CHHS 'Pathways Learning Institute' embarks on local outreach to promote college degree programs
School of Nursing Professor Dr. Melissa Dyo has secured Beach 2030 funding to support important efforts towards increasing knowledge of College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) degree programs among middle and high school students in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD).
A recent Data Fellows project found that graduation rates for first time, first year (FTFY) students in the Long Beach College Promise cohorts were found to be seven percentage points higher for students entering with a major and degree pathway, than those entering undeclared (62% vs. 55 % respectively)1. Thus, Dr. Dyo and her team, comprising CHHS faculty Drs. Kellie Walters, Nancy Dayne, Amber Johnson, and Jason Plummer have been on a quest to dispatch campus and college resources into LBUSD schools, in order to promote the varied degree pathways offered in CHHS. Most middle schoolers in the district are now encouraged to have a learning pathway selected by the time they reach high school.
“The idea is that if you have good academic preparation and knowledge about career choices, or potential career choices early on -- even as early as middle school -- then that will help set students up for success,” Dr. Dyo said. “So, what we want to do with this project is to increase engaging experiences for Long Beach Unified students at the middle school and high school levels -- especially to learn more about CHHS majors and associated careers that have the potential to impact their major exploration, and then ultimately their degree completion.”
Those engaging experiences could look different from school-to-school, but the important aspect of the newly forming CHHS Pathways Learning Institute, as it is being called, is using the Beach 2030 funds to support students directly at the middle and high school locations themselves. Part of the funding will be to recruit student ambassadors to be dispatched throughout the LBUSD, where current college students studying within CHHS would have the opportunity to help with outreach. For example, CHHS student ambassadors might help facilitate major- specific activities at the school sites. This would illustrate what skill sets are being taught within different college degree areas, while simultaneously expanding knowledge about various job settings.
“We want to present ideas to the different schools within the district, but also to work with the schools to make adjustments on programming based on their needs,” Dyo said.
For example, in their conversations with Jordan High School, there was a need presented by the high school’s administrative team, to enlist the help of CSULB students/faculty to assist in coaching Jordan students in a future national high school competition sponsored by the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA).
Dyo adds that, depending on the demographic needs of the middle school or high school, the CHHS Pathways Learning Institute could be used in different ways. While helping students at one school in completing their A-G Requirements to ready them for college overall, the program could also serve students at schools like SATO Academy of Mathematics and Science, by acquainting them with other fields of interest.
“Everyone knows about say, nursing and physical therapy as health and human services related degrees we offer, but we also have some other great majors like Hospitality Management, Child and Family Studies, Consumer Affairs, Fashion Merchandising and Design...there is a lot to explore in CHHS!”
1Maldonado, C., Soriano, J., & Uy, J. (2025). Long Beach College Promise Student Trajectories: The Beach & Beyond. CSULB Data Fellows.
Meet the Dream Team...
The formation of the CHHS Pathways Learning Institute is thanks to Dr. Melissa Dyo and her team of CHHS faculty (from left to right: Drs. Kellie Walters (Kinesiology), Nancy Dayne (Family & Consumer Sciences), Amber Johnson (Health Science) and Jason Plummer (Social Work)
