Associated Students Inc. held a senate meeting in the Resnick Student Union on Feb. 22 to discuss a new initiative by Fresno City College’s Associated Student Government aimed at expanding transfer opportunities for FCC students to Fresno State.
Mateo Vargas, the FCC student government president and an economics student who will transfer to Fresno State next semester, was invited to speak by Sen. Frederick Lisitsa, who emphasized the importance of strengthening connections between colleges in the Valley.
“A lot of transfer students come over to Fresno State every single year, and we want to make sure that future Fresno State students, not just City College students, feel like this is one community. This isn’t separate communities in the same city competing with each other,” Lisitsa said during the meeting.
Vargas explained to ASI that his aim is to create more accessible opportunities for FCC students to connect with campuses before they transfer.
“In simple terms, I would describe this association as a group of representatives that advocate for easy access to this pathway between our schools, whether that be connecting students with other students in some sort of mentor [and] mentee programs, giving campus tours, easy access to scholarship resources [and] financial aid resources,” Vargas told The Collegian in an interview.
“On paper, it can look [in] various different ways, but the purpose behind it is to grant easy access for students to all the resources necessary [in order] for the transfer to be as easy as possible,” he added.
Vargas has already connected with Fresno Pacific University and University of California, Merced, with the ASI meeting being Fresno State’s introduction to the collaborative project. He mentioned that both FPU and UC Merced showed interest in the project.
James Martinez, director of operations for ASI, voiced his support for the project and commented on the structure of the project, suggesting a senator could volunteer to participate in the project,
“I think what you’re doing is definitely a worthy legacy project and something that is worth looking into and investing in,” Martinez said.
The legacy project is planning to connect students from FCC to other colleges around the Valley, but Vargas hopes the project will expand after his departure.
“My goal is in the future for Clovis, for Madera [and] for Reedley to jump in. In time, I would love for them to hop on board because they’re also sending hundreds of students to the different colleges around the Valley every semester,” Vargas said.
Vargas also explained he wants the Valley’s colleges to connect and communicate with each other to benefit students who transfer between them.
“The goal is for these institutions to have a seat at the table and for them to also let us know what we can do to help their students achieve an easier pathway to a four-year institution. The goal is for the Valley to be interconnected through student government, especially between community colleges and four-year universities so that students all get the same shot at studying at these four-year institutions.”