The impact of participation in the Mini-Corps program as an undergraduate on alumni's professional career

Dissertation (Ed.D., Educational Leadership) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2012.Migrant students have a variety of obstacles such as poverty that may impede learning. Because of issues stemming from poverty, programs originated to assist families in need. One of those programs is the Mini-Corps Program that was established in the 1960s to support migrants in increasing achievement. Mini-Corps places college undergraduates who are from a migrant background with current K-12 migrants to assist in the educational process. An obstacle for migrants is that they typically relocate often as parents follow the crop patterns. This leads to students who lack continuity in their education. The constant relocation further compounds the difficulty of obtaining academic success in school. This study explores the Mini-Corps??? alumni as it focuses on the impact that participating in the program had on their ability to complete an undergraduate degree, complete a credentialing program, on obtaining employment, on professional development, and on establishing a mentor/mentee relationship. Through a mixed methods approach data was collected and analyzed in better understanding the impact of participating in Mini-Corps as an undergraduate. Surveys, interviews, and participant observations all were utilized in collecting data and subsequently triangulated the data in search of common themes.\ud ???Educational Leadershi