STEM Student Success Center
Welcome to STEM Student Success Center at WLAC! The STEM Student Success Center is designed to help and support underrepresented students pursuing STEM fields, complete their educational goal and successfully transfer to a 4-year university. By offering specialized tutoring, research opportunities, educational symposiums, plus a plethora of additional tools, each student is provided with the support needed to successfully complete their educational goal at West Los Angeles College!
What is STEM?
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
What We Offer
Program Requirements
- Be enrolled in at least one course at WLAC
- Be interested in transferring to a four-year university
- Be interested in pursuing a STEM related field or discipline.
- Have an educational plan that includes Math 261 or Biology 6 or Chemistry 101.
- Commit to meeting at least once a semester with the Stem Success Advisor
*Unfortunately, Allied Health majors such as Nursing, Dental Hygiene and Radiologic Tech are not considered STEM. Please visit our resources page for additional academic support resources.
Tutoring Subjects
- Biology 6, 7
- Math 227, 241, 246, 259 (A &B) 260 and higher
- Chem 60, 101 and higher
- Computer Information System courses
- Computer Science
- General Engineering
- Engineering Graphics & design
- Physics 6, 7, 12, 37, 38, 39
Tutoring Schedule
Tutoring is available in the HLRC.
Schedule: TBD
Meet the Staff
Title V STEM Success Center Co-Coordinator
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Title V STEM Success Center Co-Coordinator
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Jason Librande (he/him) is a faculty member in biology and co-coordinator of the STEM Success Center. He enjoys working with students from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences, and strives to help all students find success in his courses. In his free-time, Jason enjoys playing piano, traveling, and being outdoors in sunny Southern California. |
Title V STEM Teacher Prep Coordinator
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Marini Smith has been an educator for the past 26 years and has focused her services working with students of color in under-served communities in the Los Angeles area. Currently, Dr. Smith is a full-time associate Professor of Child Development and Education at West LA College. She also supports future teachers in her role as Title V STEM Teacher Prep Coordinator. Professor Smith earned her doctorate degree from USC, where her main area of research focused on students' perceptions of their intelligence and its impact on motivation. Through presentations, workshops, and lessons, she has shared this vital information to hundreds of educators and students, with the goal of teaching them about malleable intelligence and empowering them to improve their teaching and learning. Professor Smith loves traveling, scary movies, live music, and spending time with her husband and two sons. |
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Dean of Academic Affairs
| Tiffany Miller has worked in community colleges, nonprofits and education for the past 15+ years. Currently, Tiffany is the Dean of Academic Affairs, Apprenticeship and Workforce Development at West Los Angeles College, and prior to West, Tiffany was the Director of Career Pathways at El Camino College. She is looking forward to better supporting STEM students at West! In her free time, Tiffany can be found walking her dog or doing science experiments with her kids. |
Events
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Transferring to USC as a Engineering or Computer Science Major?Join us on 11/14/23 at 2pm for a special presentation by Angie Solares, Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. |
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Interested in Transferring and then Medical School?Join us on 12/7/23 at 2pm via Zoom for a special presentation by two students who recently transferred from California community colleges to 4-year institutions and intend to go onto medical school. Learn about what it takes to transfer to institutions like UCLA, and how students there are preparing themselves to move onto medical school. Register for the event using this link. |
Interested in STEM Classes?
Interested in helping students like yourself succeed in STEM classes?!
We are always looking for tutors willing to help other students find success in their STEM classes. Whether your passion is in chemistry, computer science, math, biology, geology, or any other of the STEM fields, we want to hear from you! In order to tutor for the STEM Success Center, you must meet the following requirements:
- Dedicated and passionate about teaching and learning in at least one of the STEM disciplines.
- Enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program as full-time student as determined by your institution. We are happy to accept students from other institutions as tutors.
If that sounds like you, please send a cover letter, unofficial transcript(s), and resume to @email.
Are you faculty? Please reach out to us at @email with any tutor recommendations! Your help in finding the best STEM tutors is greatly appreciated.
Interested in becoming a participant in our program? Submit an application by clicking below!
Conferences of Interest
Conferences
See below for some great opportunities to learn about cutting-edge research in STEM, and to present any research that you have done.
Need money to attend? The STEM Success Center has funds set aside to reimburse students for conference travel expenses. Fill out one of the following forms (Word version or PDF version) and submit it to @email. A faculty sponsor will be necessary.
AAAS Annual Meeting (2/15/24-2/17/23)
Early Childhood STEM Conference (2/9/24-2/10/24)
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Annual Conference (3/23/24-3/26/24)
