Program Components:

Academic/remedial support

Life skills

Financial support

Diana Avila

619-421-6700 x.15618

Davila@swc.cc.ca.us

www.swc.cc.ca.us

pursuing training nontraditional to their gender.

1) Increase the number of nontraditional students

2) Serve Special Populations – single parents, displaced homemakers, limited English

speakers, and

3) Increase the number of “completers” as measured by the Core Indicators

specialized support services program for all students enrolled in career and technical

classes, which offers counseling, workshops, and services. CTECS hosts special events to

support students who are pursuing a career in an occupational area that is Nontraditional

for their gender. The program offers:

1) Career, personal, and academic counseling in one-hour sessions

2) Workshops in collaboration with the Women’s Resource Center, Career Center

and other departments focusing on topics related to special populations.

3) Referrals to sources of support, scholarships, etc.

4) Women’s Math Network, a support group for women in mathematics

5) Collaboration with other groups/programs including:

a. The Quita Pena program, which is designed to reduce the embarrassment

non-native English speakers feel when speaking English. The students are

Spanish speakers; approximately 10-12 students meet each week on

Wednesday afternoons, for an hour or so. The goal of the workshop is to

increase English language comfort, confidence, self-esteem, while

addressing the issues behind the embarrassment speaking English and

moving ahead in life.

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b. BIONIC Team (Believe It Or Not, I Care): The CTECS program works

closely with faculty who teach high wage, high skill and demand career

programs through the BIONIC team, which is a group of instructors in

high-wage, high-demand career programs. The intent of the BIONIC team

is to develop cross-program support and knowledge, and to increase

internal marketing,

c. POWER (Partnership Organization With Empowering Resources) Club –

This group started in 1997 and is channeled through the Associated

Students Government. In this group, the students focus on self-advocacy

and personal power. For the past seven years, they have sent a student to

Washington D.C. to attend the “Women Work!” conference.

d. Regional Environmental and Entertainment Arts Technology Career

Symposium – These events are designed to enable students to gain a better

understanding of careers that are non-traditional, network, and meet role

models and mentors. The symposium includes approximately twenty

speakers (inc. Women in Environmental Careers) and a variety of events.

Approximately four hundred students attend the symposium annually.

As the director of both the CTECS program and the Women’s Resource Center (WRC),

which focuses on single parents and displaced homemakers, Diana Avila is able to offer

more comprehensive coverage for students.

adjunct, and an hourly counselor.

houses both CTECS and WRC thus allowing for more foot traffic, better visibility, and

higher student satisfaction.

The Center includes computers for staff and students to use for on-campus and off-campus

community referrals including housing, childcare, legal assistance, and other social

services. There is also a reference library, phones, enrollment assistance and counseling.

Mini-grants – various amounts yearly.

annual program marketing. The BIONIC team has resulted in a new word-of-mouth

system that is the best marketing system yet. The program is also marketed through:

open house events, an electronic database, and at consortia meetings, high schools, and

businesses.

in the Core Indicators included in the Perkins III grant reporting requirements.

adequate resources including the following:

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1) Staff

2) Funding

3) Inclusion in the VTEA grant process to gain institutionalization

4) Relationships with enthusiastic instructors

Other suggestions include:

5) Develop Women’s Resource Center along with a CTECS project

6) Don’t try to be everything to everyone

7) Start small, with a focus on a vocational education area

8) Remember that the results of the Core Indicators make the argument for continuing or

starting a program.

9) Collaborate with national organizations such as Women Work! and the National

Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) as well as other women’s and gender

equity organizations.