Austyn Smith Jones is the Managing Director for the Center for Analytic Political Engagement (CAPE) at UC Merced and has been a staff member since 2014. She is also a UC Merced alum (B.A. Political Science) and is particularly interested in thinking of creative ways to engage, develop, and appreciate staff at UC Merced as well as across the system.
Austyn currently serves as the 2022-2023 UC Merced Staff Assembly President and has previously held roles in Events and Communications on the board. She joined Staff Assembly to advocate for staff as well as give back by encouraging staff to be engaged in their campus. She serves as the Senior Delegate to the Council for UC Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) as the Government Relations Coordinator, and previously she was on the CUCSA Staff Engagement Survey workgroup and helped to develop a resource toolkit to be utilized by future CUCSA and Staff Assembly delegations. Prior to her Staff Assembly experience, Austyn was a founding member in developing the Staff Teambuilding, Engagement and Professionalism (STEP) Committee in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts.
