K-16 Collaborative: Border Region Talent Pipeline honored as the 2025 CSTEM Outstanding Community Partner Award

Each year, the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics honors a community partner who has demonstrated a commitment toward helping CSUSM, and CSTEM in particular, to fulfill its mission of student success. The partnership has yielded lasting benefits for CSUSM students, faculty, and the broader educational community.

The Collaborative’s visionary approach has strengthened cross-institutional efforts and enhanced career pathways for students across the region. On May 6, 2025, the K-16 Collaborative: Border Region Talent Pipeline team was presented this prestigious award.

STEM Fair in the Imperial Valley

On May 10th, 2025, UC San Diego's Qualcomm Institute and CREATE hosted the Imperial Valley STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Event, drawing 317 enthusiastic participants from the local community. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the event brought together 220 high school students, 52 parents, and 43 K–8 students for a day of innovation, creativity, and hands-on science and arts learning.

In addition to interactive activities and opportunities to chat with engineers and scientists, booths provided information about attending educational institutions in the area, including Imperial Valley College, San Diego State University and campuses in the University of California system.

The SDCOE College and Career Readiness Team invites you to attend!

2025 Career Pathways Conference

Tuesday, September 30th 

8 am - 4 pm

DoubleTree Hotel in Mission Valley

This year’s theme will be “Charting Bold Futures” with sessions exploring how to elevate career pathway programs and empower students through times of change and challenge. Topics will include: 

• Quality Pathway Development
• Future Ready Counseling Practices
• Early College Credit
• Apprenticeships, Work-Based Learning, and Employer Partnerships
• Leading Pathway Work
• Grant Implementation Strategies including CTEIG, K12SWP and the Golden State Pathways Program
• Classroom Strategies
• Artificial Intelligence in Education 
• Post-Secondary Career Education Best Practices and Alignment 
• Social and Emotional Learning 
• Middle to High School Pipelines

Event Registration and the Call for presenters are both LIVE! Early bird registration (and a $ discount) ends Monday, June 30th, so make sure to register ASAP. We also encourage you to submit a presentation if you have interesting and useful programs or resources that you’d like to share with the region. 

Business, Computing, Engineering Undergraduate Student Internships for Summer 2025

We are excited to announce that 212 students region-wide have been hired for a Summer 2025 internship in business, computing, and engineering positions. Some students have already started working, and others are in the process of onboarding for their summer paid internship. Thank you to the San Diego Regional EDC and Imperial Valley EDC for your collaboration with leading companies across various industries to provide these opportunities for our students!

The Border Region Talent Pipeline is an inspiring initiative that bridges education and workforce development across the San Diego and Imperial Valley regions. This K-16 Collaborative connects forward-thinking companies like ours with ambitious students who are ready to make an impact. We’re honored to be a participating employer in this powerful partnership that is cultivating the next generation of diverse, homegrown leaders. View full article here.

REMINDER: Applications for Verified Program Designation

NOW OPEN!

In partnership with the K-16 Collaborative and the Advancing San Diego partners, the San Diego Regional EDC invites you to apply for designation as a Verified Program through Advancing San Diego. If you are interested, please reach out to the EDC team and they will send you a unique application link.

The application is now open for our business, computing, and engineering programs. Previously designated programs do not need to re-apply (all programs currently verified will continue to be verified until a new talent demand report comes out with updated KSAs). This is an opportunity for programs that did not apply or were not designated in the past.

• Resources and a full outline of the application process are available here. 
• Applications are due September 26, 2025

We encourage you to start the application as soon as possible. It is a two-part process requiring you to submit data about your program’s curriculum, outcomes, and students enrolled.

The EDC team is happy to help with the application process. Contact Bridgette Coleman for a one-on-one meeting to talk through the process or register to join:

Application Workshop on Tuesday, June 17 at 9am

Workshop Registration

Another workshop in will take place in early fall as well, date is TBD.

Data Reporting:

Enrollment data was due - please submit it before the end of the school year. Completion data is due on July 24. If you need access to your data submission form, please email Christine or Mayra.

Expenditure Reporting: 

Bi-annual expenditure reports for spending between January 1–June 30, are due July 24. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Mayra or attend her office hours. Office hours will be July 14-17 and July 21-24 from 1:00-2:00 pm via Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting here: https://gcccd-edu.zoom.us/j/84765667669

Invoicing: 

Quarterly invoicing for spending between April 1-June 30 is due July 24. Please submit your invoice with a copy of the general ledger and contact Mayra with any questions.

Narrative Reporting: 

For anyone receiving funds, the quarterly narrative report is due on July 24. Please use your district’s template for submission. If you need access to your narrative report template, please email Mayra.