Camarillo, CA - Community college students from across the region - Santa Barbara City College, Ventura College, Oxnard College, and Moorpark College - are invited to CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s 2023 Regional STEM Transfer Mixer on Wednesday, Oct. 18 beginning at 9 a.m. as part of the National Transfer Student Week, happening on Oct. 16 through 20.

According to CSUCI STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Outreach Coordinator Tatiana Juarez, the mixer is to cultivate community college students’ interest in obtaining a four-year degree in a STEM field.

“The objective is to have local community college students come to CSUCI and get to know the campus and explore two specific STEM majors—Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science,” Juarez said. “I think it’s extremely effective for students to immerse themselves in the setting where they will be investing a lot of their time. To see exactly what these majors have to offer, and to learn how CSUCI supports STEM students.”

Community college students will be responsible for their own transportation to the campus, but once here, they will get a tour of the campus. They will also have the opportunity to take a tour of Mechatronics lab for a robotics demonstration and information session from Associate Professor of Mechatronics Vida Vikilian followed by a visit to the computer lab space for a talk with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Scott Feister.

“I’m planning to highlight our computer networking laboratory for Information Technology (IT) students, our computer laboratory classrooms for software engineering, our gameware development hardware and more,” Feister said. “I’ll also point out that our location in Sierra Hall with Mechatronics Engineering and Environmental Science & Resource Management (ESRM) enables some of our computer science students to develop projects in robotics and environmental data science.”

After the tours, the group will make its way to El Dorado Hall where prospective students will get more information about CSUCI’s student research office as well as to familiarize the group with The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation or LSAMP, which is a National Science Foundation program aimed at increasing the number of historically underrepresented minority students who receive baccalaureate or advanced degrees in STEM fields.

While lunch is being served at El Dorado Hall, community college students will get a chance to talk to a panel of CSUCI students who are both transfer students and STEM majors.

The Transfer STEM mixer is part of Project AYUDAS, which stands for Articulating Your Undergraduate Degree and Academic Success in STEM.  Project AYUDAS is funded through a nearly $5 million Department of Education, Title III, Hispanic-Serving Institution grant, which has an objective of increasing the number of Hispanic and other low-income students attaining degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

“Nationally, employment in STEM is projected to grow by six million jobs from 2019 to 2029,” said Project AYUDAS Director Sandra Birmingham. “The Pew Research Center concluded that Hispanic employees are underrepresented across all STEM job types, including health-related jobs, life sciences, math, physical sciences, computer and engineering jobs.”

One of the primary goals for Project AYUDAS is to get the Hispanic students in Ventura County interested in these fulfilling and high-paying STEM careers, Juarez explained. She is especially enthusiastic about this mixer as she was a transfer student and the first in her family to get a STEM degree.

“The toughest part was trying to feel supported,” Juarez said. “The beginning was rough because none of my siblings or parents were familiar with a STEM focused college experience. I didn’t know what classes to take or what academic counselors to look for.”

Through tutoring, joining clubs and landing a job on campus, Juarez learned that she did, indeed belong and went on to earn a degree in Health Science. Now her goal is to light the way for other transfer STEM majors.

For more info, visit: tinyurl.com/CI-STEM-Mixer2023.