About the Cabinet

Established in 2025, the Student Affairs Cabinet facilitates bidirectional information sharing about our students and our organization; solicits input and feedback in the course of decision making; and strengthens our collective management and leadership capacity through knowledge and skill development. Selected members serve for 12-24 months with turnover intended to provide others with an opportunity to participate as well as to maximize representation from a wide variety of units.

The Vice Chancellor sets the agenda for the Cabinet meetings, taking input from Executive Team and Cabinet members. The Cabinet convenes 2-3 times per quarter, including summer. The approximate time commitment is an average of 4 hours per month, including Cabinet meetings per quarter plus additional time spent on meeting preparation and special projects.

Cabinet meetings are held exclusively in person. Typical Cabinet engagement will involve researching pertinent issues and identifying subject matter experts for consultation; discussing and suggesting solutions to problems and timely matters; and helping to advance division-wide efforts to improve our effectiveness in supporting every student's success.   

Inaugural Cabinet Membership (January 2025 - June 2026)

The following Cabinet members will begin their service in January 2025 and will serve through June 2026. In spring 2026, we will solicit nominations so that half the membership can turn over to ensure opportunities for new staff to serve and new departments to be directly represented. Student Affairs Business & Administration will maintain a permanent seat on the Cabinet (the representative will change at least every two years). 

 

Aidan Johnston, Admissions

Anika Kitson, Disabled Students Program

Briana Miller, Student Wellbeing

Emily Linthicum, Office of the Registrar

Jane Castillón, Student Success/Disabled Students Program

Leilani Borrego, Student Affairs Business & Administration (ex officio)

Meridith Merchant, Counseling and Psychological Services

Natalie Armistead, Financial Aid & Scholarships/Basic Needs

Quinn Rioz, Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity/LGBT Services

Rod Tucknott, Recreation/Adventure Programs

Sarah Porat, Counseling and Psychological Services/Addictive Behaviors and Recovery

Sean Lieberman, Associated Students

Stephen Byrd, Recreation

Turi Honegger, Counseling and Psychological Services

Viviana Marsano, Dean of Students Office/Civic & Community Engagement

Mike Miller, Vice Chancellor (Chair/Convener, ex officio)

Cabinet Eligibility and Expectations

All Cabinet members are intended to be equal participants in the discussion, both lending subject matter expertise from their areas of practice, and gaining insights and recommendations from colleagues in other areas. To be eligible, you must be in a policy-covered career appointment, supervise at least one career staff member, and be at a journey level (P3 or above) in Student Affairs. There are no predefined eligibility requirements with regard to working title, education/degrees, or years of service. Participation in this committee opportunity will require supervisor/department authorization for release time.

If selected to serve on the Student Affairs Cabinet, you will be asked to prioritize in-person Cabinet meeting attendance where possible. Cabinet members will be expected to uphold the values and vision of Student Affairs and to serve as champions for the organization and its programs. The Cabinet will discuss some confidential material and discretion and integrity are critical. Overall, we hope and expect that the Cabinet will promote open discussion and sharing, maintain a collegial team spirit, and recognize the shared values and investment of all its members. 

The self-nomination process consists of a single online form with four short written responses. Self-nominations are requested by the end of the day on Monday, November 4, 2024. If you are interested in this unique leadership and development opportunity, we hope that you will submit a nomination. Nominations will be reviewed by the Executive Team and all nominees will receive a decision from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. We expect to respond to all nominations by the end of November. 

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

The Cabinet will provide managerial and programmatic advice to the Vice Chancellor and the Executive Team and help improve communication among the VCSA Office, Executive Team, Directors, and Student Affairs staff and departments at large. We envision it being both a leadership opportunity and a developmental one, since there will be training provided in addition to soliciting feedback and initiatives from the group.

The Cabinet will provide managerial and programmatic advice to the Vice Chancellor and the Executive Team and help improve communication among the VCSA Office, Executive Team, Directors, and Student Affairs staff and departments at large. We envision it being both a leadership opportunity and a developmental one, since there will be training provided in addition to soliciting feedback and initiatives from the group.

Student Affairs and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs are advised by several formal groups. The Student Affairs Executive Team is the division’s leadership team with shared authority and responsibility for the overall organization. The Directors group includes programmatic and administrative department heads and control points, which are primarily responsible for leadership, administration, and management of departments, units, and programs. The Cabinet is highly influential to all of these groups and directly to the Vice Chancellor.  

An ex officio member is included by virtue of their position. During deliberations for the inaugural Cabinet, the SA Exec Team agreed that Student Affairs Business & Administration should have an ex officio seat on the Cabinet (in this case, the ex officio relates to a unit, not just a single position). We selected a person to serve in this seat on the inaugural Cabinet and will work directly with Student Affairs Business & Administration leaders to identify a new ex officio representative every two years or so. 

Yes! The Student Cabinet is recruited annually by the Goodspeed Intern in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Contact Rachel Arriaga for more information.

No. Cabinet meetings are private, internal meetings and are not open or recorded. 

In many cases, yes! Cabinet members are encouraged to share non-confidential information that they learn through participation in the Cabinet. Improved two-way communication between divisional leadership and staff at large is a key goal for the Cabinet. This is meant to be a vehicle to aid in transparent, timely, and accurate communication throughout Student Affairs.

 

Member Eligibility and Selection

A lot of Cabinets are composed only of very senior managers and without the opportunity to self-nominate. We are interested more in the values, capabilities, and perspectives that people bring to our Cabinet. The SA Exec Team envisions a Cabinet that broadly represents the entire division and a mix of skill sets, interests, and professional levels. There are no predefined eligibility requirements with regard to working title, education/degrees, or years of service. 

During the fall 2024 recruitment cycle for our inaugural Cabinet, we required that nominees:

  • Be in a career appointment in a policy covered (99) position in Student Affairs and
  • Supervise at least one career staff member in Student Affairs and
  • Be in a position of Career Tracks level 3 (P3) or higher

These requirements may change over time and will be announced during the next recruitment cycle (anticipated spring 2026).

Participation in the Cabinet opportunity will require department head authorization for release time.

We consider two sets of information about prospective Cabinet members:

  • Qualities demonstrated in written self-nomination responses. Dedication to UCSB Student Affairs; capacity for growth (likelihood to benefit from the sorts of information and professional development we will provide to the Cabinet); capacity to contribute (unique expertise or experiences or strengths); consistency with Student Affairs values; and contributions to the diversity of the Cabinet (identity, experiences, thoughts, etc.).
  • Job characteristics. Department affiliation, cluster affiliation, job level, years of UC service, membership in the Directors group. 

Keep in mind that we are not only appointing individual Cabinet members, but also designing a group with balanced perspectives, experiences, and qualifications. For example, we want to appoint members with a variety of job levels, a variety of years of service, and a variety of growth opportunities. 

The SA Exec Team makes recommendations to the Vice Chancellor, who makes final decisions and appointments. 

Absolutely! Interested persons should reapply to the Cabinet. In the interest of fostering productive conversations, we are maintaining a moderate group size (about 15). We could not appoint all of the people who self-nominated, which meant that we did not appoint even some very well qualified staff with strong nomination materials. Past applicants seeking feedback can contact the Chief of Staff to schedule an appointment. 

The short answer is: yes. We carefully consider the composition of the overall Cabinet and try to balance individual skills and interests with department representation. 

Yes, a person can serve on the Cabinet for multiple terms. Generally, once a person terms out, we ask that they wait a full two-year cycle before reapplying (i.e., a person on the Cabinet 2025-27 could reapply and be appointed to the Cabinet for 2029-31). 

 

Service

The approximate time commitment is an average of 4 hours per month, including 2-3 two-hour Cabinet meetings per quarter (including summer) plus additional time spent on meeting preparation and special projects. 

Cabinet meetings will be held exclusively in person (barring extenuating circumstances). 

The standard term is 24 months (July through June; two academic/fiscal years). To kick off the Cabinet in 2025, we’re recruiting a full Cabinet, half with 18-month terms and half with 30-month terms, which will allow us to get into a regular cadence. 

After the first 18 months, half of the Cabinet will turn over every twelve months, with the transition occurring during June or July. 

Yes, a Cabinet term may end early for a variety of reasons, such as: 

  • A member requests to leave the Cabinet early (for any reason). 
  • A member changes jobs and is no longer eligible to serve. 
  • A member’s job performance is inadequate to justify continued service. 
  • At the discretion of the Vice Chancellor.

We anticipate that this will be a rare occurrence, but we understand that things can change. We have identified alternates so that we can maintain a full Cabinet in case of early turnover.

No, Cabinet membership becomes part of an appointed staff member’s job responsibilities “on the clock” and there is no additional compensation for service.

 

Other Questions

If you have a question not addressed here, please contact Assistant Vice Chancellor Miles Ashlock Burke who serves as staff to the Cabinet.