The California Career Development Association (CCDA) conducted their annual conference at Glendale Community College last month. This year’s theme of “Career Counseling for Social Justice” was an ideal topic for presenting San Diego Community College District’s Continuing Education workshop series “The Immigrant Professional Transfer Academy”.
Counselors Sheyla Castillo and Juanita Ledesma had submitted a proposal to offer a workshop entitled “Create a Support Program that Promotes the Advancement of Immigrant Professionals in the United States” which was selected to be presented to participants. The topic of supporting this population had not been presented in the past and the level of participant interest was unknown. Sheyla and Juanita were happily surprised to find that the conference room filled completely, allowing for them to lead the workshop to a standing room only crowd. The participants were enthusiastic about learning how to facilitate the advancement of Immigrant Professionals and the abundance of questions that were asked prompted the workshop to continue beyond the scheduled time.
Critical aspects to consider when designing a support program for Immigrant Professionals were discussed as well as California’s 2015 legislation that allows for people to take professional state exams using a tax identification number rather than a social security number. Additionally, the U. S. Census Bureau statistics were presented which indicate the significant rise of people with college degrees immigrating to the United States and particularly in California.
After the session, there were many individuals inquiring about additional information and asking for supplementary materials. Continuing Education was regarded as a progressive institution that supports their student population.
