SUBJECT:  Reorganization of Student Educational Advancement
                     (SEA) Cluster

The Student Educational Advancement cluster (SEA) of Student Affairs has been reorganized as of September 24, 1999 to maximize UCSD's ability to achieve the goal of enrolling and retaining a student body reflective of California's diverse population. To that end, the Early Academic Outreach Program has been divided into two new, discrete units: (1) TRIO Outreach Programs (TOPS), and (2) Early Academic Outreach Programs (EAOP). The former of these two, (TOPS), now holds responsibility for oversight and expansion of pre-college, federally-funded TRIO outreach programs (i.e., Upward Bound, Talent Search, Upward Bound Math/Science), while the latter (Early Academic Outreach) is responsible for those college preparation programs funded from other sources (e.g., state, local, private foundations). As a result of University of California Systemwide requirements, the new Early Academic Outreach Program's scope will include an increasingly major academic enrichment, or developmental education, responsibility resulting in a growing need for upper-level personnel's possession of formal training and teaching experience at the K-12 educational levels.

Eustacio Benitez has been appointed Director of the TOPS component. Mr. Benitez' previous, extensive experience and expertise in this area, as well as his demonstrated success in procurement of federal grants, a major charge of the new TOPS unit, ideally qualify him for this role. In addition, Mr. Benitez has a long record of administration of student informational and outreach programs at UCSD.

Both programs will remain within Student Affairs' Student Educational Advancement cluster and will continue to work closely with each other as well as with a wide variety of other campus and community outreach programs.

Each program's phone numbers will be made available as soon as new phone installation and office relocation is complete.

                                                Loren C. Thompson
                                                Assistant Vice Chancellor
                                                Student Educational Advancement