As a public university, UCSB’s mission is to advance knowledge and serve our many publics through education, research, and engagement. We are a new coalition of community engaged scholars from the Division of Social Science’s research centers who are invested in the vitality of Central Coast communities. Our goal is to align the university's academic and service capabilities directly with the needs and strengths of our local communities through respectful and mutually beneficial partnerships. We are guided by the principles of mutual trust and respect, and recognize that our mission includes listening to the needs and agendas of the communities we serve. Most importantly, as members of a public research university, we are acutely aware of the profound urgency to be responsible to and to leverage our resources for the short term and long term needs of our most vulnerable communities.
For more information about this initiative, contact Walid Affifi (w-afifi@ucsb.edu) and Kashia Arnold (karnold@ucsb.edu).
UCSB Central Coast Community Summit
May 8th 2026 | Goleta, CA
Bridging the Coast: Building Relationships between Campus and Community
The Coalition for Publicly-Engaged Social Science (CoPES) at UC Santa Barbara’s mission is to learn from our communities and organize our resources for the community’s benefit. Toward that end, we invite community members, organizations, and scholars to the first of what we hope to be several conversations that will focus on the question: how we can build and deepen our work together? Our goal is to align the university's academic and service capabilities directly with the needs and strengths of our local communities through respectful and mutually-beneficial partnerships. Join us as we take a step toward lasting campus-community partnerships rooted in advancing social, economic, environmental, and racial justice across the Central Coast through community-based advocacy and public engagement.