Rafael Alvarez - MESA Program Director
Theresa Garcia - MESA Engineering Program Director
Eric Pamintuan - SPSD Coordinator
Raga Bakhiet - MESA Program Director
Friday, March 16, 2012
Need
“Learning
Culture”
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 <popular culture>"

"the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and
practices that characterizes an institution or
organization <a corporate culture>"
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.
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 …
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!
Blame others
Complain
Make excuses
Repeat ineffective behavior
“Have to” do things
Pretend their problems belong
to others
 “Try”
 Give up
FAILURE
SUCCESS
Victims seldom achieve goals
Creators often achieve goals
Downing, S. (2009). Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life.
Wadsworth, Boston, MA, 6th 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!
http://mesa.ucop.edu/ (See “MESA Video 2011”)
Serving over 2,200 students
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) - 275
Maximizing Science Potential (MSP) - 45
INDUSTRY
or Graduate School





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
350
07/08
300
08/09
09/10
250
10/11
200
150
100
50
0
201 224 245 318
104 198 211 204
145 176 202 218
SDSU
SDCC
SWC
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
- 127 SDSU graduates
- 107 transfers from SDCC
- 96 transfers from SWC
- 330 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)
Chemistry
Engineering
Math
07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
1
1
0
1
3
1
5
3
1
1
2
2
5
3
7
6
-
Total
3
12
6
21
100%
Degree of Implementation
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1
2
3
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