Grads Poised to Make a Difference

When she began her education at San Diego State, Stephanie Pena was an undeclared student, unsure of the field she wanted to pursue. It wasn’t until she saw a flier for a psychology research lab focusing on bullying that she found her calling.

“In elementary, middle and high school, I was a victim of bullying and saw many of the disabled children that I worked with suffer from bullying,” said Pena, who attended Bonita Vista High School. “Because of that, I always had the drive to bring awareness to this topic.”  

She soon joined the lab, and now, two and a half years later, she will obtain a bachelor’s degree in psychology and start working as a behavior therapist at ACES, a company that specializes in working with autistic children and their families.

Pena’s drive is representative of her fellow Compact Scholars, a group of students who are part of Compact for Success, a partnership between SDSU and Sweetwater Union High School District. Pena is one of 42 students in the compact’s first graduating class.

Read about more of this year’s outstanding graduates.

Compact for Success

Founded in 1999, Compact for Success guarantees admission to SDSU for any student from the Sweetwater Union High School District who meets program benchmarks. Beginning in seventh grade, the program promotes educational “roadmaps” of college requirements to students and their parents.

It also includes programs to enhance the college-prep curriculum at district schools. The goal is to increase the number of college-bound students from the district—one of the most diverse in California—and since its inception, it has more than doubled the number of students from the district to apply, be accepted to and attend SDSU.

Highest number of graduates in past decade

In all, 10,492 students are approved to participate in commencement, the highest number of graduates in at least a decade.

Among them are 8,046 bachelor’s degree candidates (figures adjusted for double majors), 2,606 master’s degree candidates and 118 doctoral degree candidates. In addition, 255 candidates will participate in commencement ceremonies at SDSU-Imperial Valley campus on Thursday, May 20.

Gradually improving job market

The class of 2010 can look forward to a gradually improving job market, as the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported an increase in hiring of 5.3 percent over the last year. In San Diego County, there are reported signs of increased employment growth in job market sectors from last year, with the county projected to experience job growth of 0.7 percent.

According to James Tarbox, director of SDSU Career Services, most federal sectors are increasing their recruiting of college graduates.

“In addition to the federal government, which will hire a range of majors and is actively engaged in succession planning for its work force, other areas where recruiters remain active include accountancy, engineering and tourism. Finance, health care and social support services are also recruiting new graduates.”

Commencement highlights

At the weekend ceremonies, SDSU will award two honorary degrees to U.S. Ambassador Charles Hostler (College of Arts and Letters) and former SDSU head football coach Don Coryell (College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts – 4:30 p.m. ceremony).

On Monday, May 17, SDSU will present honorary bachelor’s degrees to several Japanese-Americans who were forced to abandon their studies at SDSU when they were sent to internment camps during World War II.  

SDSU commencement ceremonies on May 21–23 will be broadcast live on:
•    Cox South County and Poway, Channel 23
•    Cox North County, Channel 18
•    Time Warner Cable, Channel 19 (tentative)

*The College of Health and Human Services' ceremony will not be broadcast live, but will instead be shown on Sunday, May 23, at 10:30 a.m.

Twitter users can also follow commencement tweets posted by students, faculty and staff by searching for #sdsugrad.