Program Description
The SummerTIME Program provides a unique opportunity for college-bound high school students to improve their writing skills, prepare for their transition to college, and engage in a pre-college enrichment program. The objective of the four-week program is to expose the rigors of freshman composition at a university via a condensed course focusing on rhetoric and research. The program is organized as a four-week intensive course with classes being held every day, Monday-Friday. The daily schedule includes four hours of writing, instruction and group work related to college-level writing.  The program also includes a 30-minute active homeroom in which issues related to college enrollment-such as accepting a financial aid offer, or interacting with professors are discussed.

Organization History

The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) brings a multidisciplinary perspective to complex social, political, and economic issues in higher education.  CHEPA is an interdisciplinary research unit that was established to engage the postsecondary-education community actively, and to serve as an important intellectual center within the Rossier School of Education.  The Center's mission includes developing and utilizing theories which have an impact on educational practice. Research, dissemination, and outreach allow CHEPA to inform the discussion regarding the future of higher education. Conducting theoretically informed research with real-world applicability, the Center has a broad focus on three areas of higher education—improving urban postsecondary education, strengthening school-university partnerships, and understanding international education, with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim.

Partners and Supporters

CHEPA is located within the Rossier School of Education at USC and draws support and commitment from the school’s administration.  CHEPA has partnerships with 9 local high schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The SummerTIME writing program is coordinated by fulltime and part-time staff in the Rossier School of Education as well as by graduate research assistants from the education and English departments. The I AM Mentoring program is coordinated by two full-time staff that recruits, trains and monitors a volunteer base of USC faculty, students and staff. Over the last decade CHEPA has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Atlantic Philanthropies, the James Irvine Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the J.Paul Getty Trust, Lumina Foundation for Education, The Education Financing Foundation of California, Sallie Mae Fund, and the Haynes Foundation.