This story about Ohlone College Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS) was first broadcast during the live Ohlone Tri-City News program on May 3, 2023.
Vincent Torres, Reporter
Anna Garcia, Photographer
ANCHOR: A program at Ohlone College is designed to meet the educational needs of students hindered by social, economic, and language barriers. Here is Vincent with the story.
REPORTER (V/O): Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, better known as EOPS, is a program that offers various resources to help aid the needs of students and carry them to the end of their educational goal.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director:
The program came to be by a lot of heavy advocacy. A lot of advocacy of a lot of good people who recognized that at the time, during the sixties, there was a lot of educational injustice, and they wanted educational justice and opportunities for everyone.
Danna Beltran, Psychology Major: I joined this program because I knew that it was a community where they would help give me the support and help that I would need in my academic career.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director: So, what makes me really proud about the EOPS program that is really a grass roots movement started with the community, with the people that felt that they weren’t being represented and wronged, and it became a whole movement in which we have EOPS born right out of this.
REPORTER (V/O): Students who are eligible to enroll in the program have access to services including early registration, academic advising, and financial assistance.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director: One of the biggest benefits is really building community. If you think about it, anywhere you go, you don’t feel like you really thrive in the space unless you feel like you belong in the space.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: We help students with whatever they need. It doesn’t just have to be questions about like academics or classes. We help them with questions about their career, their major, jobs, financial aid, scholarships, personal questions.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: A lot of the benefits that students get from being part of the program, not only do they get to do fun workshops and events and field trips, but they also get priority registration and they also get to receive book grants and just academic and financial support through our program if theyČ re eligible for it.
REPORTER (V/O): Counselors in the EOPS Program assist students with the development of education plans, financial aid, and course registration.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: I like to kind of use like what I call narrative counseling, so just having students share their story with me.
Whatever it is, every student has a story to share. So, I like to listen to the student first about what they have to bring to the table and what their goals are, and then go from there.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: We help them prepare for essentially their next step in life, which can be transferring to a four-year university. Or it could be their dream job or career.
Nevaeh Heard, Undeclared Major: This program can benefit me in the future by helping me understand how to transition into other schools and feel more comfortable in academic spaces outside of just Ohlone so that when I do transfer, I feel comfortable and a program such as EOPS
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: So, we just help them develop the skill sets that they need to transfer, making sure that they complete their required classes, making sure that they’re getting the certificates that they want, making sure that they have a plan, educational plan in place that’s going to lead them to their dream job.
REPORTER (V/O): EOPS coordinates many community-building activities, workshops, and field trips for students to enjoy and build connections.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: For example, this spring semester we did a career development series where we help students create a resume, help them look for jobs on campus and off campus, develop their career skills.
Danna Beltran, Psychology Major: My favorite events are the ones they do for like community building because you get to meet other students who are like in the same position that you are, and you get to hear their stories and how you are different and how you’re similar.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: We also do fun activities like we had a spring social where students get to really hang out with each other, build community, feel like they’re part of the campus. And we recently also had a field trip to San Jose State University, which was really, really fun. So, we just try to keep students engaged.
REPORTER (V/O): Graduation-ready students are invited to an end-of-the-year award ceremony where they can celebrate the hardships they overcame and welcome the next stage of their life.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: It’s really the culmination of everything that we do when a student makes it to an award ceremony, itČ s visualizing your dreams. You finally made it to the end goal.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: There was one student who came back to Ohlone. Maybe around 2019, and she had previously come to Ohlone, but she left because there was a lot going on in her life. She’s a single mom and she came back to Ohlone feeling just broken and just lost and confused. And I met with her, and we came up with a plan for her to pursue her major in communications. And she’s thriving now. I mean, I think she’s just kind of turned a new leaf. And with taking advantage of resources like EOPS, she was able to pursue her goals and transferred to San Jose State. And she’s graduating this semester from San Jose State and getting her bachelor’s degree.
REPORTER (V/O): For students who need advising and guidance through their journey at Ohlone, the EOPS Program provides an engaging
and collaborative community and experience.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: It’s a program that changed my own life. It transformed my own life. And this is the part that really strikes a chord with me because I was a product of this very program.
Nevaeh Heard, Undeclared Major: It’s a great program. You guys should be a part of it. We have so many benefits and it is important that spaces like this on campus are utilized.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: Everyone that works in this department, I know that they truly, truly, truly care about every single student and they really want to always make sure that they do whatever is in students’ interest.
REPORTER (V/O): To apply and learn more about the EOPS Program, visit Ohlone dot edu slash EOPS or visit their office at the Fremont Campus on the second floor of Building 7. This is Vincent Torres for Ohlone Tri-City News.
May 3 2023
Ohlone College Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS)
This story about Ohlone College Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS) was first broadcast during the live Ohlone Tri-City News program on May 3, 2023.
Vincent Torres, Reporter
Anna Garcia, Photographer
ANCHOR: A program at Ohlone College is designed to meet the educational needs of students hindered by social, economic, and language barriers. Here is Vincent with the story.
REPORTER (V/O): Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, better known as EOPS, is a program that offers various resources to help aid the needs of students and carry them to the end of their educational goal.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director:
The program came to be by a lot of heavy advocacy. A lot of advocacy of a lot of good people who recognized that at the time, during the sixties, there was a lot of educational injustice, and they wanted educational justice and opportunities for everyone.
Danna Beltran, Psychology Major: I joined this program because I knew that it was a community where they would help give me the support and help that I would need in my academic career.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director: So, what makes me really proud about the EOPS program that is really a grass roots movement started with the community, with the people that felt that they weren’t being represented and wronged, and it became a whole movement in which we have EOPS born right out of this.
REPORTER (V/O): Students who are eligible to enroll in the program have access to services including early registration, academic advising, and financial assistance.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS and Special Programs Director: One of the biggest benefits is really building community. If you think about it, anywhere you go, you don’t feel like you really thrive in the space unless you feel like you belong in the space.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: We help students with whatever they need. It doesn’t just have to be questions about like academics or classes. We help them with questions about their career, their major, jobs, financial aid, scholarships, personal questions.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: A lot of the benefits that students get from being part of the program, not only do they get to do fun workshops and events and field trips, but they also get priority registration and they also get to receive book grants and just academic and financial support through our program if theyČ re eligible for it.
REPORTER (V/O): Counselors in the EOPS Program assist students with the development of education plans, financial aid, and course registration.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: I like to kind of use like what I call narrative counseling, so just having students share their story with me.
Whatever it is, every student has a story to share. So, I like to listen to the student first about what they have to bring to the table and what their goals are, and then go from there.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: We help them prepare for essentially their next step in life, which can be transferring to a four-year university. Or it could be their dream job or career.
Nevaeh Heard, Undeclared Major: This program can benefit me in the future by helping me understand how to transition into other schools and feel more comfortable in academic spaces outside of just Ohlone so that when I do transfer, I feel comfortable and a program such as EOPS
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: So, we just help them develop the skill sets that they need to transfer, making sure that they complete their required classes, making sure that they’re getting the certificates that they want, making sure that they have a plan, educational plan in place that’s going to lead them to their dream job.
REPORTER (V/O): EOPS coordinates many community-building activities, workshops, and field trips for students to enjoy and build connections.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: For example, this spring semester we did a career development series where we help students create a resume, help them look for jobs on campus and off campus, develop their career skills.
Danna Beltran, Psychology Major: My favorite events are the ones they do for like community building because you get to meet other students who are like in the same position that you are, and you get to hear their stories and how you are different and how you’re similar.
Vanesa Morales, EOPS & Special Programs Coordinator: We also do fun activities like we had a spring social where students get to really hang out with each other, build community, feel like they’re part of the campus. And we recently also had a field trip to San Jose State University, which was really, really fun. So, we just try to keep students engaged.
REPORTER (V/O): Graduation-ready students are invited to an end-of-the-year award ceremony where they can celebrate the hardships they overcame and welcome the next stage of their life.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: It’s really the culmination of everything that we do when a student makes it to an award ceremony, itČ s visualizing your dreams. You finally made it to the end goal.
Nancy Chieng, EOPS Counselor: There was one student who came back to Ohlone. Maybe around 2019, and she had previously come to Ohlone, but she left because there was a lot going on in her life. She’s a single mom and she came back to Ohlone feeling just broken and just lost and confused. And I met with her, and we came up with a plan for her to pursue her major in communications. And she’s thriving now. I mean, I think she’s just kind of turned a new leaf. And with taking advantage of resources like EOPS, she was able to pursue her goals and transferred to San Jose State. And she’s graduating this semester from San Jose State and getting her bachelor’s degree.
REPORTER (V/O): For students who need advising and guidance through their journey at Ohlone, the EOPS Program provides an engaging
and collaborative community and experience.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: It’s a program that changed my own life. It transformed my own life. And this is the part that really strikes a chord with me because I was a product of this very program.
Nevaeh Heard, Undeclared Major: It’s a great program. You guys should be a part of it. We have so many benefits and it is important that spaces like this on campus are utilized.
Nancy Navarro-Leça, EOPS & Special Programs Director: Everyone that works in this department, I know that they truly, truly, truly care about every single student and they really want to always make sure that they do whatever is in students’ interest.
REPORTER (V/O): To apply and learn more about the EOPS Program, visit Ohlone dot edu slash EOPS or visit their office at the Fremont Campus on the second floor of Building 7. This is Vincent Torres for Ohlone Tri-City News.
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