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Photo by Reed Hutchinson
UCLA Photographic Services
As the newly chosen student regent for 2004-05, doctoral student
Jodi Anderson will focus on a number of concerns, including the
impact of budget cuts on student services and ensuring access to
all UC-eligible students.
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student regent from ucla
Graduate student relishes her new role
BY MARINA DUNDJERSKI
UCLA Today Staff
Authenticity is important to Jodi Lynette Anderson. So much so, that
when she was applying to be the University of California’s 30th
student regent, she felt compelled to tell her interviewers that she does
not relish getting up in front of a crowd or being in the spotlight. But,
she added, when she is moved by a particular cause, she rises to the occasion.
“I have an understated style of leadership that way,” said
Anderson, a third-year UCLA doctoral student in education who was selected
in July as the next student regent. For the coming year, she will serve
as the student regent-designate — able to participate in all deliberations
of the UC Board of Regents, but not allowed to vote until July 2004, when
her one-year term begins.
During this year of preparation, she will be sitting on three regent
committees: finance, investments, and grounds and buildings. “Since
I can’t vote, I will be something of a diplomat,” said Anderson,
a Fresno native. “But based on my experiences as an undergraduate
and currently as a graduate, and the fact that I’m studying higher
education, I’m hoping to share some valuable perspectives and have
input this year as appropriate and necessary.”
Her list of concerns touches all students: the impact of budget cuts
on student services, ensuring access to all UC-eligible students and keeping
the opening of UC Merced — already delayed until fall 2005 —
on track.
At the same time, Anderson — who earned her B.A. in psychology
in 1994 at UC Santa Barbara — is continuing her work as a teaching
assistant and as a graduate student researcher with the UCLA Higher Education
Research Institute. She received a one-year fellowship from the Graduate
Division to study the Center for Community Partnerships.
Anderson is well equipped to handle the role. She received an M.A. in
1996 in social policy and administration from the University of Nottingham,
England. (She was awarded a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship
to attend.) In 2002, she followed that up by earning an M.A. in education
at UCLA.
For those wondering how Anderson has time to fit all these activities
into her schedule, one need only look at her upbringing, she explained.
A first-generation college student, Anderson said her work ethic is based
on emulating her parents and grandparents, hardworking individuals whose
jobs included working in the Central Valley oil fields, in a cannery,
as a toll bridge collector and as a cafeteria cook.
“Even now, when I occasionally feel overwhelmed by my work as
a student and researcher, I just have to take a moment to remind myself
that I am truly privileged to be at UCLA studying something that I feel
passionate about and preparing myself for a lifelong career in the field
of education,” Anderson said. “As long as I know that I am
exerting as much effort as my parents and grandparents, I feel satisfied
with myself and a bit less overwhelmed.” |
