The University of California San Diego and San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) received $2.7 million in grants to help fund a program for transfer students as well as implement career training that discusses employment after graduation for Ph.D. students.
SDCCD received $1.2 million and UC San Diego was awarded $1.5 million by the The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The new programs will begin this month.
Under the newly-implemented Integrated Internship Initiative, the goal is for graduate students to look at community colleges as potential employers in areas such as teaching and administration. Each graduate student would receive community college classroom access for a year, shadow administrative staff and mentor community college students on a research project, according to a university press release.
The grant will also strengthen faculty relationships between both institutions, provide mentoring for students and further develop the Summer Academy for Preparing Accomplished Transfers to the Humanities (PATH).
“Our long-standing partnership with SDCCD has helped further this goal by providing cost-effective entry into higher education and excellent training pathways to bachelor’s, graduate and post-graduate degrees,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Dr. Pradeep K. Khosla in a statement. “The Mellon Foundation grants will expand opportunities for students to improve their futures and the futures of their families.”