As the College Advising Corps launches its newest fellowship program for advisers, two advisers from the University of Texas Advise TX College Advising Corps program will be among the 20 selected from the 31 participating university chapters within the College Advising Corps.
Two current Advise TX College Advising Corps advisers within the UT program, Samantha Diwa and Kenya Salinas have been selected as fellows within the inaugural year of the new College Advising Corps Juniors Undertaking Milestones Program (JUMP). They were selected as two of the 20 new fellows chosen from a national pool of applicants from 30-plus university affiliate College Advising Corps chapters across the country.
These two outstanding advisers are both unique. Samantha Diwa is a first-year adviser serving in El Paso at El Dorado High School. During her time as an undergraduate at UT, Samantha served as a mentor within DDCE’s Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success) and later became the president of the Project MALES Student Organization. To date, Samantha has already gotten 74% of her senior class of 536 seniors to submit at least one college application.
Kenya Salinas is a third-year adviser serving PSJA High School in the Rio Grande Valley. During her first two years as an adviser, Kenya served at Palmview High School (also in the Rio Grande Valley). When asked to serve a third year and move into a new school in a different school district to establish the College and Career Center while the school was searching for a director, Kenya agreed and established the center at her new school then assisted in training the newly selected director. To date, Kenya has already held one-on-one meetings with 100% of her senior class of 536 and gotten 71% of them to submit at least one college application.
The College Advising Corps JUMP program was created to help build student excitement around career exploration and learn strategies to support juniors in the completion of specific milestones on a national landscape. JUMP Fellows will have monthly trainings and receive professional support from the College Advising Corps national staff. Each selected JUMP fellow will work with 10% of their school’s junior class to provide career and college support so they are more informed to make decisions when they become seniors.
About Advise TX: Housed within the Longhorn Center for School Partnerships, the UT Austin chapter of Advise TX is part of the national College Advising Corps, the nation’s largest college access program. The national College Advising Corps consists of a consortium of currently 35 partner institutions (including the University of Texas at Austin) in 17 states who have committed to recruit and train talented, enthusiastic recent college graduates to serve as college advisers in more than 740 selected high schools throughout the nation. The program aims to increase the number of low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students entering and completing higher education. Advisers work full-time to help students plan their college searches, complete admissions and financial aid applications and enroll at schools that will serve them well. The University of Texas at Austin Chapter manages 16 college advisers who serve in selected schools within nine school districts in Central Texas, Dallas, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. These advisers serve in their high schools for a maximum of two years.
For more information, contact Cheryl Sawyer, AdviseTX Program Director at (512) 468-0661 or cheryls@austin.utexas.edu.