The Biological Sciences School’s Bio Sci Student Council (BSC) was founded in 2012 as a leadership organization charged with unifying the School’s members, working actively to represent student needs to administration, and otherwise improving our undergraduates’ experience, both academically and socially. This year, BSC has made it its mission to increase its visibility as a resource among Biological Sciences School students.

“We want students to know our organization exists to help them and therefore we strive to offer impactful events, significant guidance, aid and support,” shared Matt Tsai, a second-year biological sciences major and BSC Vice President of Academics. “If our work can make a significant impact in another students’ life, and perhaps contribute to his or her future success, then it’s worth doing.”

BSC currently consists of about 50 members, with an active executive board of four: President Kavi Peshawaria, Publicity Vice President Trisha In, Outreach Vice President Jennifer Ocin, and Academic Vice President Matt Tsai.

To better facilitate the council’s goals, each member is placed into one of four different committees. The Publicity Committee, led by Trisha, is taught valuable Photoshop and editing skills and handles all publicity materials for their events. Under the Outreach Committee, Jennifer’s team plans socials and volunteering events for BSC members as well as high school outreach activities. The Advocacy Committee, led by Kavi, strives to meet with student organizations and administration, in an effort to ensure academic or curricular issues are accurately and effectively addressed and resolved. The Academic Committee, led by Matt, strives to ensure students in the school have the academic resources they need to succeed including tutoring, counseling, career preparation and an effective learning environment.

So far this academic year, the council has executed student panels, tutoring clinics, “de-stress”-ing events such as the school-wide social “Spoptosis,” and the recent “BSC Winter Gala: Regeneration.” BSC is in the process of planning additional panels to educate students on the variety of majors within the school and different career options available to those who don’t wish to go into medical, pharmacy, or dental school upon graduation. They are also in the process of launching a school-wide peer mentorship program that should fulfill an emotional and supporting need for our classmates.

“Tell us what you need to succeed, and we will make it our mission to establish the connections, raise the funds, meet with whomever we need to, and plan for hours each week to get those resources to our student body,” shared Tsai.

To learn more, visit http://www.clubs.uci.edu/bsc or like their Facebook page by searching “Bio Sci Student Council at UCI.”

If you’d like to learn more about you can support undergraduate and graduate students at the Biological Sciences School, please contact Andrew DiNuzzo at 949.824.2734 or adinuzzo@uci.edu