You can sign up to follow UCLA’s Department of Public Policy on Twitter, visit the department’s Facebook page, and sit in on meetings with its professors on YouTube videos. You might also want to read the department’s several blogs, and if you’re thinking of applying for a spot in the master’s program, there’s an interactive list of FAQs and a link to the Graduate Division’s online application.

This is a great departmental website for prospective graduate students, according to Jonathan Grady, who reviewed department websites in his role as one of the first two graduate student ambassadors. Their goal is to help departments increase their attractiveness to potential graduate students and facilitate connections between the two. While some websites were already excellent, others were text-heavy, Jonathan says, and some didn’t even offer information on how to contact the department about applying.

With his fellow ambassador Carlos Lazo (profiled in the Fall issue of the Graduate Quarterly), Jonathan is also visiting recruitment fairs, armed with an iPad to make the process of getting student information easier. And he and Carlos conduct regular campus tours designed just for graduate students.

Jonathan holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA as well as a master’s degree from Cornell University and returned to pursue a doctorate with Peter L. McLaren, whose interests in revolutionary critical pedagogy and educational equity dovetailed with "work I was passionate about," he says. That work, which will be the subject of his dissertation, is "queer youth of color, who’ve been pushed out of schools, churches, families, and the community and how they survive a life on the streets." One strategy, Jonathan says, is constructing new homes and families. Gay houses, which emerged in New York’s Harlem more than 50 years ago, "have become a complex and long-standing form of cultural practice within the African-American and Latino queer community," Jonathan says. "As individuals form and maintain kinships, gay houses provide a whole new way of living and learning, one that is highly structured and self-protective." Jonathan plans to look at social structures within the African-American queer community and "how concepts of home and family are constructed and redrawn to meet the needs of its members."

Jonathan hopes to complete his dissertation for the urban schooling and educational policy program as soon as possible, "so I can get back out there in the trenches." In the meantime, however, he’s participating in a range of outreach work that is not unrelated.

Each summer, the Graduate Division brings upper-division undergraduates from underrepresented groups to UCLA for several weeks to learn more about graduate school and participate in research projects related to their interests. For the last two years, Jonathan has served as one of two student mentors, presenting discussions on a range of topics that includes social networking, informational interviewing, and fellowship support. He also works with students who are drafting applications and personal statements.

Research has shown that a "key factor in success is support not only from people like me, but also from faculty members and staff," Jonathan says. "We’re working with prospective students to show them the road: How to become a successful applicant." He has also participated in programs for UC LEADS students.

Acknowledging that combining the work with his doctoral studies has made for a busy schedule, Jonathan wouldn’t change a thing. "It’s fun for me," he says, "that’s what keeps me going."

Published in Winter 2011, Graduate Quarterly