UC Merced Magazine | Volume XVI, Issue I

Agreements Create Merced Educational Pipeline

Highlights of the Merced Promise, as outlined in the MOU, include: Facilitating faculty discussions to ensure transfer pathways are streamlined and comprehensible; Developing an online “ProgramMapper,” a simple tool to help students map their own pathways and accelerate progress toward their degrees; ProvidingMerced College students with opportunities to participate in undergraduate research and attend courses at UCMerced; Developing summer undergraduate research programs at UCMerced forMerced College students on track to transfer; Allowing undergraduate students fromeither institution to cross-enroll in one course per semester at the other; Providing a joint presence at Merced College and at local high schools to promote the program; Collaboratingwith the Center for Educational Partnerships to communicate directlywithmiddle and high-school students; and Raising funds to provideMerced Promise Scholarships, with guaranteed admission to UCMerced for students who complete all requirements, and to invest in the staffing, resources and oversight needed to ensure students are successful.

>> >>

In March, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson formally signed the first Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP) for students at MUHSD who complete specific requirements at the time of graduation. ǿ:H ZHUH HVWDEOLVKHG QRW MXVW LQ WKH 9DOOH\ EXWbIRUbWKH 9DOOH\ DQG we will hold true to that promise,” Muñoz said during the signing ceremony at El Capitan High School. “We want every family in Merced County to know that a University of California education is right here close to home, and that you have the possibility to go from kindergarten through Ph.D. within minutes of your home, if you put in the work.” The Merced Union High School District includes Atwater, Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Livingston and Merced high schools, and four alternative education schools: Yosemite, Independence, Sequoia and Merced Adult. “This will give our students a competitive advantage like never before and also enable us to keep more of our university-bound students close to home,” Peterson said. “In turn, our hope is that many of our best and brightest will choose to serve our local communities as they begin their careers.” MAAP will allow students with a weighted GPA of 3.5 with no grade lower than a “C” to be automatically admitted to UC Merced through a streamlined admissions process. ,Q 1RYHPEHU 8& 0HUFHG VLJQHG WKHb 0HUFHG 3URPLVHb agreement to ease transfers from Merced College to the university. Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and Merced College President Chris Vitelli announced the memorandum of understanding outlining the robust new program. “Improving educational outcomes in the Merced area is not the job of a single institution — it requires a collaborative effort across all levels of education,” Muñoz said. “The Merced Promise is our promise to the Merced community that if a student is qualified and committed to their education, we will work together to ensure they achieve their goals.”

>>

>> >> >> >>

>>

“It is impossible to overstate the significance of this partnership and the impact it will have on Merced and residents of this community,” Vitelli said. “We are making significant progress toward a future in which Merced grows its own talent, invests in local families, and molds its students into a generation of citizens who will ensure that Merced remains a city on the rise.”

7

U C M E R C E D M A G A Z I N E / / U C M e r c e d . e d u