12/20/2023 0 Comments Santa monica collegeWe have very strong relationships in the business community, and we’re close to the Los Angeles financial district, fashion district, Hollywood, Silicon Beach, and have a world-class medical environment. Because we’re a community college, all of that hands-on experience is open to freshmen. We have a lot of facilities on the campus for hands-on experiences like traditional computer and science labs as well as costume and set design. Students are coming because of our reputation because of the engagement we offer. We also have large populations from Sweden and Japan as well as Indonesia and South Korea. We have students from over 100 different countries, but right now our largest population is from China and it has been for the last 8-10 years. We want to provide a supportive environment and be a partner in each student’s success. We have eight different tutoring centers, and support programs for personal issues including free food for students in need. We offer intrusive advising to monitor students we don’t rely on them to tell us how they’re doing, we look for it proactively and reach out through faculty to check in and provide support. We have over 55 different counseling and support programs with more counselors providing support to our students than any other community college in the state. We’ve held on to that notoriety because of the support services on our campus. SMC has the highest rate of transfer to California universities of any college in the country, and has been the titleholder for the past 28 years. What are SMC’s identifying characteristic(s)? It was completely funded by ASB fees and was a grass roots project that has been going strong for many years now. It was something they thought we needed so they took the initiative to build it as an extracurricular program. For example, we have an organic learning garden on campus that was built by our students. They advocate for themselves and their community, particularly in areas of equity and environment, and we see that on campus. They want to be engaged in class and are very engaged on campus demanding change when they see the need for it. Our students seek out leadership opportunities, which we provide through clubs and student life programs. To use the vernacular “woke,” our students are really engaged and looking to be engaged. But because of our transfer rate and the support services we provide, students seek us out. We have people from all over the world and all over the country who come to study at SMC and that’s a little unusual for a community college to have such a large domestic out-of-state population. We have people from 16 – 90 years old and from every socioeconomic background – from marginalized communities to affluent communities – partly due to the proximity to LA and the beach. How would you describe your students/student body?
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