Rafael Alvarez - MESA Program Director Theresa Garcia - MESA Engineering Program Director Eric Pamintuan - SPSD Coordinator Raga Bakhiet - MESA Program Director Friday, March 16, 2012

Culture Need “Learning Culture”

“Color of the sky”: Student Realities What is Culture?

 Graduates of high schools with low API scores  First generation college students  Economically disadvantaged  Placement into basic skills courses  Lack of necessary social and cultural capital

 "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group"  "the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time "  "the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization "

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads 1. Academic Support and Social Integration 2. Research/Internship Experiences 3. Professional Development Activities 4. Summer Bridge Programs 5. Mentoring

Hurtado, S. and Chang, M. (2010). Degrees of Success: Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates among Initial STEM Majors. Higher Education Institute at UCLA.

28.5% - Percentage of underrepresented minority groups in national population (2006) 9.1% - Percentage of underrepresented minority groups among college-educated Americans in science and engineering occupations (academic and non-academic) Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2010). National Academy of Sciences.

Victims …  Blame others  Complain  Make excuses  Repeat ineffective behavior  “Have to” do things  Pretend their problems belong to others  “Try”  Give up FAILURE Victims seldom achieve goals Creators …  Accept responsibility  Take actions  Seek solutions  Do something new  “Choose to” do things  Own their problems  Commit & follow through  Take control of their choices & their lives! SUCCESS Creators often achieve goals Downing, S. (2009). Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. Wadsworth, Boston, MA, 6 th Edition.

 Secret to Success (a.k.a. African Village story): “When you find something in life that you want as much as you want to breathe, then you will find the secret to success!”  Capstone for life: The purpose for the learning  Skills  Knowledge  Wisdom  FREEDOM!

(See “MESA Video 2011”)

MESA Schools Program ~ 1,600 students San Diego Unified (K–12) – 800 Imperial Valley Unified (K–12) – 800 Community College ~ 365 students San Diego City College – 200 Southwestern College – 165 University (SDSU) ~ 320 students MESA Engineering Program (MEP) Maximizing Science Potential (MSP) - 45 INDUSTRY or Graduate School Serving over 2,200 students

 Regular Directors’ meetings  Sharing of best practices  Joint planning  Shared Industry Advisory Board  Joint grant seeking NSF STEP: STEP Partnership of San Diego California Space Grant Consortium: STEM Outreach focused on Research in the Control of Lagrangian Mixing in Fuel Injector Flows into Supersonic Cross-Stream

 Academic Advising and Individual Academic Plans  STEM Course Clustering  Academic Excellence Workshops  Tutoring  College and Career Exploration  Transfer Assistance to 4-year Universities (2-year colleges only)  Assistance Applying to Graduate Schools (4-year universities only)  College Orientation Course  Collaboration with Student/Professional Organizations

 Training Academies for Industry Skills  Regional Job Shadow Day  Scholarships  StrengthsQuest  Leadership Summit  Faculty Advisors  STEM Competitions  San Diego Region Joint Planning Conference

 As important as classroom teaching  Develop tomorrow’s STEM workforce  Advisory Board  Direct Access to students  Paid Interns - SPSD  Future hires  Industry Standards

Standards:  University Bridging  Counseling  Academic Support  Community  Industry Exposure

Goal 1: Recruitment and Participation Enrollment at each school will increase 10% over previous year

Goal 2: Recruitment and Participation At least 350 students will be enrolled in the SPSD/MESA program from declared major through transfer or graduation within grant period SDSU graduates transfers from SDCC - 96 transfers from SWC Total graduates or transfers (94% of goal) - More than 580 current active enrollees To meet the goal, 20 students will need to graduate or transfer in the next academic year

Goal 3: Academic Counseling At least 160 program students will graduate in a STEM major by the end of the grant period. (SDSU only)

Goal 4: Industry Exposure At least 36 SPSD/MESA students will complete an internship (100+ hours) each year

Goal 5: University Bridging Activities At least 15 graduating seniors in the SPSD/MESA program will enter STEM graduate study programs by the end of the 5-year grant period. (SDSU only)

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2010 Report)  Identifies 5 proven, intensive strategies for student success in STEM  MESA/SPSD implements 3 of 5 strategies  SPSD II proposes to build on MESA/SPSD best practices and implement remaining 2 strategies (Summer Bridge & Mentoring) in the context of a STEM pipeline (high school-CC-4 year university)

Lessons: Hardwork Patience Success