angeles. Students presented photos and told the story of the issues and struggles that they had seen first hand when they attended a toxic tour in Los Angeles in March. The toxic tour, led by environmental justice organization Communities for a Better Environment, highlights how toxic pollution impacts neighborhoods in south and east Los Angeles in the hopes of educating and increasing public awareness about the impacts of environmental racism.

Jeric Huang is entering his second year in the MPP program at UC Berkeley.

Karume James is a union organizer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Christina Kaoh is working for a nurses' union.

In 2007, Rocio Mercado received the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship to support her graduate studies at Monterey Institute where she is studying International Policy.

Serena Salinas works as executive assistant to Dr. Susan L. Shirk, the director of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), a UC-wide research institution housed on UC San Diego's campus.

Jacky Tak is a first year Masters student at the UCLA School of Social Welfare.

Tommy Tseng is a union representative/organizer with SEIU-United Healthcare Workers.

William Tuong is doing behavioral research at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. focused on making informed decisions about prostate cancer and helping individuals understand their genetic risk for colon cancer.

Amber Yglesias is a second year MA student at the UCLA School of Social Welfare

My name is Melissa Earls and I graduated from UCLA in 2006. I majored in Sociology with a minor in African American Studies. I am currently a first year law student at Howard University. While I was an undergraduate student, I participated in AAP's Community Development and Social Justice program. The program gave me the opportunity to work with many community agencies and build relationships with key leaders in the community. Before I attended law school I had the opportunity to work in Los Angeles with the Children Youth and Family Collaborative, a local non-profit organization I volunteered for as a CDSJ scholar. Through this experience as well as my participation in CDSJ, I realized that I was passionate about juvenile justice. In the near future, I would like to gain experience as a private litigation lawyer and then eventually become a juvenile court lawyer. My long term goal is to become a juvenile court judge so that I can have a direct impact on the lives of troubled youth.