Workshop Description
This interactive, hand-on workshop will explore procedures, methods, and activities to utilize ongoing focus groups for the personal development and growth of program participants. Presenters will be discussing the basis of group dynamics, methods for facilitating focus groups, and engaging in activities that can be used in groups. Groups sessions can be a special and unique way to incorporate the counseling aspect that students need to develop holistically.

Presenters
Becky Esparza, Academic Adivsor, ETS, San Diego State University
Tomasa Mauricio, Coordinator, ETS, San Diego State Univeristy
Melani Wright, Academic Advisor, ETS, San Diego State University
Rudy Contreras, Academic Advisor, ETS, San Diego State University

Workshop Description
The world in which we live is changing at an escalating pace. Statistics continue to tell us that too many high school students are "lost" during their first year in college; they have met the admission requirements yet must enroll in college remediation courses that do not count toward a bachelor's degree. An increasing number of these students find themselves struggling with the remedial classes and end up dropping out of college. As leaders of TRIO Programs, we must better prepare our student participants to meet the challenges and rigor of a postsecondary education. In this workshop you will learn what the SDSU Upward Bound Classic and STAR programs are doing to develop strong, long-lasting learning habits and provide rigorous educational experiences that promote college success for their students.

Presenters
Kay Pittman, Program Coordinator, UB, San Diego State University

Workshop Description
Systematic follow up of Upward Bound students provides evidence needed to support prior experience points, but also to show other constituencies in our communities, institutions of higher learning, and the United States Congress that Upward Bound is working where it counts by changing students’ lives and prospects for success in the United States economic future. In this presentation participants will not only learn how the SDSU Upward Bound Programs have implemented a systematic six-year follow up, and the resources/“best practices” needed to sustain it, but also our outcomes over the past seven years. This type of longitudinal data helps establish a baseline to judge what is ambitious yet attainable as we project objectives for our alumni success in access and enrollment in a postsecondary degree-granting program and its completion in six years. Our data will be compared with state-wide and national data suitable for inclusion in the next competetive grant competition. The overall goal of this seminar is to proved workshop participants with “best practices” in beginning and sustatining a systematic alumni tracking protocol as well as outcomes that show success relative to state and national data.

Presenters
Dr. Cynthia Park, Executive Director, Pre-College Institute, San Diego State University

Workshop Description
The TRIO Dissemination Partnership Program will present its best practices on forming a working collaboration between the Sweetwater Union High School District and San Diego State’s TRIO and College Readiness Programs. Participants will learn how teachers at school sites may be oriented and encouraged to accept college-going tutors into their classrooms and to utilize them toward the academic progress of TRIO-eligible students.

Presenters
Dr. Cynthia Park, Executive Director, Pre-College Institute, San Diego State University
Maria Felix, Program Coordinator, San Diego State Univeristy
Ruth Ann Duncan, Math Specialist, Literacy Academies, Sweetwater Union High School District
Judith A. Henderson, Language Arts Specialist, Literacy Academies, Sweetwater Union High School District

SDSU Pre-College Institute Staff
Back Row: Manny Uribe, Rudy Contreras, Jose “Tony” Garcia
Middle Row: Veronica Terrazas, Becky Esparza, Kay Pittman, Melani Wright, Gretcehn Mitchell
Front Row: Marcela Cuellar, Tomasa Mauricio, Cynthia Meza-Bautista