Opening Session: 8:30Am to 9:20Am the Choi Auditorium, Johnson Hall 200
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Registration: 7:30am The Choi Auditorium Foyer, Johnson Hall 200 Opening Session: 8:30am to 9:20am The Choi Auditorium, Johnson Hall 200 Welcome Mr. Mr. Dan Nannini, Transfer Center Faculty Leader, Santa Monica College, WACAC Past-President Keynote Address Dr. Ilene Straus, Vice President California State Board of Education Ilene Straus served as the assistant superintendent for Educational Services in the Beverly Hills Unified School District before retiring in June, 2011. Prior to that, she was a teacher and an elementary, middle, and high school principal. Straus received her bachelor’s degree and elementary teaching credential from University of California, Los Angeles, her master's degree in educational administration from California State University, Northridge, and her doctorate in educational leadership from University of Southern California. Straus began her career as a teacher in the Lennox School District, and served as an assistant principal at two large K-6 schools before becoming a K-7 principal at the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. Dr. Straus was named principal of Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica where she served for 16 years, leading the school to national distinction as the Disney School of the Year, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, and twice recognized as a California Distinguished School. Straus was named the California Secondary Principal of the Year in 1991, and received the YWCA Woman of the Year Award in 1996. In 2002, Straus was named chief educational officer-principal of Santa Monica High School, where she guided the redesign of a large comprehensive high school into six smaller learning communities, helping the school to raise its academic performance index, which had been declining before her arrival, by 75 points. The U.S. Department of Education declared the school a national model for high school redesign, and Newsweek named it one of the country’s top 300 performing high schools. Straus next served as the senior director of Secondary Education for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and joined Beverly Hills Unified School District in the fall of 2006 as assistant superintendent, where she developed stronger high school graduation requirements and intervention programs to support student success, as well as initiatives in mathematics and literacy. She has taught graduate courses in educational leadership, supervision, and curriculum and instruction at California State University, Northridge, University of Southern California, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Straus has two adult children and lives with her husband in Marina del Rey. Dr. Straus currently focuses her time on State Board of Education priorities and responsibilities, consulting, and educational projects including teaching at Loyola Marymount University. Session 1: 9:30am to 10:20am The State of Public Higher Education in California --------------------- Johnson 105 Attendees will receive an update on the state of public higher education and college admissions in California. § Carolina Cardinas, Director of Academic Outreach and Early Assessment, California State University Office of the Chancellor § Dan Nannini, Transfer Center Faculty Leader, Santa Monica College To Share or Not to Share: How Much Should College Applicants Share In Their Essays and Applications ------------------------------------------------- Johnson 106 The four presenters would share their tips for helping counselors understand the boundaries for sharing college applicant information in essays and applications. In this ever competitive world of applications and teenager effusive social media expression, many applicants and families don't where to draw the line in the sand over what to share to strength an application. The four presenters will share recommendations from both sides of the admissions desk § Rebecca Joseph, Associate Professor, CSU Los Angeles § Lauren Popkowski, College Counselor, Oaks Christian School Update on the Redesigned PSAT & SAT --------------------------------- Johnson 203 With the redesigned PSAT/NMQST launching in October and the redesigned SAT in the spring of 2016, now is the time to get ready! This session will provide an update on the key changes to the exams and the tools available to help prepare you and your students. § Alicia Ortega, Educational Manager, The College Board Creating Options in the College Search - Finding the Perfect College and How to Pay for It!! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 301 With thousands of options available, deciding where to attend college can be a challenging task. This presentation will pave the road to the perfect choice and help figure out how to pay for it!! The info-training workshop covers in-state choices, out-of- state possibilities, the top reasons students choose a college, the various costs, financial aid and scholarship opportunities! § Gary K Bednorz, Student Recruitment Specialist, University of New Mexico Transferring from Community College ---------------------------------- Johnson 302 The panelists will share three approaches to setting up effective college application workshops at your school or organization. Each of the presenters has organized boot camps and other workshops to help groups of students work on essays at the same time. § Dr. Kevin A. Meza, Transfer Center Coordinator, Glendale Community College College Counseling Panel “The Rookie, the Veteran, and Everybody in Between” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 315 This workshop will be conducted by a panel of counselors who will share their experiences and approaches to effective college counseling. Come learn from counselors with 3 to 30 years of experience on the following topics: creating a balanced college list, how to manage the college application season, setting up college nights, scheduling college rep visits, recommending the right standardized test, and writing comprehensive recommendation letters. Moderator § Amy Mitchell, Undergraduate Admissions Representative of Northeastern University Panel Members § Vanna Cairns, Upper School Dean, Harvard Westlake School § Ah Young Chi, Dean of College Admissions, Beverly Hills High School § Diana Salazar, Director of New Horizons Office, Whittier High School § Andrea Zuniga, College Counselor/Academic Advisor, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Brunch: 10:30am to 11:20am Academic Quad College Fair & Connecting: 11:30am to 11:50am Academic Quad Session 2: 12:00pm to 12:50pm How to Deal with Lawn Mower Parents, Mom-zillas and Other Nightmares -------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 105 Even the best of parents can have manic episodes when their kids go through the college application process. Add on a colleagues who drop the ball and you can lose your sanity during the college admission process — unless you know the tricks for communicating in smart, healthy ways. Through interactive discussion, this practical skills-building workshop will show you how to deal constructively with parents, students and colleagues when their behavior is unpleasant and difficult. § Sue DeRuyter, Director of College Counseling, New Community Jewish HS What We Want to Know: The UC Personal Statement and 1st Generation College Students ------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 106 The challenge: drawing the unique story from students generally, but 1st generation students specifically. This session offers the unique perspective of a practitioner (providing direct service to students for almost 10 years through the Early Academic Outreach Program) and admission reader. Learn about what adds value from a student's personal statement in the overall admissions process. § Hong Pham, Regional Assistant Director, Early Academic Outreach Program, UC Davis Update on the Redesigned PSAT & SAT --------------------------------- Johnson 203 With the redesigned PSAT/NMQST launching in October and the redesigned SAT in the spring of 2016, now is the time to get ready! This session will provide an update on the key changes to the exams and the tools available to help prepare you and your students. § Alicia Ortega, Educational Manager, The College Board A Fine Balance: Guiding Students to a Thoughtful College List ---------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 301 Adding to the usual avalanche of glossy brochures and slick emails, students today encounter colleges with Instagram accounts and admissions officers with Twitter feeds. In this session, we’ll look at strategies to help them sort through the information overload and build lists that reflect not marketing, but their personal needs. § Arun Ponnusamy, College Counselor, Collegewise How Admission Decisions Are Made ------------------------------------ Johnson 302 There is a rhyme and reason to why colleges make the admission decisions they do. I would like to share some insight I have gained during my career on "both sides of the desk" by introducing participants to the fundamentals of enrollment management employed on campuses across the country. § PJ Petrone, Co-Director of College Counseling, Marymount High School Challenges and Strategies for First Generation Students - Tried and True Techniques for helping students through the college application process ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson 315 Utilizing