The Los Medanos College Transfer Academy was created for students focused on transferring successfully to a four-year institute following their academic career at LMC. This program was launched two years ago and is funded by the Title V EXITO Grant. The objective is to assist students in their educational journey towards higher academics. The Transfer Academy is a community of students and staff working together to help hopeful transfers to their school of choice as quickly as possible.

The American College Personnel Association (ACPA) has recognized the LMC Transfer Academy for a successful launch as a new program, and for continual growth, and as a result the program has been selected to be the recipient of the Innovation New Program Award. Specifically the Commission for Student Development of the ACPA is rewarding LMC for their success in student achievement. The commission focuses on two-year colleges on issues relating to the concerns of students, promoting educational improvements, encouraging the enhancement of educators, and for the development of students.

In addition to be rewarded, LMC Director of Transfer Programs, Dave Belman and Project Director Rosa Armendariz have been chosen to present a workshop on the Transfer Academy at the ACPA convention.

“…The program is a team effort. In addition to Rosa and I, [there have been many] who have been involved in the development and launch of this program during our first two years. These include staff, faculty, and administrators; all of whom deserve credit for the success of this program and the award,” said Belman. I also wondered how often it happens.”

Landers admits that she did not look at her students differently after receiving the email but added “There has been some discussion about, could we ID students.”

The Experience contacted websites that offer such a service.

WriteMyPapers.org — a United Kingdom based company — offers their service to do just that. The website’s calculator indicated a 20-page thesis paper (5,550 words) at a PH.D. level will run $460.

A man, who identified himself only as Ross, explained that students give him a subject and a down payment. Once payment is received a proficient writer from an English-speaking country will start working on it. After a draft is completed and the student signs off, the document is sent electronically. All orders and transactions are done online. Ross refused to comment on the ethical and legal aspects of the business.

Wetakeyourclass.com will take the entire online class for you. This is not a tutoring website. A man who identified himself as Mike said, “I only do it for you,” and wouldn’t say much else before facetiously commenting, “We hire people part-time who work at McDonalds… We make them change their uniforms so they don’t get grease all over the key boards…We pay our writers with chicken nuggets.”

Four other websites were contacted, No Need to Study responded and left a message, but the other three sites Allhomework.net, Boostmygrades.com and Mymathgenius.com did not return the calls. The author of the Craigslist ad was unreachable for comment as no contact information could be found since the posting had already been removed.

of Education, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges/Western Association of Schools and Colleges must approve the program as a substantive change. Once a program is approved by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, colleges must follow the steps outlined in the ACCJC Manual.

To obtain the AA-T students must: complete all the major requirements with grades of C or better, complete a minimum of 60 CSU-transferable units with a grade point average of 2.0 or better and complete either the California Sate University General Educational (CSU GE), or the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).

“I was happy that it changed because it was always so complicated and could make me give up at times and get discouraged,” said LMC student Tierra Chatman, who is pursuing a career in acting. “It’s better for us now because we won’t be spending extra money and we don’t have to repeat similar courses that didn’t meet the requirements.”

According to Garcia the AA in acting it’s about making a well-rounded performer and giving students the strongest foundation possible so they can move on into getting a degree in acting

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” said Garcia. “I’m really proud to be able to say that we have a degree that we can offer and that we can offer at a very streamline pathway.”

Students in the program are required to participate full-time while maintaining a 2.5 GPA. Interested applicants must be eligible for Math 34 and sign a contract of responsibilities. They must meet all requirements, including taking all required Transfer Academy courses. Program participants must meet with a counselor twice a semester to create an educational plan to ensure that the student is meeting all education goals.

Benefits of the program include students receiving access to blocked courses, where they are less likely to encounter difficulty in enrolling. There are weekly study sessions where students can participate in study groups and get help from tutors.

“In addition, more than 30 other faculty and staff have served as mentors to students in the program during the past two years,” added Belman. Educational and academically enriching workshops are also made accessible.

The Transfer Academy program was created to support and help students in achieving their goals efficiently. Since being implemented, there has been an increase in LMC students applying to four-year schools. Applications for the academy are not being accepted for this school year, however there are still workshops and other opportunities available to interested students through the Transfer Center.

The Transfer Center has moved and can be found on the second floor of the college complex room CC-225.