Contact: John Chandler ,
(818) 677-2130
jchandler@exec.csun.edu

CSUN College Readiness Program Receives $50,000 Grant

CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson and campus officials are scheduled to formally accept the funding for Jump Start from a delegation of Edison International representatives during a presentation Tuesday, April 27, at 4 p.m. in the president s office.

"We are thrilled and overjoyed to receive the support of Edison International in building a community collaboration between the business world and the university system to increase college awareness among high school students," said Doris Johnson, one of CSUN s co-coordinators of the program.

Operated through CSUN s College of Business Administration and Economics, Jump Start currently works at two public high schools in the region Crenshaw and Westchester to interest those students in college and prepare them for entry into college life.

With the Edison funding, CSUN plans to expand Jump Start to a San Fernando Valley-area high school in fall 1999, and thus increase student participation in the program from about 70 at present to about 100. The funding also will aid planning for possible expansion to a middle school site.

Johnson said the Jump Start program includes weekly lunch-hour sessions at the high schools where students who have volunteered for the program receive presentations on topics such as study skills, the college admissions process and career exploration.

Other program components typically include the high school students spending a day at Cal State Northridge to get a taste of university life, field trips to various business sites and mentoring opportunities, said Johnson, who is director of CSUN s Business Student Equity Center. Although run through CSUN s business college, the Jump Start program is open to and geared to high school students regardless of their likely college major or career path. The program began in 1995 and receives private support from several major corporations.

CSUN is one of six postsecondary institutions in Southern California to receive $50,000 grants this year under Edison s New Era Award for Excellence in Higher Education program. The Edison awards, judged by an independent panel of business and education leaders, are given annually for projects that encourage innovative approaches to preparing at-risk students for higher education.

"The winning programs are good examples of education institutions reaching out to students needing help academically," said Beverly Ryder, Edison International s corporate secretary and director of educational relations. Based in Rosemead, Edison International is the parent company of Southern California Edison and various other entities.

Scheduled to participate in the check presentation on behalf of the university are CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson, University Relations Vice President Bill Outhouse, Dean of the College of Business Administration and Economics William Hosek, and several college officials including Johnson.

Representing Edison will be Manager of Educational Relations Katharyn Muniz-Bandoni, Educational Relations Program Manager Virginia Valencia and Region Public Affairs Managers Mark Olson and Maryann Reyes.

CSUN also is one of seven Cal State campuses slated to benefit from Edison s recently announced Teachers for Tomorrow scholarship program. It will provide $500,000 to the Cal State system during a four-year period, money that will provide $5,000 scholarships for 100 different CSU students seeking teaching credentials.