Transition help expands to SE
by Brian Shults, se news editor

    An accredited program designed to ease women’s transition into the college environment and subsequently the work force is starting at SE Campus this semester.
“Women in New Roles (WIN-R) intends to facilitate the entry to higher education for women who may be hesitant or have doubts about their ability to succeed in college,” Dr. Marisa Garcia-Luna, SE director of counseling and WIN-R campus coordinator, said.
With WIN-R programs already stretching from South Campus to Ontario, Canada, the program has successfully aided numerous women at the community college level by supplying human relations and career planning skills to women of all ages and backgrounds, Garcia-Luna said.
“Our desire is to push the boundaries and limitations away, providing new job prospects for women by allowing them to network and explore opportunities in the fields where women are not in the majority, such as technology. A technical college education is tremendously valuable not only for the economy, but also for the individual,” she said.
WIN-R consists of six hours of psychology college credit. Psychology 1301 emphasizes human relations and 2312, career planning. The six credit hours satisfy the core curriculum for social science. Each class contains an variety of preparatory guides: networking newsletter, community seminar, health forum, Women’s Well-Being support group, WIN-R network (providing support before, during and after enrollment in college), testing, counseling, career placement, internet orientation and mentoring.
Garcia-Luna teaches both classes and worked to bring WIN-R to SE. “It will increase the number of women entering higher education locally who face multiple barriers (including) first generation college
students, ethnic minorities and women re-entering from the home,” she said.
A primary focus of the classes, Garcia-Luna said, will be to clarify women’s relationships to their environment and the self, by answering the following questions: “Where am I in life? Where have I been? Where am I going? What do I want? How do I get there?”
“The manner in which we view our self-image relates to the roles females play in society, community and the workforce,” she said.
Spring 2002 semester has already begun, but the fall semester is open and a scholarship program for members will likely be available. Interested students should visit the counseling center, Garcia-Luna said.
“I believe WIN-R will promote a college education beginning at TCC and assist women in receiving a B.A. at a university,” she said.
The purview of WIN-R began by responding to the rising number of women shedding the role of homemaker and returning to school during the late ’70s. Originally developed only for older women either returning to college or entering it for the first time, it has since evolved into a program for all women.