UC San Diego Chancellor to Speak
at College Fair for Imperial Valley Juniors
May 14, 2008
By Jan Jennings
Information on opportunities to pursue a college education for 600 juniors in high schools in the Imperial Valley will take the spotlight when University of California, San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox meets with students and higher education representatives May 20 at Calexico High School.
Chancellor Fox and UC San Diego Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Penny Rue will offer opening remarks at the 10:30 a.m. Imperial Valley College Fair, encouraging the juniors “to stay in school and to consider UC San Diego as their college destination.”
The College Fair will include a power point presentation on the systems of higher education in California: community colleges, the Cal State system, the UC system, and private colleges and universities. Admission requirements, financial aid, timelines, deadlines, tips, and more, will be covered. Participating colleges and universities will have information booths about their schools.
“Imperial County has been transformed in the past eight years and now has one of the highest college-going rates in the state of California,” says Blas G. Guerrero, director of Regional Academic Collaboratives in the UC Office of the President (UCOP). “This transformation has been made possible by the establishment of a true inter-segmental collaboration by all the Imperial County outreach programs – the Imperial County Partnership for Higher Education, the Counselors Roundtable and leadership from the Imperial County Office of Education and the UCOP.”
Guerrero added that this model is being replicated throughout the state.
Prior to the College Fair, Javier Ramos, college-going initiative coordinator for the Imperial County Office of Education, will give an overview of the college-going initiatives in place in the valley for Chancellor Fox, vice chancellor Rue and UC San Diego College Fair participants: Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor, Admissions and Enrollment Services; Cynthia Davalos, special assistant to the Student Affairs vice chancellor; Loren Thompson, assistant vice chancellor, Student Educational Advancement; Jaime Velasco, admissions officer, Student Affairs Office; and Irma Martinez Velasco, director of campus relations, the Chancellor’s Office.
Also participating from UC San Diego will be two UC San Diego students from the Imperial Valley and representatives from Student Promoted Access Center for Education Services (SPACES) and Student Initiated Access Programs and Services (SIAPS).
Chancellor Fox and Vice Chancellor Rue say that from their vantage, they are particularly interested in learning from the schools and community supporters “about the successful programs and college-going initiatives in the Imperial Valley.” They will have that opportunity both at a meeting with higher education partnership representatives prior to the College Fair and at a luncheon afterward.
A luncheon for the UC San Diego participants and members of the Imperial Valley P-16 Council will be hosted by the Imperial County Office of Education. The P-16 Council is a community partnership to promote a college-going culture in the Imperial Valley.
For further information about Chancellor Fox’s visit to the Imperial Valley, contact Irma Martinez Velasco at (858) 534-6862.
Media Contact: Jan Jennings, 858-822-1684
