September 18, 2024 Mike McCormack: Learning from and Doing for Others
On a chilly October evening, monsters and urban legends take over UCLA’s residential community. Covel Commons’ Grand Horizon Ballroom, a popular venue for both professional and student events, is transformed for the Haunted Hill extravaganza. A Halloween tradition coordinated by UCLA’s residential student government, Haunted Hill is both a spooky experience and a complex development opportunity for student leaders, such as event production skills, budget management, vendor coordination and more. At the crux of the production is UCLA Residential Life’s Assistant Director of Leadership and Involvement, Mike McCormack.
Guided by his passion for student development and civic engagement, Mike is a wearer of many hats. He is currently an Assistant Director on the Hill, an instructor for the UCLA Masters of Student Affairs program, and Staff Assembly’s President-Elect for the 2024-25 academic year. He has experience conducting large-scale events, advising student government, hosting workshops and trainings. Mike says he traverses his many roles by learning from others and investing in their growth and success.
“Student Affairs has shown me a path forward that I hope to cultivate in upcoming generations who I can teach but also teach me along the way,” says Mike.
Mike believes that to teach is to consider all modalities in which someone can learn. Student success is not limited to classroom accomplishments, especially since students spend the majority of their time outside of the classroom – living, working, and participating in activities on or near campus. While the lecture halls (and Zoom) provide him space to formally teach his students, Mike says it’s the informal spaces that he makes sure to leverage. Communities and programs that allow students to take initiative have a huge impact on their professional and personal development. Events like the Haunted Hill provide opportunities for students to put the academic theories they learn into action: leadership skills, event logistics, budgeting, programming, and more.
“If let’s say students are in a classroom 40% of the time, that means that Student Affairs is supporting learning...60% of the time,” says Mike.
Mike also spotlighted a regional leadership conference that UCLA hosted for Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (PACURH). He and a group of UCLA students set up a conference for 500 students from across California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada. In 2018, it was the first student conference that had ever been held at the Luskin Conference Center. Mike says he was adamant about creating a space in which students felt empowered to actualize an event, and students left the conference with stronger leadership skills.
But Mike is not just a steward for student success: he also engages with UCLA’s professional staff as Staff Assembly’s President-Elect. Driven by its motto “For staff, by staff,” Staff Assembly is a university organization dedicated to the interests and welfare of its staff constituents. Per their website, it “provides a forum where staff employees at all levels can discuss University issues of mutual concern and forward their opinions on policies, procedures, and activities to University Administration.” Joining Staff Assembly was originally just a bullet point on Mike’s professional development plan, but his passion and dedication has now brought him to the helm of the organization.
“I wanted to get to know campus outside of the Hill, get to know UCLA and UCLA Health as organizations...and I thought that Staff Assembly would be a really helpful way of doing that,” says Mike.
As President-Elect, Mike’s goal is to bring staff concerns and experiences to the forefront, which is especially important with Chancellor Designate Julio Frenk beginning his tenure in January 2025. Mike loves that Staff Assembly allows him to model what his students are doing every day: representing their constituents’ voice. Through Staff Assembly, Mike has been able to meet staff from departments across the campus and learn from campus leaders’ successes and failures throughout their careers. Recounting a breakfast event he coordinated with the Chancellor’s Office, he hopes that more staff participate in Staff Assembly to get opportunities to meet with accomplished leaders and connect with the university infrastructure that manages policy and staffing.
"If you told me 10 years ago that I would be sitting with the Chancellor, having breakfast at my dream job in this leadership role, while also teaching students, and that I get to live in this great place, I would say that you’re lying,” says Mike.