While attending West High 9th Grade Orientation, I learned about the PACE Program. It is a two year scholarship for tuition at SLCC.

PACE—Partnerships for Accessing College Education—is a program created to increase college participation and graduation rates for underserved high school students. The project was created by a partnership between local high schools, businesses, and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC).

Eligibility requirements to become a PACE Scholar

• Students must be 9^th grade freshmen at West, East or Highland High School, a U.S. citizen, or eligible non-citizen.
• Students must have a 2.5 GPA.
• Students must write a one page essay describing themselves, their personal situation, reasons they want to be part of the PACE Program, how the program will help them, and their college and career aspirations.
• Specific eligibility requirements are listed on the application.
• Students must fill out an application and submit it by the deadline to the main office at West, East, and Highland High Schools or mail the application to:

SLCC PACE Program
School Relations, STC 256
4600 S. Redwood Road
Salt Lake City, Utah 84123

Link to PACE Web Page

Michael with Rosemarie Hunter PhD, Director of UNP

University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) brings together University and west side resources for reciprocal learning, action, and benefit… a community coming together.

University Neighborhood Partners sets out to redress historical inequity by understanding systemic barriers that have prevented access to higher education and to rewrite that history so that residents of the west side see themselves as holders and creators of knowledge.

University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) links seven ethnically and culturally rich Salt Lake City neighborhoods with the University of Utah to create pathways to higher education.

The partnerships address issues of race, ethnicity, religion, political views, and geography that are important to understand on the journey to higher education.

Our mission actively develops campus-community partnerships focused on:

• Increasing opportunities for youth through education
• Creating initiatives to expand and support community leadership and resident empowerment
• Strengthening health, housing, employment, business, safety, and environmental capacities

Link to UNP Web Page

Dr. Enrique Aleman Jr. & Brian, attending the U, graduate of West High

Ran into fellow Texan, Dr. Aleman at the Partners in the Park. He is the Assistant Vice President for Student Diversity and Equity at the University of Utah. He was at Poplar Grove Park with students that graduated from Salt Lake City School District. They are doing outreach to students in our community and encouraging them to attend the University of Utah.Their department will help students make the transition from High School to College and then help them stay in schools.It is an extraordinary program that we should all take more advantage of and create tighter bonds between this department and the Salt Lake City School District.

CESA

Office for Equity and Diversity
Center for Ethnic Student Affairs

Mission Statement:

The living mission of the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs (CESA) is to provide support to students of color at the University of Utah. While primarily serving the needs of African American, American Indian, Asian American, Latina-Latino, and Pacific Islander students, CESA promotes an environment of acceptance that honors all forms of diversity. The center is committed to providing programming that assists students in navigating cultural, economic, social, and institutional barriers in order to achieve academic excellence. CESA informs its work through the following guiding principles.

Link to Web Page: U of U Office for Equity and Diversity

Dr. Aleman can be reached at 801-581-8151
or by email: enrique.aleman@utah.edu