Amber Moran leads the TEP Information Meeting on January 9, 2018
UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education held an informational meeting on January 9 regarding the admission process to the Teacher Education Program (TEP). With the February 1st deadline to apply to the program just around the corner, the meeting was designed to guide prospective students on how to apply, to outline the requirements for the program, and to help students understand what financial aid is available to them.
Though there have been informational meetings for the TEP program in the past, this one was particularly insightful because Stephen Eyherabide from UCSB’s Financial Aid office was a speaker. TEP supervisor Suzanne Dougherty and Eyherabide began developing a new info meeting agenda two years ago when they realized the difficulties in the application process. They especially noted the challenge in meeting daunting deadlines and understanding the complicated financial aid process.
Besides valuable information about financial aid, this meeting also reminded students about deadlines and state, school, and program specific requirements to apply to the program. I asked two students that attended the meeting what their concerns were about the application process. Julieta, a recent graduate from Cal State Channel Islands, said that what she found most stressful was having to take the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET) and wait for the results before being able to plan for the program. Another student, Frances, is a current UCSB undergraduate who hoped that the meeting would help her prepare for the application process next year. She also hoped that meeting with faculty and other grad students applying to the program would allow her to establish good relationships before potentially entering the program herself.
Suzanne Dougherty has found that the TEP informational meetings have been invaluable to prospective students. In fact, Dougherty said that 40% of the eligible applicants that attend the meetings end up applying to the highly acclaimed program. Dougherty pointed out that the “human contact, actually coming and meeting faculty, and the personal aspect of asking questions in person” is an excellent way for applicants to get a glimpse into the program, decide if it is right for them, and to gain confidence in the admission process.
The next information meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 24th at 1 pm in ED 1215, and Stephen Eyherabide will be present then as well. It is highly recommended that any students considering applying to the TEP program attend this meeting whether they are ready to apply this year or are interested in applying in the years to come.