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IMMEDIATE RELEASE UC SANTA BARBARA OUTREACH PROGRAM PARTNERS WITH UC MERCED TO OFFER BETTER ACCESS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Bakersfield - As part of the University of California's commitment to provide Kern County residents access to an affordable, high-quality UC education, the regional staff of UC Santa Barbara's Early Academic Outreach Department has moved this month into the Kern County Superintendent of Schools building - the temporary home of the UC Center, Bakersfield. The move consolidates UC Santa Barbara's early outreach efforts with UC Merced's K-12 outreach and professional development programs. UC Merced established the UC Center, Bakersfield at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools building (1300 17th St.) last October. The new UC Center, now under construction at 2000 K St., is scheduled to open this summer 2001. UC Santa Barbara has played an active role in Kern County for nearly two decades. Local UCSB counselors from its Early Academic Outreach Department, a county fixture for the past 10 years, provide junior high and high school students with admissions information, academic advising and academic preparation to increase the number of area students eligible for UC. The program serves about 10,000 Kern County students at 18 high schools and 14 middle schools. UC Merced, through its Office of Academic Programs, is helping to increase student eligibility in Kern County by offering online advanced placement courses and will begin offering UC summer sessions this year at the UC Center, Bakersfield. The UC Center, Bakersfield is one of four learning and outreach centers designed to better serve the educational needs of San Joaquin Valley residents and prepare for the opening of UC Merced. The university established the UC Center, Fresno in 1997. UC Merced opened a center in Merced during 1999 and is slated to open a fourth center in Modesto later this year. UC Merced - the UC system's 10th campus and the nation's first research university to be built in the 21st century - is scheduled to open in 2004. For more information about UC Merced and UC Santa Barbara programs in Kern County, please call (661) 861-7955. #
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