On March 11, Rio Hondo’s President/Superintendent Teresa Dreyfuss attended the TRANSFERmation Luncheon and Roundtable with well-known politician, Hilda Solis.

Held at Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg West Conference Center, Dreyfuss shared with Solis Rio Hondo’s partnership with the El Monte Promise, and the goal of providing a pathway to higher education to local students within the city of El Monte.

The new Summer Bridge Program and Freshman Success Center were also discussed at the luncheon. These programs were designed to enhance the academic success of recent high school graduates at Rio Hondo College.

Other committee members that attended include: President Michael Ortiz of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, who mentioned that many Rio Hondo students from the Auto Technology Department transfer to Cal Poly Pomona; Dr. Douglas Freer, vice president for Student Affairs and Marten DenBoer, vice president for Academic Affairs were also at the luncheon representing Cal Poly; Richard Martinez, superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District, and Marvin Martinez, president of LA Harbor College also attended the event.

After the luncheon, committee members engaged in a cross-divisional and cross-institutional roundtable discussion on the preparation of students to transfer from a Community College to a California State University, and discussed the Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC).

Roundtable speakers include: Alfred Herrera, assistant vice provost for Academic Partnerships and director of the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships; Michele Siqueiros, executive director for the Campaign for College Opportunity; and Dimpal Jain, assistant professor in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University, Northridge.

Rio Hondo’s Henry Gee, vice president of Student Services and Dianne Holcomb, Transfer Center Counselor/Coordinator were also at the event.