Staci DumoskiSenior administrators and staff from Chapman University and Santa Ana College met virtually to formalize a new partnership that opens a pipeline for community college students who are preparing to become teachers. The program is geared toward students who seek to serve local communities, especially those that are ethnically diverse and underserved, here in Orange County.
The C-TAG (Chapman Transfer Admission Guarantee) for Future Educators outlines a pathway for community college students who want to become teachers. After completing a prerequisite program at Santa Ana College, the students will be offered guaranteed transfer admission into Chapman’s Integrated Educational Studies major in the Attallah School of Educational Studies, where they will complete their bachelor degrees in education.
By partnering with community colleges, Chapman hopes to increase the pool of well-qualified teachers to serve in schools in lower-income neighborhoods, schools with a high number of English language learners, and in racially and ethnically diverse communities. The SAC agreement is the second such partnership; Chapman signed a similar C-TAG for Future Educators agreement with Santiago Canyon College in late 2019.
Although the SAC and Chapman partnership was finalized earlier in the year, the official SAC signing celebration was delayed until fall 2020 due to the pandemic. More than 70 people attended the livestreamed event.
“As someone who herself went to community college as part of her own bachelor’s degree pathway toward teaching, I am so excited that Chapman has partnered with our local community colleges to emphasize the importance of teaching as a career in public schools,” says Dr. Roxanne Greitz Miller, interim dean of Attallah College. “Now more than ever it’s important for us to provide a diverse and representative workforce of teachers to all of our K-12 students.”
Currently, California is facing a serious shortage of qualified teachers. The C-TAG program helps to fill that gap by providing opportunities for those students who want to return to their communities in order to teach.
“I truly can’t think of a more critical time for us to be thinking and working collectively on the recruitment and preparation of K-12 teachers,” says Dr. Steve Bautista, counselor and program coordinator in the Center for Teacher Education at Santa Ana College. “We need teachers who not only represent the communities they come out of and work in, but also are committed to critical values of justice, equity and inclusion.”
Scholarships for Future Educators
During the official signing of the C-TAG agreement, Chapman University President Daniele Struppa announced that five two-year, full tuition scholarships would be awarded to Santa Ana College students who come to Chapman as part of the first cohort in the C-TAG program.These scholarships are in addition to five scholarships available to Santiago Canyon College transfer students, for a total of 10 full tuition C-TAG transfer scholarships.
“We are really committed to the success of the transfer students and to the education of our future teachers,” said Struppa, Ph.D., who hopes the C-TAG students will be just the first of many students who will walk the halls of both Santa Ana College and Chapman University.
“I think this agreement is going to increase the pathways to higher education for local residents and for communities that don’t always have easy access to education. And those are exactly our constituency here, the people that we need to help so that they can think and dream and enhance a better future,” said Struppa.
“We are honored to join this important partnership with Chapman University,” said Dr. Marilyn Flores, interim president of Santa Ana College. “The new Chapman Transfer Admission Guarantee will create a direct pipeline for our students to transfer. Together, we will address the shortage of educators, enhance the regional workforce and better serve our community.”
Learn more about the Santa Ana College transfer pathway to Chapman University, including opportunities to interact with faculty and current IES students. To support C-TAG scholarships, visit chapman.edu/education/support.
