This spring, El Paso Community College and The University of Texas at El Paso helped hundreds of seniors from the Socorro Independent School District’s Class of 2025 feel more confident and informed about their academic journeys.
Representatives from both institutions organized one-stop enrollment service events during Operation College Bound at the district’s six comprehensive high schools, providing students with essential resources and support to ensure that they are prepared for the next steps in their education.
Socorro High School senior Adrian Gallegos was awarded a scholarship from UTEP to attend the university this fall. He had several questions regarding housing, clubs, and extracurricular activities, particularly about the Pre-Dental Society at UTEP, which he hopes will assist him in successfully applying to dental school.
“All the people here are just a great help to students, and I got to learn a lot of information by all the representatives here for UTEP,” Gallegos said.
Since 2018, SISD has partnered with UTEP and EPCC for Operation College Bound, which provides seniors like Gallegos with information about the opportunities at both post-secondary educational institutions.
This year’s first Operation College Bound event at SISD took place at Socorro High School on March 27, followed by additional events at Eastlake, Americas, Montwood, El Dorado and Pebble Hills high schools.
Operation College Bound aimed to provide SISD seniors with information about the opportunities at both EPCC and UTEP, from courses offered to student life. During the event, EPCC and UTEP staff assisted students through the enrollment process and addressed any questions they had.
Seniors interested in EPCC met with an admissions counselor, registered for fall courses, and received their class schedules. Students interested in UTEP received assistance completing their admissions applications, registering for New Student Orientation, and enrolling in an anchor course. Additionally, students received guidance on applying for financial aid.
Alba Cook, assistant vice president for Admissions and Recruitment at UTEP, said the event was an opportunity for the university to provide incoming freshmen with resources and information aimed at making the transition from high school to college as smooth as possible.
“Operation College Bound helps our admitted students from EPCC and from UTEP actually come visit with us, with our admissions counselors, our orientation staff, our advising staff and also our testing center to get them ready for those next steps after they're admitted,” Cook said. “Students are busy, especially seniors, getting ready for graduation. So, we decided to come to their school to go ahead and bring the resources to them to take those next steps and be ready for orientation, be ready for the first day of class this summer or fall.”
EPCC Recruitment Services Director Michael Talamantes emphasized that Operation College Bound allowed students, who may not have the time or resources to visit the UTEP and EPCC campuses, to meet with representatives from both institutions in a familiar environment, where they may feel more comfortable asking questions.
“Students face many barriers and traveling to either EPCC and UTEP is a major barrier,” Talamantes said. “Our respective campuses are huge and spread out through the city which may intimidate students from coming on campus to submit additional documentation, explore their options, and discover the opportunities available to them. By having us on their campus, it provides them a familiar safe space in which we can discuss those daunting steps to enrollment and have them leaving OCB with a class schedule and orientation date to prepare for their first semester with us.”