Veteran Adviser Knows Right Moves for University Terrain

Guarded by Beanie Babies atop her computer, Doris Givens quietly and competently guides students through the bramble of university rules and graduation requirements.

Her title is advising assistant for the College of Letters and Science (L&S), but she and her fellow advisers understand that students frequently do not know enough to ask the right questions. "We have to be kind of like detectives here," she said. They tease out the students' academic goals and place possible options into context, all the while seeking to provide complete information and leave the students feeling that the decisions are theirs to make.

"It's fun," Givens said. "I get to know the students on a one-to-one basis, and, though they may ask the same questions, they're all different personalities."

Her job has been pleasant and challenging enough for her to stay committed to it for more than 31 years. The increased diversity of the students on campus over this period has enhanced her work, she said, noting that "learning about different populations, their ideals and beliefs, has been an education to me." One student who sticks in her memory would not use red ink on a form because "it was against his religion," she said. "That was so interesting."

Another interesting aspect of the job, she slyly noted, is to what lengths students will sometimes go to get their requests approved. "Some students have offered us bribes of donuts, cookies, candy, and assorted items," she said with a chuckle.

However good she is at her work, Givens is probably best known among her L&S coworkers and many campus employees as a founding member of the satirical singing group The Extremes. Drawn primarily from L&S, the quintet started in 1989 and, for the better part of a decade, spiced Staff Celebration Weeks with songs that poked fun at campus problems.

"Fortunately," Givens laughed, "being a member did not require musical talent." She refers to herself, but other Extremes have credited her with the group's choreography and being lead dancer. The Extremes went on "hiatus" in 1999 when two members left for other employment.

However, once an Extreme, always an Extreme. Givens proudly pointed out that former Extremes song writer Jeanette Castillo wrote the lyrics to the song "Christmas in Whoville" in the upcoming Ron Howard holiday film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." To gain that touch of fame, "Jeanette won a contest on the Internet," she explained.

The New Mexico native almost missed all of this. Givens, the seventh youngest in a family of nine, originally came to Santa Barbara on vacation to visit an older sister. She decided to settle here, and shortly found a position at UCSB. That was 1969, and local anti-war protests were growing more violent. When students started storming buildings, breaking glass, and police cordons became routine, Givens seriously considered leaving. "It was scary," she recalled. "But I made the right decision. I've been happy here."

Givens does hope that The Extremes will reunite for another campus performance in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, she keeps a big scrapbook in her office that reminds her of many of the changes she has seen. "Change is good," she said.