ACES Highlights of 2017
ACES Summer Science Transfer Bridge Experience
In the summer of 2017, ACES Program collaborated with the Transfer Center for its
3rd Annual Summer Science Transfer Bridge Experience. 33 students from various educational equity programs at Mt. SAC: ACES, Arise, Aspire,
Bridge, Dream, & Reach, completed one science course: a Physical Geography lecture
and lab or an Oceanography lecture and lab. All participants attended mandatory transfer
workshops led by the Transfer Center where they completed their Personal Insight Statements
for the UC and attended tutoring provided by the Supplemental Instructors throughout
the five-week summer session at Mt. SAC. Students finished the course at UC Santa
Barbara (UCSB) the final week of the six-week summer session. They attended a 6-day
residential experience at UCSB were they were immersed in the UC campus culture; they
were assigned a roommate, utilized the resources available to students at the UC,
received a campus tour led by Mt. SAC alumnus and had their meals at the UCSB dining
commons. Participants visited Santa Cruz Channel Islands, where they received a tour
of the island and applied concepts covered in their science courses. None of the students
had been to UCSB and Santa Cruz Channel Islands, this was a new and motivating experience
for all the students who participated. 94% of students successfully passed their science
courses during the summer 2017. This is the third year that ACES Program has coordinated
the Summer Science Transfer Bridge Experience funded by Student Equity and a total of 90 students have benefited from this experience,
with an overall success rate of 98% of students passing their science courses in the
past three years. Overall, participants stated that this experience has given them
the confidence and understanding of the transfer process and has validated their sense
of belonging at the UC system while successfully completing two transferable level
science lecture and lab courses.
Mt. SAC TRIO Programs Visit Washington, DC
ACES received one-time funding from Associated Students to take six students and two
staff members to Washington DC to attend Policy Seminar to gain greater insight of
the federal legislative process and to meet with Members of Congress to advocate on
behalf of TRIO Programs and highlight the impact that the program has had on their
academic endeavors at Mt. SAC. ACES Program attended the Council of Education- Policy
Seminar in Washington, D.C in March 2017. The Policy Seminar mobilizes the TRIO communities
(professionals, students and alumni) throughout the United States to learn about Policy
Advocacy and to meet with Congressional Representatives. Student and staff had the
opportunity to attend informational sessions to learn about policy advocacy, specifically
for TRIO, visit cultural sites at the National Mall, visit universities and met with
congressional representatives to speak about the impact that TRIO (ACES Program) has
had on their lives and their communities.
Transfer Achievement Celebration - 2017
ACES 2017 Transfer Achievement Celebration took place on May 18th, 2017 and 32 ACES
students will be transferring to UC/CSU and Private Schools for fall 2017. Below is
the list of students that have transferred from Mt. SAC since the inception of the
program in August 2010. Below is the list of students that have transferred from Mt.
SAC since the inception of the program in August 2010, with a total of 167 transfers,
that are still very connected with the ACES Program while they are attending their
four year institutions and many of them have attained their Bachelor’s Degrees and
are embarking on their careers or are applying to Masters and Doctorate Programs:
- 2010-2011: 2 Transfers
- 2011-2012: 20 Transfers
- 2012-2013: 30 Transfers
- 2013-2014: 29 Transfers
- 2014-2015: 30 Transfers
- 2015-2016: 23 Transfers
- 2016-2017: 32 Transfers
Overall Total: 167 Transfers
Financial Literacy
ACES Program collaborated with the Financial Aid office to implement a Financial Literacy
program called: Get Financially Literate: Managing your Money-A Hands on Experience.
Fall 2017, marks our 5th annual financial literacy efforts targeting students in educational
equity focused programs. This year the financial literacy committee took a different
approach with disseminating financial literacy information for students and created
a one day event that was interactive and very hands on. The goal of this event was
to have students contemplate their decision making process of how they budget their
finances each semester. We had a total of 200 participants attend this event. Each
participant that registered for this event received their actual financial aid award
letter and the students went through a hands-on simulation booth experience visiting
eight different booths highlighting expenses that students spend money on; housing,
tuition, entertainment, personal care, transportation, books, groceries, and savings.
During each booth the student received a receipt of the expense amounts that applied
to them. The committee identified “distraction expenses” that students may face during
the semester such as credit cards, car or medical emergencies and Starbucks expenses.
Staff members dressed up as a credit card, Starbucks employee and a black cloud and
would randomly select students and hand them a red card that had a specific expense
for that semester such as “your car broke down, pay $500.” After students experienced
each of the eight booths they concluded the event at the a debrief session where they
transferred their income (work and financial aid award) and expenses (8 booth receipts)
on a budget sheet and were able to see if they had a negative or positive amount of
money at the end of the semester. The survey for the financial literacy showed that
there was significant impact of their grade from a C (pre-workshop) to a B (post-workshop)
with regard to managing their money. Overall, there was a sizable change (+.87) in
students thinking about their spending habits weekly, instead of not very often. The
following are some of the comments from participants’ survey responses “It was a very
hands-on event, very good information, I liked that it was realistic!”, “They had
realistic costs and accidental emergencies, using the booths was a good approach to
introduce the different expenses to the students”, “I really appreciated that Diana
shared her credit card story during the debrief, it was really eye opening! This also
helped me to reflect on my expenses and to be better prepared for distractions/emergencies.”
Financial Literacy Debrief Session
Tuition and Fees Booth
Books Booth
Distraction Expenses- Credit Cards
Keynote Speech
WESTOP SoCal TRIO Student Leadership Conference
The Mt. SAC TRIO Programs hosted the TRIO Student Leadership Conference at Mt. San
Antonio College on Saturday, April 22nd, 2017 from 8am-3 pm. Diana Felix served as
the Co-Chair for the event, with Elizabeth Duarte from Victor Valley College. The
SoCal chapter is the largest chapter within WESTOP, Western Association of Educational
opportunity Personnel. The theme for the TRIO Leadership Conference was Breaking Barriers
and Rising Above and 315 TRIO students attended that ranged from pre-college TRIO
programs, such as Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search to college TRIO programs
such as Student Support Services Programs and McNair Scholars Programs. The event
was kicked off by the keynote speaker, Author, TRIO Alumnus and Motivational Speaker,
Richard Taylor, who shared overcoming morbid obesity, depression, suicide, failing
in college and domestic violence. His message was positive and uplifting and reiterated
the overall conference theme of Breaking Barriers and Rising Above. TRIO students
participated in three workshop breakouts that covered leadership, college planning,
networking strategies, job preparation, stress management, STEM and social justice
themes. Conference participants experienced a Resource Fair during lunch that highlighted
Mt. SAC support programs and community resources.
