The mission of the Office of Early Academic Outreach at The University of Arizona is to increase the number of ethnic minority, low-income, and first-generation college-bound students who are eligible to enter a degree program at a university. This mission is accomplished by providing services to students in elementary, middle and high schools throughout southern Arizona. Some of the programs and services offered by Early Academic Outreach include:

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA)

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement is an intensive and ongoing college-preparation program designed for ethnic minority, low-income, and first-generation college-bound students in targeted school districts throughout the country. In southern Arizona, MESA meetings include hands-on activities related to math, engineering, and science; college-preparation workshops to help build strong academic skills, learn about college, and explore various careers; and individual academic guidance and student evaluation. MESA meetings are held at 40 different high schools and middle schools in the southern Arizona region. More than 1100 students participate in southern Arizona MESA activities each year.

Parent Outreach and Information

Throughout the year, the Office of Early Academic Outreach holds parent programs focused on providing information about preparing students for college. Past events have included College Knowledge for Parents and African American Family College Planning Day. In addition, parents of MESA students receive newsletters and postcards updating them on college deadlines and requirements as well as various outreach events.

College Academy for Parents

Since 2004, the College Academy for Parents has served parents of elementary students in the Sunnyside Unified School District. This initiative is designed to help parents understand current and future academic expectations, improve communication with schools, and increase their involvement in order to prepare students for a college education. The program, offered in Spanish and English, consists of 12 two-hour workshops in Spanish and English and two campus visits.

Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)

The Tucson GEAR UP Project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with The University of Arizona, Pima Community College District, Sunnyside Unified School District, Tucson Unified School District, The Aurora Foundation, Competitive Engineering, KB Home Tucson, Inc., Principal Tutoring, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and Tucson Medical Center.

The project began during the 2005-06 academic year with students in sixth grade in 14 middle schools and will continue to serve these students through high school. Project middle schools include Apollo, Challenger, Chaparral, Lauffer, Sierra, Hohokam, Mansfeld, Maxwell, Pistor, Roskruge, Safford, Utterback, Valencia, and Wakefield. Beginning in 2008-09, the five high schools involved with the project will be Desert View, Sunnyside, Cholla, Pueblo, and Tucson High.

College coaches work at each school and offer a variety of free programs and services to students and their families. Activities include career exploration opportunities, college knowledge workshops, tutoring, educational field trips, campus visits and tours, summer enrichment activities, Math through Mariachi, and Voices of GEAR UP.

The Tucson GEAR UP Project
University Services Annex, B114
220 West Sixth Street
P.O. Box 210300
Tucson, AZ 85721-0300.
(520) 626-4640
Fax: (520) 626-4620

PSAT/SAT Preparatory Workshops

In collaboration with the College Board, the Office of Early Academic Outreach has arranged PSAT/SAT Preparatory Workshops to help students familiarize themselves with the PSAT and SAT college entrance examinations. These workshops consist of four consecutive Saturday classes held throughout the year, scheduled in the four weeks before the SAT and PSAT exams are given.

Building the Future Program Partnership

In 1996, the Building the Future Program Partnership developed between the Rotary Clubs of Tucson, The University of Arizona, and Tucson Unified School District to address the issues of juvenile violence and crime in our communities by attacking their root causes, giving students and their families hope and support for the future. The program adopted the third grade class at C.E. Rose Elementary School and agreed to provide a four-year tuition waiver to The University of Arizona for each student who successfully completes high school and the corresponding requirements for admission to the university. Currently in the twelfth grade, the students have received support from mentors, including Rotary and Tucson community members.

Industry Partnerships and Mentoring Programs

Southern Arizona industries work as partners with the Early Academic Outreach staff in a number of valuable ways, including providing engineers and other professionals to serve as mentors in the schools and funding programs and events such as MESA Day and the Engineering is Fun poster contest. Notably, the Tucson office of Raytheon supports the Adopt-a-School engineer program which won an award from the National Science Foundation. In addition, members of local area industries serve on the Arizona MESA Industry Advisory Board, which makes recommendations and decisions about issues related to MESA at the statewide level.

School Districts

The Office of Early Academic Outreach works primarily with the following southern Arizona school districts:

• Amphitheater Public School District
• Flowing Wells Unified School District
• Indian Oasis Baboquivari Unified School District
• Nogales Unified School District
• Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District
• Sunnyside Unified School District
• Tucson Unified School District