SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS IN SOCIOLOGY (STEPS) PROGRAM
Project leadership: David Boyns, Ph.D., CSUN, Anna Bruzzese, Ph.D., Pierce, Herman DeBose, Ph.D., CSUN,
Tiffany Lanoix, Ph.D., LAVC, Anne Marenco, Ph.D., COC
Introduction and Overview: The STEPS Program has been developed as a collaborative learning community between Sociology
departments at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and three local community colleges [College of the Canyons (COC), Los
Angeles Valley College (LAVC), and Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce)]. These three Community Colleges have the highest transfer
rates among those students who transfer to CSUN. Because CSUN is designated as one of the nation’s top Hispanic Serving
Institutions, it provides support for a large number of traditionally
under-represented students, and also serves a significant number of
Collaboration among
first generation college attendees. Similar demographic patterns can
four CCs and one CSU,
across three
be found at the three CCC’s collaborating in the STEPS Program. The
community college
districts.
campuses involves have all been organized into an umbrella
organization, the Inter-Campus Sociology Alliance (ICSA). The
Brings CC students to
working model of the STEPS Program is outlined in Figure 1.
CSU where they
Creates collaboration
among full-time and
part-time instructors.
receive information
about 4-year
university transfer.
The STEPS Program works toward the completion of two primary
objectives:
Objective 1: Create and Implement Sustainable CCC-CSUN Learning
Communities. The STEPS Program is based upon the implementation
Figure 1: STEPS Program Model
of sustainable learning communities among CSUN and CCC students.
These learning communities allow CSUN Sociology students to
participate in research-based internships where they serve as
Organized within
Builds mentorship
Inter Campus
collaborators with CCC Sociology students. Additionally, CSUN & CCC
relationships between
Sociology Alliance
the CSU and CC
(ICSA) among faculty
students collectively participate in service learning, community
students.
from seven CCs.
internships where they work directly with community agencies (like
MEND) on common research projects. Students are asked to draft
ICSA meets at least
once a semester to
discuss GE and other
collective research papers focused on their internship experience,
issues across
campuses, districts
and present the results of their investigations within the broader
and between CC and
CSU.
learning communities established among the four campuses.
Objective 2: Make CSUN Connections for CCC students. The second
objective of the STEPS Program facilitates CCC to CSUN transitions by direct creating CSUN campus connections for CCC students.
The manifest goal of these connections is to provide a forum where students can present and discuss their research activities in a
formal setting. To realize the objective, Sociology Undergraduate Research Fairs (SURF) have been developed where group projects
can be shared, presented, and critically reviewed. Here, students have the opportunity to develop their written, oral, and visual
presentation skills, and to apply their sociological content knowledge and critical thinking skills in assessing the projects of other
students. SURF events help familiarize CCC students with the 4-year university experience, encourage inter-campus connections,
facilitate mentoring relationships between CSUN and CCC students, and establish the CCC-CSUN partnerships as a basis for a
regional learning community.
Outcomes: Two large events have been held that have served 450-500 students total. The “Activism in Sociology Conference” held
at CSUN, served 325 students, a public lecture by Joe Loya, entitled “Conversations with a Bank Robber” held at College of the
Canyons, served 175 students. The first set of collaborative, inter-campus research projects served a total of 80 students: 20 from
CSUN, 30 from COC, 20 from LAVC, 10 from Pierce College. The first SURF event was held in December 2012, included 18
collaborative student projects, was attended by 50 student research participants, and 8 faculty. In total, the project activities have
served over 600 students across our different events.
Next Steps: We are looking toward the development of a student participant tracking method. Our third public lecture by
sociologist Karen Sternheimer (USC) will be held in April 2013 at LAVC,. Our second SURF event will be held in May 2013. We are
investigating ways to make the collaboration sustainable and to overcome obstacles we have encountered, such as the preservation
of campus, department and instructor buy-in, institutional constraints (like reductions in service learning programs), and the
challenges of cross-campus scheduling.