Camarillo, California (Dec. 1, 2022)—After being named one of 10 nationwide “Programs to Watch” by Excelencia in Education, CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s Academic Student Success Excellence Team (ASSET) Scholars Program just served another 150 students during the Fall semester with plans to add more in Spring of 2023. 

The ASSET Scholars program has so far served 722 students since it was launched in Spring of 2020 and was named a “Program to Watch” during the Fall 2022 semester. 

“I personally feel proud of the work we’ve done,” said Channel Your Success Project Director Mónica Ocampo, Ed.D. “It was a program intentionally designed on a very personal level for the students at CSUCI to improve retention rates and close equity gaps.” 

Also integral to the ASSET Scholars program are Project AYUDAS (Articulating Your Undergraduate Degree & Academic Success in STEM) Director Sandra Birmingham, STEM Transfer and Retention Coordinator Maripas Jacobo, and ASSET Scholars Program Coordinator Tommee Mcmakin. 

Among the ASSET student scholars in the Fall 2020 cohort alone, Latina/o students continued on to their second year at a rate of 82% compared to a student retention rate of 79% among white students.  

The ASSET Scholars program is a three-pronged approach to help four specific communities of students navigate university culture, succeed, and stay in school.  

The program was designed based on research revealing four groups of students who would benefit from support: 1) first year freshmen and transfer students who were eligible for Pell grants and likely the first in their family to attend college; 2) students from underrepresented groups who were taking first year math courses; 3) students who had not yet declared a major; and 4) science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students.  

“We designed an intentional first-year program using a three-pronged approach comprising of ASSET peer mentors, faculty mentors and a support staff to support students with their transition to CSUCI and help them be on track to successfully graduate in a timely manner,” Ocampo said. “We give the students a sense of belonging and resources to help navigate campus life.” 

To support first year freshmen and transfer students, ASSET provides transition programs with peer mentors who were also in the first generation in their family to attend college. The peer mentors work one-on-one with the students and faculty mentors provide weekly informal mentoring sessions. 

First-year math is a struggle for many, including from populations whose numbers are underrepresented in higher education. A lot of this stems from math anxiety. 

“In the STEM program we encourage students to get involved with undergraduate research and to join Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP),” Birmingham said.  

Jacobo helped introduce students to professionals in STEM fields, which was also a help to students who had not yet declared a major. 

“With the career pathways part of our program, we call on faculty from different fields to speak to the students to show them the variety of majors to choose from,” Jacobo said. “It’s about taking students to computer science research labs or the nursing lab. Our hope is that not only are they getting mentoring but setting career goals.” 

For one hour, one day a week, the students get together all semester, building a network of peer and faculty mentors and a sense of camaraderie and belonging. 

Both Jacobo and Mcmakin are CSUCI alumni and know what it feels like to feel uneasy setting foot on a college campus for the first time. 

“I’m a first-generation student,” Jacobo said. “Before coming to CSUCI, I went to two different colleges. I was on the cusp of not continuing with college when I reached out to a faculty member in Chicana/o Studies who provided me with faculty mentorship. I had a lot of imposter syndrome. I just felt like I didn’t belong. I felt very alone.” 

Mcmakin was one of the many non-traditional students at CSUCI, joining the campus when she was in her 30s. 

“Having a peer mentor also over 25 reminded me that I belonged here,” Mcmakin said.  

At the foundation of the ASSET program experience is the reminder that these students come to the program with cultural wealth, the coordinators said. 

 “Too often, underrepresented students are burdened with a sense that they somehow have a deficit when in fact they bring experience, language and culture, and definitely belong at CSUCI, and in the career field of their choice,” Mcmakin said. 

ASSET Scholars is one of the programs funded by a five-year, $3 million grant awarded to CSUCI in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Education entitled the “Channel Your Success” Initiative. The U.S. Department of Education this Fall released $600,000 in continued funding. 

To learn more about Excelencia’s Programs to Watch, visit: www.edexcelencia.org/what-works-examples-excelencia/programs-watch.