November 4, 2005

EVC, SJSU announce nearly $3.5 million Hispanic Student Transfer Program

Evergreen Valley College and San Jose State University announced a federally sponsored Title V partnership to improve transfer rates of Hispanic students from Evergreen Valley College to San Jose State University.

Richard Regua, an English Professor at EVC, is a co-creator of the Enlace Program that he chairs.

The $3.49 million dollar program will span five years and consist of three components: Increasing completion rates of “gateway” classes; increasing coordination between SJSU and EVC counselors and faculty and extending mentoring and tracking of students once they reach SJSU.

The mission of the partnership is to develop, implement, and institutionalize a set of structures and processes on both campuses to increase Hispanic student success.

The program was created by Richard Regua, an English Professor at EVC and Enlace Program chair, and Dr. George Castro an emeritus professor of chemistry and former associate dean of the College of Science at SJSU and an Enlace mentor.

“We want Hispanic students to graduate; that’s the goal,” Dr. Castro said. “Currently less than half of the Hispanic students who transfer to State get to graduation. Right now there is no way to assess what these students need. EVC didn’t know what happened to its students once they left and SJSU didn’t know what support they needed when they came in. This program will help address these issues.”

The first component of the program will take place at EVC and address low Hispanic completion rates in math, science and English courses. EVC’s nationally renowned Enlace Program will train a group of faculty in techniques proven to increase transition and success rates of students. These techniques include culturally sensitive instruction, tying outcomes to assessment, a strong emphasis on mentoring and peer tutoring.

This kind of program has a demonstrated record of success. Just ask Jessica Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, an EVC student from 1999-2002, was also an Enlace program member and transferred to SJSU in 2002 after graduating from EVC with honors.

Rodriguez dropped out of high school at age 15.

“I had no ambition. I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” she recalled. “I went to Enlace and my life changed.
They’re like angels. … They helped me and I miss them so much. Anything that brings to San Jose State the kind of support that Enlace offered at EVC is a great thing. It would benefit students—I wish it were here now.” Rodriguez will graduate from SJSU this spring.

Direct collaboration
The second component is direct collaboration between counselors and faculty at EVC and SJSU to weave a support system for Hispanic students as they transfer. This collaboration will occur at all levels of support, including transfer counseling, mentoring and tutoring.

This component will also include a Summer Bridge Program aimed at helping Hispanic transfer students deal with issues that arise for first-generation college students. As Castro notes, this is the first time such a program has been offered to community college students.

Finally, at the University level, the program will build an extensive mentoring system and deploy a tracking system to assure that interventions are timely and effective as students go further in their education.

EVC President David Wain Coon adds, “We are privileged to work with San Jose State on a program of this magnitude. Evergreen Valley College is committed to ensuring our Hispanic students have the support necessary to be successful. Partnerships and programs of this nature are essential to fulfilling this commitment.”