The Best of UCSD Extension 2019: Highlights & Future Plans

Thank you for joining us on this journey to identify, meet and exceed the critical needs of the region now and into the future. UC San Diego Extension strives to provide the San Diego economy with the talent it needs to thrive by providing the means for workers at every level to continuously improve.

Thank you for enabling us to venture into and succeed in the top industrial sectors of San Diego.

Top 19 highlights of 2019

1. Our engineering group won a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in a program dedicated to retraining military veterans and young people to contribute to the software, data, and cyber aspects of the U.S. Solar Power Industry.

2. In February, members of our OSHA Training Institute Education Center team and instructors received a federal grant to provided badly needed disaster relief training to overworked safety workers and First Responders dealing with the devastating effects of multiple typhoons in Guam.

3. Within our business and legal department, we are designing and implementing specialized programs for global professionals, including our recent winter symposium at Sorbonne University in France.

4. Our bold Futures program expanded into 7 locations and two online platforms to provide more than 400 enrollments for high school students committed to developing career skills in business, computing and life sciences that enable them to pursue careers before graduating high school, improve college application packages and get leg up on internships.

5. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute had its most successful year yet, serving more than 1,000 members, creating new community partnerships and working with dozens of local volunteer boards and committees.

6. We continue to operate two award-winning academic television stations — University of California Television (UCTV) and University of California San Diego Television (UCSD-TV) dedicated to sharing the vast knowledge of faculty throughout the University of California system. With more than half a million YouTube subscribers, the channel’s total reach includes 4 million homes.

7. Building on successful Spanish language courses specialized for medical students at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, we are providing Medical Spanish training to staff at Rady Children’s Hospital this year.

8. Our inaugural #HerPower celebration of Women’s History Month highlighted accomplished women instructors and advisors from across the public and continuing education spectrum.

9. We have actively partnered on critical social and justice issues, including a workshop on anti-corruption in the health sector. For this, we partnered with the University of Toronto, Skaggs School of Pharmacy, and organizations such as USAID and the World Health Organization.

10. We are working with the Kim Center for Social Balance to strategically measure and drastically improve gender equity nationally. First, we start by accessing workplaces throughout our region.

11. The Women in Leadership 2019 event welcomed Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation; Jedidah Isler, assistant professor physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College, and Sylvia Acevedo, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA, with a sold-out reserve of 850 seats and more than 100,000 online viewers.

12. Another exciting initiative was finalized just this month. Our education department is working in San Diego’s growing south bay — Chula Vista, National City and San Ysidro — in partnership with municipal governments and school districts to provide dynamic Pre K to post-retirement offerings tailored to the specific needs of the communities by delivering free or at low-cost onsite career education through adult schools, libraries and local YMCAs. The initiative will include an expansion of programs like our successful Sally Ride Science Junior Academy.

13. And by 2021, a multifaceted arts and education center, a UC San Diego collaboration programmed by Extension, will open its doors in downtown San Diego. In anticipation of the new center, keep an eye out for 2020 events and programs popping up around the downtown area.

14. During the 2018-2019 academic year, we served over 34,300 professional educators around the globe, including programs for professional development, certification and licensure.

15. We helped build the first-of-its-kind San Diego Workforce Partnership Income Share Agreement dedicated to helping unemployed and underrepresented individuals break into technology careers. As the education providor for this innovative and compassionate student loan alternative, UC San Diego Extension is involved in the first workforce nonprofit and University Extension collaboration. The program is completely funded with philanthropic dollars and designed to be self-sustaining.

16. Our Pre-college programs have recorded 100 percent growth in the last five years, and more than 40 percent of revenue was used to award about $4 million in scholarships and financial assistance to eager students in underserved communities.

17. With over 100 certificate offerings, we regularly develop and revise programs to address industry trends and demands for essential skills, including the emerging digital marketing professions within Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

18. 75 of our certificate programs are now approved for Veteran’s Affairs or GI Bill education benefits helping to bridge the gap from military service to civilian employment.

19. In response to the growing need for healthcare professionals, we launched a Post Baccalaureate Pre-Health Program in partnership with the UC San Diego Department of Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences. The program helps anyone with an undergraduate degree complete the prerequisite courses for entry into healthcare professional schools. Now anyone with a bachelor’s degree can easily pursue a healthcare career in high-demand fields such as nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physicians' assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, optometry, chiropractic, veterinary and podiatry.