The SABER PEER Network recognizes and embraces the unique lived experiences we all bring that are necessary to move beyond diversity to equity and inclusion. We welcome to our community anyone that identifies as a PEER educator and/or an ally. As network members, we stand together to learn from each other and encourage continuous support, improvement, and changes that will allow equity and representation to be at the forefront of our considerations as educators and researchers.

We chose to use the term PEER as described by David Asai (Persons Excluded due to Ethnicity or Race) to emphasize that it is not simply a matter of underrepresentation. It is, more importantly, a matter of exclusion and minoritization on the basis of origin, skin color, and numerous other factors imposed by society.

Our mission is to:

  • Provide career support for individuals who identify as PEERs.
  • Foster communication and research collaborations among PEER Network members.
  • Integrate the PEER Network into the larger SABER community such that the SIG members are part of the larger conversation.
  • Creating structures that support full participation by all community members.

Announcements

  • Hope to see you at one of our subgroup meetings! Wishing everyone good health and safety.

Journal Club

This sub-community meets once a month to discuss current literature. Community members pick papers that they are interested in reading. We spend the first few minutes of each session catching up with each other. We then share our reflections about the paper and discuss its implications for our teaching and/or research.

PEER Network Journal Club Goals include:

  • Expanding knowledge of discipline-based education research conducted by PEERs.
  • Amplifying/promoting research conducted by PEERs.
  • Expanding knowledge of discipline-based education research in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
  • Building an interdisciplinary community of faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
  • Fostering collaborations to develop larger projects that could lead to publication and/or funding opportunities.
If you'd like to join us, please email Bianca Salazar or Mary Bonine.

Mentoring

Navigating the diverse aspects of being an academic is challenging. The PEERs mentorship program goal is to connect small groups of mentors and mentees. These PEER networks then meet regularly and support one another in the various facets of being an academic (e.g., life work balance, grant writing, navigating politics of academia, the job market, teaching approaches).

If you'd like to receive mentorship or serve as a mentor, please email Anne McIntosh.

Writing Buddies

In our lives, there's always some demand that needs to be taken care of urgently, especially when it comes to teaching, service, or our own personal lives. But it's also important to set aside time for our research. Even 1hr a day, or a few hours a week, can keep us in touch with our research projects and make sure we make steady progress on them. (By writing, we also mean brainstorming, analysis, coding, background reading- anything that helps us forward on our research or scholarship goals.)  

The goal of the PEERs Writing Buddies Program is to connect people together, in pairs or trios, to write together regularly over Zoom. The general format will be a few minutes to catch up and chat, a few minutes to state our goals for the writing session, and the bulk of the time actually writing!

If you'd like to join, please email Melinda Owens at mtowens@ucsd.edu or watch for our recruitment emails!

Safe Space

This sub-community is restricted to network members that identify as PEERs. This is a space of authenticity and honest, meaningful discussions.

If you'd like to join, please email Sophia Jeong.

Bylaws

Sharday Ewell or Fernando Tenjo-Fernandez (more volunteers welcome!)

The PEERs Advocacy Group: Moving from Awareness to Action

We are a group of PEERS members and allies who are committed to moving from being aware of racism to actions that faculty, staff and students can take in the higher education system to advance racial equity. We want to advocate for policy changes and share resources that can be used towards this commitment in our institutions - including our classrooms, research labs, and departments. Shared resources can be papers, books, websites, blogs, etc. which can be on any topic that would help advance equity in academic institutions (e.g., teaching practices, undergraduate research opportunities, supervisory and mentorship practices, tenure and promotion practices and policies, hiring practices and policies). Please fill out the form below to add a resource that you think would be helpful to the living document of resources on our website. If you want to join the Advocacy Group please contact Jennifer Garcia at jennifergarcia20@gmail.com.

You can add resources to this form. View shared resources here

Join Us!

If you'd like to join the PEER Network and be added to our mailing list, please fill out our Sign Up form (it takes about 2 minutes to fill out). For questions, please email the PEER Network leaders Sharday Ewell or Fernando Tenjo-Fernandez.


SABER is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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