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Fillmore High School students are pictured in front of USC’s “Tommy Trojan Statue”. The students are belong to the EAOP (Early Academic Outreach Program). They toured UCLA and USC campuses this past Friday, November 3rd. Juniors and Seniors were able to explore and experience the college atmosphere as they toured both universities. The program has also toured UC Irvine, UCSB and Long Beach State, and plan to tour Cal State LA and Cal State Channel Islands. The tours are to inspire and encourage students to continue their education after high school. Photo courtesy Katrionna Furness.

Professor of Mathematics Cynthia Wyels, Ph.D

Her work to level the playing field for underrepresented minorities has earned CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Professor of Mathematics Cynthia Wyels, Ph.D., a 2017 Distinguished Mentor Award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Wyels received the national honor at the 2017 National Diversity in STEM Conference in October in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“This is the most meaningful recognition I could ever imagine receiving in my professional career,” Wyels said. “This is about people. This is about doing what I can to help people find their paths and succeed.”

Wyels stressed that mentoring is a “we” and not an “I” activity and she could not have done as well with her students without a network of faculty, graduate students and others who rally to help her usher students of color into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields they might never have dreamed they could master.

Wyels had no idea she had been nominated by a colleague, Alejandro Alvarado, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mathematics at Eastern Illinois University. Four other faculty members from Massachusetts, Ohio, and CSUCI supported the nomination.

“Her definition of mentorship is not just advising students on research projects, or how to apply for graduate school,” Alvarado wrote in the nomination letter. “She encompasses compassion, caring, and preparation for the next step in the career ladder. She fosters intellectual and professional development among STEM professionals at every stage of their academic careers.”

Wyels is a believer in senior faculty helping newer faculty, so she mentored her junior colleagues as well.

Youngstown University Associate Professor of Mathematics & Statistics Alicia Prieto Langarica said that meeting Wyels when Langarica was a junior minority mathematician was one of the best things that ever happened to her.

“The year my tenure application was approved, she invited me to spend my spring break at CSUCI, to help refocus my career and to guide me through grant applications and help me brainstorm for my sabbatical proposal,” Langarica wrote as one of many thing Wyels did to help her succeed in academia.

Among many other projects, Wyels and CSUCI colleagues developed a minority-serving program called Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) to guide students into mathematics research.

Letters of support from former REU students offered a glimpse into how far above and beyond Wyels went as a mentor.

Alejandra Castillo, who is working for her Ph.D. in Statistics at Oregon State University, remembers meeting Wyels at a SACNAS conference in Los Angeles.

“As a undocumented student, I had already been warned that REU Programs were out of my reach due to my citizenship status,” she wrote. “Dr. Wyels quickly mentioned that the Mathematics REU at CSUCI was undocumented student-friendly. She then talked about how a few of her past students, though undocumented, have continued to pursue careers in academia and industry. This entire conversation took place within the first 20 minutes after meeting Dr. Wyels and she has continued to change my life ever since.”

Crystal Mackey, who is studying for a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington, was struggling in her graduate program.

“In the beginning of graduate school I quickly felt overwhelmed about remaining in good standing and I did not feel like I belonged in school,” Mackey said. “I was ready to leave the program. I called Dr. Wyels looking for support and she inspired me to use all my resources such as professors’ office hours, and to continue to work hard.”

Wyels said that if she has been effective as a mentor, it’s because she and her network considered their jobs to be more than advising students on math research or grad school.

“You have to look at the whole person. It’s not just about the math,” she said. “Especially our first generation students and underrepresented minorities. All that context can be critically important.”

Wyels says she treasures all the letters, but especially the letters from former students.

“When I’m on my death bed reading these I’ll say ‘maybe I made a little bit of a difference,’” she said.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CSUCI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CSUCI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CSUCI’s Social Media.

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Crowd pleasers like the flaming Gummi Bears, the banana piano and the self-carving pumpkin will return for the 2017 CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Science Carnival along with dozens of brand new exhibits including a laser harp and a 3-D scanner that will allow you to be scanned and converted into an action figure.

Kids pre-K through 8th grade, their families, and kids-at-heart are invited attend the free Science Carnival on Saturday Nov. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. at a new location this year: Rio Vista Middle School at 3050 Thames River Drive in Oxnard.

Kids and families can explore more than 110 hands-on projects, many of them loud, colorful or that special kind of “gross” that kids love, like Magnetic Goo, Ooblek, Slime, Flubber, and Liquid Nitrogen Dippin’ Dots.

“Who doesn’t love the slimy, yucky stuff?” said Professor of Chemistry Phil Hampton, Ph.D., who organizes the Science Carnival. “It’s fun. It occasionally explodes and catches on fire and burns with bright colors. Science can be yucky, slimy, gooey, colorful, explosive or musical.”

Hampton and a handful of CSUCI student volunteers put on the first Science Carnival nine years ago, drawing a couple hundred visitors. Since then, the Carnival has grown, involving over 300 volunteers and drawing crowds of more than 2,200.

Partnerships have sprung up with the Oxnard Union High School District Academies, for example, whose academy students and instructors help with the event.

Hampton says the whole idea of the carnival is to show kids that science is anything but dry or boring or confined to a text book.

“The idea is to engage kids and parents in a night of hands-on science and increase their wonder and joy at science, or more broadly, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, & math),” Hampton said.

Some of the new features this year include more activities for the youngest kids, such as robotic bees that can be programmed to go through a maze, a water xylophone, magic sand that repels water, a balloon inflated with baking soda and vinegar, and an engineering project in which kids learn how to build a catapult out of a cork, spoon and rubber band.

Many of these activities were created in partnership with CSUCI’s Early Childhood Education Program.

Teachers and educators who teach at the early childhood, elementary, or middle school level or paraprofessionals working in after-school programs are invited to a special preview presentation just before the Science Carnival, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Called STEM Experiences for Educators and Leaders or SEEL. The program enables teachers to examine many of the Science Carnival activities before the crowds come in, and learn how to implement similar projects in their own classrooms. Participants can collect QR codes of the activities that lead to the Science Carnival Activities website at http://scactivities.cikeys.com/activities-list/.

To sign up for SEEL, visit the VC STEM website at www.VCSTEM.org and click on the registration button. Teachers can start the day at the Gold Coast Science Network conference at Oxnard College and finish the day at SEEL.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CSUCI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CSUCI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CSUCI’s Social Media.

The California Gold Coast chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is offering two scholarships to recognize outstanding individual college students who are committed to studying communication or public relations in the Tri-Counties area. The group will award two $500 scholarships in early 2018.

“We believe that academic endeavors are essential for individuals to reach their full potential. For that reason, our chapter is encouraging students to attend a four-year institution and reach higher educational achievement,” said PRSA California Gold Coast Chapter President and Scholarship Committee Chair Nancy Mayerson.

The chapter raised funds for the scholarships through program meeting fees and sponsorships, and hopes to grow the scholarship fund as the chapter grows.

“We believe that the heart of a successful PR career is service to one’s community, so we’re seeking students who have both high academic achievement and a solid commitment to community service. So many worthy organizations rely on public relations and community outreach to fulfill their mission, and we want to see our young professionals helping to make a difference,” Mayerson said.

Applications are being accepted through November 30th. Winners will be announced in February 2018. To be eligible for the scholarships, students must:
• Be a student currently enrolled in a four-year institution of higher education accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) located in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Ventura county.
• Have a 3.0 GPA minimum.
• Have a declared major in public relations or communication.
• Be in good academic standing with his or her educational institution.

More information and an application is available online at www.prsagoldcoast.org, on the menu bar. For more information contact Nancy Mayerson, scholarship committee chair, at nancy@mayersonmarketing.com or 805-373-1100, ext. 4.

PRSA is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1947 and the world’s largest organization of public relations professionals with more than 21,000 public relations and communications professionals across the United States. The California Gold Coast Chapter was founded in 2014 and serves Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. For more information, visit www.prsagoldcoast.org.

World-renowned science magician Jason Latimer will give one of his hallmark “Science of the Impossible” presentations during the second annual STEM-tastic! awards ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 17 in Oxnard.

Sponsored by the Ventura County STEM Network, STEM-tastic will take place from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the Oxnard College Performing Arts Center at 4000 S. Rose Ave. in Oxnard.

Schools, businesses, non-profits, military weapon centers, and other Ventura County organizations with STEM (science technology engineering math) programs will be recognized at the STEM-tastic! celebration.

“There are so many amazing STEM programs in our county,” said VC STEM Director Phil Hampton, Ph.D., a Chemistry Professor and Interim Director of Educational Partnerships at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI). “This event really gives us a chance to shine a light on these programs and say ‘Hey, you can do this too!’”

Latimer, who is the third American in history to receive magic’s highest honor, the “Grand Prix World Champion of Magic,” combines science with hands-on interactive experiments designed to pique a child’s interest in physics, chemistry, psychology, mathematics and other sciences.

Designed to inspire wonder and curiosity, Latimer’s show involves such illusions as levitation, invisibility, mind control, shaping water, bending light and many other “super powers.”

VC STEM is a leadership hub for area companies, universities, government agencies, parks, schools, museums and other local organizations working to enhance STEM education for students around Ventura County.

The highlight of the STEMtastic! event will be the awards ceremony. Individuals who have been key champions of high-quality STEM learning will receive STEM Champion awards. STEM Radicals awards will also be given to individuals who have had a broad impact and sustained effort at enhancing STEM education in Ventura County.

The coveted awards of the evening will be the Golden Gear Awards, which will go this year to a total of twelve educational settings that have exhibited high-quality STEM programming including elementary school, middle school, early childhood, and informal education/ after school programs.

Ever since its launch in 2014, the network led by CSUCI has been expanding and earning national recognition.

In 2015, VC STEM was one of 27 networks to be named a “STEM Ecosystem,” which means a mix of schools, nonprofits, businesses, and higher education in the community are committed to encouraging high-quality STEM education.

And just this month, Hampton and Regan Bynder, Program Resource Director for Child Development, Inc. in Oxnard, were selected as two of 22 fellows in the inaugural class of LEAD STEM, a new national leadership development program designed to arm individuals with high level skills to help shape the future of STEM education in the U.S.

LEAD STEM fellows will invest the next nine months in extensive training and education in such things as fundraising, policy change, sustainability, relationship-building and leadership.

VC STEM was made possible by $275,000 in grant funding awarded between 2014 and 2017 by the Amgen Foundation, the charitable arm of the Thousand Oaks biotechnology company.

To register for STEMtastic! or to get information about the VC STEM network, visit http://www.vcstem.org/.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CSUCI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CSUCI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CSUCI’s Social Media.

The Financial Aid Offices at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura Colleges will each host workshops to help students and parents complete the 2018/2019 FAFSA and the California Dream Act applications. Workshops will be held simultaneously on each prospective college campus Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, 9am to 2pm. Moorpark College (7075 Campus Road, Moorpark, CA); Oxnard College (4000 South Rose Avenue, Oxnard, CA); and Ventura College (4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura, CA) will have financial aid advisors available to assist applicants in applying for money for college. Financial Aid Workshops are also planned at the Ventura College Santa Paula campus (957 Faulkner Road, 106, Santa Paula, CA), Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, 9am to 12pm. The events are free and open to the public.

Financial aid is one of several ways that students may afford college. It is important to apply early to determine your eligibility and receive the maximum amount allowable. High school students, current VCCCD students and their parents should plan to attend one of the Cash for College financial aid workshops at Moorpark, Oxnard or Ventura College. “Working in collaboration, financial aid specialists from each college are looking forward to helping students achieve their educational goals,” stated Ventura College Financial Aid Officer Alma Rodriguez. “Students and parents may attend workshops at any of the three colleges and apply for available funds regardless of which school they plan to attend,” said Rodriguez.

Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura College offer more than two hundred degree and certificate programs and have Transfer Guarantee Agreements with the California State Universities (CSU), the Universities of California (UC) and other private/non-profit institutions. In 2016, the colleges awarded more than 7,000 Associate Degrees and Certificates to students who completed various programs of study.

Students and parents who attend the financial aid workshops should bring the following documents and be prepared to complete their application(s):
• Student/Parent Tax information for 2016
• Social Security Numbers (if any) for Student/Parents
• Other income information for Student/Parents
ON THE DAY: Check in at these locations
• Moorpark College – Fountain Hall Atrium
• Oxnard College – Welcome Center
• Ventura College – Learning Resource Center

Everyone is welcome. Pre-registration is encouraged. For more information, please visit www.vcccd.edu/Cash4College or contact the Financial Aid Office at Moorpark College 805.378.1462; Oxnard College 805.986.5828; or Ventura College 805.289.6369.

The Ventura County Community College District is a member of the 114-campus California Community College system, and serves more than 31,000 students annually. The District’s three colleges- Moorpark, Oxnard, and Ventura- offer programs in general education for degrees and certificates, transfer to four-year colleges and universities, career technical education, and provide opportunities to engage in co-curricular campus activities. For more information, please visit www.vcccd.edu or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/venturacountyccd.

Beginning Oct. 1, all 23 California State University (CSU) campuses, including CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) will be accepting applications for fall 2018.

This is the first time all prospective students will apply online at the CSU’s new application portal: Cal State Apply. Transfer students used it earlier this year, but this is the first time it is open for all incoming freshman, transfer, graduate and international students wishing to attend a Cal State University, including CSUCI.

The new, streamlined, user-friendly portal is open during the two-month priority application period, which closes on Nov. 30, 2017.

“Cal State Apply has been designed to improve and simplify the process for the more than 850,000 applications that are submitted online to a CSU campus every year,” said Eric Forbes, CSU's assistant vice chancellor for Student Academic Affairs/Student Academic Support. “Students are encouraged to research and apply to more than one campus, especially if applying to impacted campuses, to increase their likelihood of admission and to apply early during the priority application period.”

“CSUCI continues to be a non-impacted campus, so all students who meet the minimum CSU eligibility requirements will qualify for admissions,” said Ginger Reyes, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of Admissions & Records.

Every year, CSUCI has a record number of students apply for the fall term. This year, CSUCI will receive freshmen applications for its brand new bachelor of science degree in Mechatronics Engineering.

“Our campus is strategically located on the so-called ‘101 Tech Corridor,’ sharing the neighborhood with companies such as Amgen, Haas, Teledyne Technologies, HRL Laboratories and many others, not to mention Naval Base Ventura County’s Point Mugu and Port Hueneme bases,” said Professor and Chair of the Computer Science program, Michael Soltys, Ph.D. “There is a great need and demand for engineers in the community and local industries.”

In addition to allowing one submission to serve the application needs of multiple CSU campuses, Cal State Apply also:
• incorporates the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) application, eliminating the need to file a separate EOP application;
• automatically calculates the overall GPA for first-time freshman applicants; and
• shares ACT and SAT test scores with all CSU campuses to which an applicant applies.

Students who apply during the priority application period will receive admission decisions beginning in February, Reyes said.

For more information regarding CSUCI’s admission process, visit www.csuci.edu/admissions.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CSUCI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CSUCI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CSUCI’s Social Media.