History of DCAC
In 2007, UC Berkeley’s Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) launched the Destination College Advising Corps as one of the ten founding chapters of the newly established National Advising Corps. With the seed funding from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, DCAC placed two Advisers in two Solano County high schools. The following year DCAC added a third high school site in Solano County and expanded the program to San Bernardino County to three new high schools.
In 2009, the DCAC model changed with the addition of two CEP program partners and a third partner program was added a year later. These partners included School/University Partnerships (SUP), the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) and the Solano County Educational Consortium (SCEC) respectively. Each of these programs began to oversee placement of DCAC College Adviser Fellows into school sites and to provide training and guidance, while also serving as liaisons with with our schools and district partners. Managers from each of those programs became the DCAC manager team.
Today, DCAC has 48 full-time College Adviser Fellows in four counties throughout California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Solano).
Our Mission
DCAC increases college access for low-income, first generation and underrepresented high school students by placing highly-trained, recent college graduates in schools as full time College Adviser Fellows.
Our Vision
To make college a viable option for all students.
Student Service
All students have a right to attend college — regardless of their socio-economic status, race, gender, and beliefs. DCAC’s role is to be a guide in order to help students reach their post-secondary goals.
Adviser/Staff Development and Support
Our advisers and staff are at the core of the services DCAC provides and therefore the organization does everything possible to support and develop its advisers and staff in order to better benefit our students. Our important dual mission is to change the face of education by preparing our College Adviser Fellows to be future educators and leaders.
Collaboration and Partnership
Supporting and serving students on their path to post-secondary education is not a competition. DCAC will partner and collaborate with school sites, districts and community based/higher education youth service organizations.
Individual Student Advising
DCAC College Adviser Fellows enroll and work with a cohort of 150 high school students at each our our partner school sites. DCAC College Adviser Fellows provide intensive and on-going college advising and college preparation support, and may include:
- Intensive academic advising and college planning
- ACT/SAT registration and preparation
- Financial aid and scholarship application assistance
- Transcript evaluations
- College application assistance
- College campus visits
Whole School Support
DCAC College Adviser Fellows support our partner schools and district efforts to increase their college enrollment rates, develop their college-going culture, and to serve as a resource for all students attending our partner sites. Support activities may include:
- Individual drop-in college advising/preparation
- Parent/family events (including Decision Day)
- College information workshops
- Financial aid/scholarship workshops
Community/Parent & Family Support: DCAC College Adviser Fellows provide college preparation support to their local communities by partnering with local youth and family service agencies. Support activities may include:
Partnership with Boost@BerkeleyHaas
The boost program has changed in many ways since our founding in 1989, but we are happy that our top-notch college advising has been consistent since 2013 due to our partnership with DCAC. All the advisers that have been placed with the boost program are nothing short of amazing. They are truly life changers for our students. The genuine care they have for the students is unmatched. All four of the advisers we have been able to work with are intelligent, driven, caring, compassionate, empathetic, hardworking, creative and overall amazing people. For most of our program history, we did not have a full time college adviser on staff, and now I can’t imagine not having a DCAC adviser in the boost program. The partnership is such an asset to all of our students and families.
DCAC Adviser Fellows
Kassy Vang
2021-2023
Fatima Andrade Martinez
2019-2021
Vanessa Lopez
2017-2019
