SBVC Alumnus Connects Students with Colleges through Smartphone App
San Bernardino Valley College alumnus Frederick Jones has always strived to help more lower-income, first-generation students get into college with the tools they need to succeed, and he is doing exactly that at his new job.
While he attended SBVC, Jones served as president of the Umoja Tumaini Club, and helped implement virtual study tools and tutoring services for club members during the initial phases of the Coronavirus lockdown and campus closure. After graduating last year, he transferred to Cal State San Bernardino, where he is part of the California Student Opportunity Access Program for first-generation students.
Jones is now also the director of product marketing and user experience for Siembra, an app that lets college counselors reach traditionally underserved high school students. SBVC has partnered with Siembra Mobile to expand its lines of communication with local high school students and their parents. This digital communication platform, accessible via computer or smartphone, directly links SBVC to prospective students and their parents in the local school districts of San Bernardino, Colton, and Rialto.
Jones has played a major role in expanding Siembra’s reach, and is especially interested in getting Historically Black Colleges and Universities on board. The app is “getting a lot of traction,” Jones said, and he really likes that it holds onto a student’s transcripts and GPA information. “There’s no need to take the extra step to order transcripts, and your parent is also involved,” he said. “We all work together to make sure you have that success.”
The platform streamlines contact between students, parents and college recruiters, and provides a means of tracking individual high school student preparedness for college. SBVC administrators hope that this partnership with Siembra will both help to expand the number of high school graduates entering higher education in the region and help the college to develop stronger relationships with future students before they even step foot on campus.
Dr. Scott Thayer, Vice President of Student Services at SBVC, recently described the growing necessity of a messaging platform like Siembra during the global COVID-19 pandemic. “At a time where it’s difficult to connect with students and parents, this platform is a valuable tool in maintaining that consistent communication and investing in students’ education early on,” he said.
Starting in the ninth grade, students using Siembra can begin to receive messages directly from college recruiters, which they can access on a smartphone or computer. A built-in feature called the Stop Light System lets students track their academic progress, with green indicating college readiness and yellow or red signaling a need to reassess or remediate academic progress prior to graduation.
SBVC’s outreach team plans to use the platform to message prospective students while they are still in high school, guiding them on coursework they should take to prepare for college and notifying them of special events, registration deadlines, and financial aid opportunities on campus. Messages can be sent in English and Spanish and targeted to specific groups of students with common interests or goals.
“This is a platform that allows us to let students know very early on that college can be a reality,” Jones said. “You send them the right messages, and they start to make the right choices.”
To learn more about Siembra Mobile, visit www.siembramobileinc.com.
