Excellence, Achievement, Leadership, and Community building serve as the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) mission at UC Santa Barbara.
EOP is committed to providing a support and information base that validates each students’ experience and nurtures a sense of participation, belonging, and empowerment. Through mentorship, academic programs, one-on-one counseling and advising, campus student support service referrals, and social and cultural programming, we strive to maximize a students’ involvement and success. In addition to assisting students through to graduation, EOP helps motivate and inform students to utilize services that enhance their preparation for the job market and/or graduate/professional school admission. EOP services all students, while focusing on those who are income eligible and first-generation undergraduates.
EOP Counselors also provide cultural programs through the five Cultural Resources Centers (CRC’s) and the El Centro Arnulfo Casillas complex – Building 406. The CRCs facilitate interaction and collaboration among students, staff and faculty of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, allowing them to gain an understanding of and appreciation for similarities and differences in each other and themselves. EOP Cultural Services helps to create an environment that celebrates and promotes the history, contributions, intellectual heritage, education and growth of students.
EOP Peer Mentors work in tandem with EOP Counselors to provide an array of services that connects new and continuing students (including transfer, re-entry and non-traditional students) to valuable academic, extracurricular, leadership, internship, financial, and community resources to cultivate a students’ collegiate experience. EOP Peer Mentors assist and empower students to make an academically and socially successful transition to University life. EOP Peer Mentors are dynamic student leaders from various class levels, academic interests and career goals. They are involved with campus life, student organizations and other support services. Peer Mentors are assigned to incoming students and maintain contact on a regular basis throughout the academic year. They hold office hours in the Residence Halls and the Cultural Resource Centers and coordinate programs throughout campus.
The Summer Transitional Enrichment Program (STEP) is a one week summer-bridge residential program that provides incoming EOP students with an in-depth orientation to university life and campus resources, while facilitating the transition and adjustment of newly admitted EOP first-year students. Also during the summer, EOP Counselors and Peer Mentors maintain a constant presence at a satellite office at the Residence Halls for the duration of Freshmen Summer Start Program (FSSP), thus EOP Staff and Peer Mentors provide advising, programming, information and appropriate campus referrals to first-year students to continue student excellence, achievement, and a sense of belonging to the campus community.
The Summer Transfer Transition Program (STTP) is an eight day virtual summer program for incoming transfer students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). The purpose of STTP is to facilitate the transition of EOP transfer students to UCSB. Students will be attending academic, social and career focused workshops and programs to provide opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Students discover ways to enrich their college experience and cultivate a sense of belonging at UCSB.
For further information about EOP services and programs, contact EOP at (805) 893-4758 or visit EOP located on the 2nd floor of the Student Resource Building (SRB). More info can be found at http://eop.sa.ucsb.edu/ or visit our social media: Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Snap us on Snapchat.