 |
|
serving students in challenging financial times
|
|
|
UCSB’s Summer Transitional Enrichment Program (STEP) has served thousands of incoming Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) freshmen in its distinguished 26-year history. A residential summer bridge program, STEP empowers students by giving them an important head start on their UCSB education. At STEP, students experience the university classroom setting, become aware of the fast-pace and high-level of college coursework, and clarify expectations that UCSB has of them as first-rate scholars, leaders, and citizens. STEP also gives EOP freshmen a “leg up” on making the connections with—and developing the networks among—faculty and staff members, departments, and fellow students that are extremely important to college success. University research reveals that STEP participants perform better during their critical first year than do students who do not have the opportunity to attend STEP. The many academic accomplishments of EOP/STEP alumni further attest to the benefits of STEP. For these reasons and more, student demand for STEP remains at an all time high.
STEP has always been open to new ideas in the areas of academic, personal, and social support for students. STEP constantly evolves by considering, developing, and exploring new programs and approaches to meet the changing needs of entering students. But even as STEP changes, the program remains true to the spirit that has made it a favorite among students. A number of directors have nurtured that STEP spirit over time. Directors of the 70s and 80s include Mike Aldaco, Yolanda Garcia, Hymon Johnson, Pete Villarreal, and Carlos Williams. Directors of the 1990s include Ross Fontes and Harold Salas-Kennedy. Osvaldo Espinoza, a former STEP participant, began directing STEP in summer 2004. Under the leadership of these directors, STEP has flourished.
 |
Academic Preparation
With academic preparation at its core, STEP offers courses in writing, mathematics, and chemistry as well as a skills course entitled "Transitions." The "Transitions”" course, taught by staff from across campus, helps students to adjust to campus life, to understand college expectations, and to develop critical thinking skills. STEP’s evening and weekend events, initially social in nature, have grown over the years into more formal activities and experiences. For example, STEP has featured events such as faculty dinners, hosted meetings between students and divisional managers, offered tutoring, provided computer labs, and presented lectures and workshops by key university faculty and staff members.
STEP was created by EOP staff and students who recognized the need to serve and support incoming EOP freshmen prior to their enrollment at UCSB. Established in 1978 as a pre-college summer program, the first STEP participants resided in university residence halls, attended academic classes, participated in workshops, and met one-on-one with EOP counselors. During the mid-80s, STEP evolved into two programs with one focused on social science and humanities and the other on science and mathematics (the Summer Transition Program and Academic Enhancement Program, respectively). In the late 80s, STEP merged back into one program. |
|
|
Collaboration & the State Budget Crisis
In the early 1990s, budget constraints required EOP to reduce STEP from a three-week to a two-week program (which it remains today). On a positive note, the early 1990s also brought a significant collaboration between STEP and the Summer Institute of Math and Science (SIMS), a component of the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP). This collaboration strengthened STEP’s academic component. STEP’s collaboration with SIMS endured until 2002 when funding for SIMS was discontinued.
Within that same year, though, a new collaboration arose between STEP and the Freshman Summer Start Program (FSSP). As the University moved to a "year-round" calendar, entering freshmen were encouraged to enroll in summer session prior to their first fall. FSSP provided support to freshmen who, via Summer Session, were living and studying at UCSB for the first time. The large number of EOP students enrolled in FSSP prompted EOP to propose, plan for, and undertake joint programming with FSSP to the benefit of larger numbers of students.
In 2003, the state’s continuing fiscal crisis prompted University departments to consider collaborations that could lessen the impact of punishing budget cuts by enabling programs to share resources while achieving operational efficiencies. EOP invited the Engineering Summer Program (ESP) to join with STEP when both EOP and ESP’s parent program, the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement or MESA program, lost their outreach funding. This merger enabled STEP to survive. Unfortunately, the reduction in funding (which led to a reduction in staff) combined with increased demand due to the merger of two programs, required EOP to make the difficult decision of capping STEP’s summer 2003 enrollment at 140 students (the previous summer’s enrollment had been 200). Despite these challenges, having engineering students along side STEP students proved to be a wonderful experience. ESP participation in STEP increased from nine students in 2003 to fourteen in 2004. In addition, the Engineering Student Support Center (ESSC), under the direction of Mr. Bob Cota, provided tutors to support math and chemistry courses. ESSC also funded a chemistry course for math, engineering, and science students although, due to limited class space, not all math, engineering, and science students were able to take the course.
As STEP continued its collaborations with FSSP and ESP in 2004, the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) launched their new summer program, Expanding Pathways to Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (EPSEM). This program ran two weeks prior to STEP; four freshmen who attended EPSEM continued their pre-college preparation with STEP. In addition, EPSEM provided scholarships to offset eligible students’ STEP fees. The EPSEM coordinator, Ms. Ofelia Aguirre, also provided tours of local industries and other programs and events that significantly benefited STEP’s science, engineering and mathematics participants. |
|
|
Future Directions
The future direction of STEP depends largely on the intra-institutional relationships and networks that EOP continues to cultivate and nurture. As may be apparent from the above, the EOP staff has successfully integrated STEP into the campus community. For years, STEP has been well-recognized by UCSB faculty, staff, and students for its success in transitioning students into university life. STEP has enjoyed many successes, but it has not been immune to UC budget cuts. EOP has worked around the clock to secure funding for its coveted programs, such as STEP.
Recent developments are providing hope for future programming. For example, STEP will no longer be categorized as an "outreach program" and, therefore, will not be subject to the 50% budget cut targeted to outreach programs. Although this spares STEP the full force of previously projected budget cuts, EOP nonetheless must still contend with programming costs that exceed current funding levels. EOP, therefore, continues to collaborate with programs within UCSB while carefully considering future program growth. EOP is discussing an expansion of STEP back to a three-week program and is in dialogue with FSSP Director, Dr. Ralph Gallucci, regarding granting of credit for coursework completed through STEP. This is not a new concept: Over the course of STEP’s 26-year history, unit credit has at times been granted through STEP. Should STEP students have the option of earning at least 6 units, they would have the benefit of qualifying for financial aid. EOP also is in discussion with EPSEM about incorporating EPSEM’s summer component into a third week of STEP. This would be reminiscent of the STEP/SIMS collaboration. All of these options would increase STEP’s stature and validity within the university.
Just as EOP considers the expansion of STEP programming through creative collaborations, so must EOP consider increasing the number of students served. As noted above, EOP recently had to reduce the number of students served from 200 to 140 and had to withhold key services (such as the EPSEM-funded chemistry class) to STEP participants due to limited class space. For fall 2004, EOP enrolled 861 freshmen. By accommodating only 140 of 861 entering EOP freshmen, STEP served only 16% of its population in need. |
|
|
STEP Fundraising
With increased funding—which would lead to increased staffing—EOP could serve larger numbers and percentages of entering freshmen through STEP. To this end, EOP is turning its attention to raising funds, factoring in the ever-increasing costs of STEP related to room and board, equipment and supplies, and social, cultural, and recreational programming. And EOP students are doing their part by sharing program costs via the sliding scale formula used to determine STEP fees (the formula includes important socioeconomic indicators such as household size, household income, and level of parental education). These students and families support STEP even though they have much lower incomes and education levels than their non-EOP UCSB peers. For example, the mean reported parental income for fall 2004 EOP freshmen was $28,344 and the median was $27,092. This compares to a mean reported parental income of $116,700 and a median of $98,706 for UCSB’s total freshman class. Also, 26% of EOP freshmen reported that their parents had "no high school" education as compared to 0% of non-EOP students.
A large part of EOP’s mission is to "provide a support and information base that validates each student’s experience and nurtures a sense of participation, belonging and empowerment." EOP strives to fulfill its mission on a daily basis, knowing that each student served will be one step closer to achieving his or her educational and personal goals. With increased support, particularly from EOP alumni who are now in a position to give back to their undergraduate institution, STEP and EOP’s other important programs can continue to support students. This support is especially critical during difficult financial times, as difficult times always hit hardest those with the greatest need.
*These figures were reported by the UCSB Office of Budget & Planning (KN) 12/12/2004. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
