Mission

To provide information about postsecondary education and financial aid to elementary through high school students while raising their academic achievement levels. In particular, Cal-SOAP is committed to providing services to students from any of the following backgrounds:

• Students from low-income families
• Students from families in which they would be the first to attend college
• Students from schools with documented low college eligibility or participation rates
• Students from geographic areas with documented low college eligibility or participation rates

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

Profile

Working under the direction of the California Student Aid Commission, the California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) has represented the educational community throughout the state since 1978. The program is operated in partnership with the University of California system, the California State University system, local non-profit agencies and public elementary and secondary school districts.

The San Diego and Imperial Counties Cal-SOAP Consortium is one of the largest of the sixteen Cal-SOAP consortia throughout the state. In recent years, the consortium has expanded to serve North San Diego County as well as the entire Imperial County area. With this expansion effort, the San Diego and Imperial Counties Consortium offers a broad range of services tailored specifically to serve both urban and rural populations in one central and two satellite locations.

All of the other 15 Consortia are as follows:

• Bakersfield - Southern San Joaquin Valley Consortium
• Central Valley - Central Valley Consortium
• Eureka - Northcoast Consortium
• Gilroy - South County Gilroy Consortium
• Los Angeles - Los Angeles Consortium
• Long Beach - Greater Long Beach Regional Consortium
• Marysville - North Valley Consortium
• Merced - Merced Consortium
• Oakland - East Bay Consortium
• Sacramento - Sacramento Consortium
• San Francisco - San Francisco Consortium
• San Jose - San Jose Consortium
• Santa Maria - Central Coast Consortium
• Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara Consortium
• Solano County - Success Consortium

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

The San Diego and Imperial Counties Cal-SOAP Consortium

There are seventeen California Student Opportunity and Access Program Consortia, each serving a specific geographic area of the state, and all working toward a common goal: providing information about postsecondary education and financial aid, and raising the achievement levels of students from low-income families, from schools or geographic areas with documented low eligibility or college participation rates, or from families in which they would be the first to attend college.

Working under the auspices of the California Student Aid Commision, the Cal-SOAP Consortia represent the educational community: the University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges, independent colleges, public schools and local non-profit agencies.

San Diego and Imperial Counties Cal-SOAP Consortium Members:

Alliant International University
California State University, San Marcos
Cuyamaca College
Grossmont College
Grossmont Union High School District
Imperial County Office of Education
Imperial Valley College
MiraCosta College
National University
Palomar College
Point Loma Nazarene University
Poway Unified School District
San Diego City College
San Diego Community College District
San Diego County Office of Education - AVID
San Diego Mesa College
San Diego Miramar College
San Diego State University
San Diego State University - Imperial Valley Campus
San Diego Unified School District
Sweetwater Union High School District
University of California, San Diego
University of San Diego
Wahupa Educational Talent Search

Since 1978 UCSD has served as the fiscal agent for the project. UCSD has the responsibility of fiscal management of the project and oversees the proper performance of the Director and Administrative Assistants.

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

Contact Information

Cal-SOAP
2351 Cardinal Lane
Building O
San Diego, CA 92123

Phone: (858) 569-1866
Fax: (858) 569-1136

Basic Directions:

From the 163 freeway
Exit Genesee Avenue (East)
Turn right on Cardinal Road
Turn right on Cardinal Drive
Cardinal Drive becomes Cardinal Lane
Turn left into gate at the end of the road
Cal-SOAP is located in Building O

Click here for a map

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

Professional Staff

Below you will find contact information for San Diego and Imperial Counties Cal-SOAP staff, as well as, coordinators for Imperial Valley, North County and GEAR UP.

Linda Doughty - Director
(858) 569-1866
ldoughty@ucsd.edu

Beth Palencia - Assistant to the Director, Student HR
(858) 569-1866
epalencia@ucsd.edu

Debra A. Pink - Fiscal/Office Manager
(858) 715-4710
dpink@ucsd.edu

Tou Fang - IT Manager/Database Administrator
(858) 569-1866
tfang@sandiegocalsoap.com

Pam Perry Smal - Advisement Coordinator
(858) 569-1866
pperry@sandi.net

Karla Whitaker - Academic Coordinator
(858) 569-1866
kkwhitaker@ucsd.edu

Edward Avelar - Assistant Director
(760) 768-5652
eavelar@ucsd.edu

Sherry Leon - Administrative Assistant
(760) 768-5650
sleon@ucsd.edu

Sasha Verástegui - Associate Director
(760) 750-4846
sverastegui@ucsd.edu

Verlette Monia - GEAR UP Fund Coordinator
(858) 569-1866
vmonia@ucsd.edu

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

Email Cal-SOAP

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to use the form below to send Cal-SOAP an email.

It is important that you provide at least one piece of contact information, such as your email address or telephone number, so that we will be able to respond to your question, concern or comments.

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

The San Diego and Imperial Counties Cal-SOAP Consortium

Through a network of trained staff members and college students, Cal- SOAP offers support and assistance to college and academic counselors, middle and high school students and their families. While services are typically delivered to over 10,000 students per year, the personal attention that has become Cal- SOAP 's hallmark is never sacrificed. The program is built around the following components:

College Advisement
Cal- SOAP manages a team of highly trained college students to serve as the program's primary resource of outreach. These College Peer Advisors (CPAs) are trained to provide support for school counseling personnel in San Diego and Imperial County high schools. CPAs address the needs of high school students through 1:1 conferences, in classroom presentations and in small groups. At these sessions, information is disseminated about college options, the college application process, financial and career options, essay writing and scholarship search. Additionally, CPAs serve as role models -- those students who have successfully navigated the often choppy waters of college admissions and financial aid.

Academic Enrichment and College Entrance Test Preparation
Cal- SOAP recognizes that academic success in school will provide more options for students after high school. Academic tutors undergo a comprehensive and training process to work with students in schools. Tutors are responsible for providing intensive, one-on-one academic enrichment session to assist students in their core classes and other academic skills.

Community Resource
Cal- SOAP believes in empowering parents/guardians and the community to understand the college process early. Through disseminate of information about postsecondary education, both community and parents are encouraged to be informed, be involved and to be inspired to assist students. The Community Resource Program include programs such as, College Making It Happen (CMIH) that prepares middle school parents about A-G requirements, academic achievement and college options; provides newsletters with college admission, deadline and financial aid information; and provides parent workshops, where one can learn about and discuss parent/guardian education issues, the college search process and more.

Community College
With 108 affordable well-respected community colleges throughout the state, California has the most sophisticated and admired two-year college system in the country. The mission of Cal- SOAP is to provide high school students and their parents with the necessary tools and information to actively pursue postsecondary options, including the community college where students can pursue career technical and academic pathways. Students may use the community college as a transfer partner to a 4-year institution.

College, Career and Technical Assistance
Cal- SOAP supports students in their future college, career, and technical plans through one-to-one, small group and large group presentations. Cal- SOAP offers its annual College Fair and works with schools on career awareness activities.

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136

How You Can Help

By building collaborative relationships with federal, state and local sponsors, Cal-SOAP is working to increase the number or students who avail themselves of postsecondary opportunities. The goal of the program is two-fold: to advise, motivate and inform students regarding college admissions and financial aid information, and to academically assist students to achieve college potential.

Cal-SOAP is committed to providing an inter-institutional and inter-segmental cooperation in serving the target population. Cal-SOAP serves as an instrument for focusing the San Diego and Imperial Counties Consortium outreach efforts, and developing activities that will minimize duplication of effort by individual institutions. Consequently, services can be delivered cost effectively to target students, both by the Consortium, through its Cal-SOAP project, and by the individual postsecondary institutions. Cal-SOAP recognizes that, in any given area, the project may be one of several organizations concerned with a target population as defined in the law, but Cal SOAP is in a position to take the lead in coordinating the efforts of organizations.

The primary focus of Cal-SOAP serves students from:

• Low income families
• Families in which they would be the first to attend college
• Schools with documented low eligibility or college participation rates or
• Geographic areas with documented low eligibility or college participation rates

San Diego Cal-SOAP 2351 Cardinal Lane, Building O San Diego, CA 92123 Phone: (858) 569-1866 Fax: (858) 569-1136