Alumni and friends often approach ECST faculty and staff with some wonderfully profound questions – for example, what gifts make a difference, and what do students really need?
In “A Call to Action,” we periodically reflect on what would be an impactful gift for our students and our college. If you would like more information on any of these suggestions, please do reach out to Dean Nancy Warter-Perez at [email protected] or Kevin Doody, ECST Director of Development, at [email protected]
Suggested Impactful Gift: Travel Awards to Attend Professional Conferences and National Competitions
ECST students attend professional conferences all over the nation to access internship and career opportunities, build their professional network, participate in competitions, and engage in employer-led workshops and discussions. Professional conferences provide students an opportunity to connect with hundreds of recruiters from Fortune 500 companies and government entities. Importantly, at some conferences, organizations hire and offer internships to students “on the spot.”
While Cal State LA ECST students are as competitive as students from other schools, many organizations only send their recruiters to a small group of universities or conferences. In addition, many ECST students want to attend these conferences, and the college can only send a fraction of the students hoping to attend. Finally, students may lack the personal resources needed to travel to national or state-wide conferences and competitions.
For the past two years, ECST graduating seniors have reported that professional conference and convention attendance was the number one method that helped them secure an internship and/or their full-time opportunity to work after graduation.
ECST recognizes the importance of providing students access to attend professional conferences and competitions. For Fall 2023, ECST sent students to important professional conferences such as Great Minds in STEM in Pasadena, CA, with 160 ECST students in attendance; Society of Women Engineers in Los Angeles, CA with 40 students in attendance; Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers in Salt Lake City, UT with 50 students in attendance; and National Society of Black Engineers Regional Conference with seven students attending in San Jose, CA.
While we are pleased with the number of students we have been able to send, with more than 3,000 ECST students, we would like to have more students have this transformational experience.
What does it cost for a student to attend? On average, a single student traveling out of state for a conference may spend up to $1200 or more for conference and travel-related expenses. Local conference registration and expenses may cost a student up to $500 or more.
Your support for ECST travel awards would be an impactful gift that will help many students. Thank you for considering a travel award to ECST.
To donate online, please follow these steps:
- Click here: https://www.calstatela.edu/givenow
- Enter the amount of your gift.
- Under “Select the area you wish to support,” scroll down and select “Other.”
- In the box that appears below “Other,” type “ECST Travel Award.”
To send a gift by mail, please make checks payable to The Cal State LA Foundation, write "ECST Travel Award" in the memo line, and mail to:
Susana Moreno
Cal State LA Foundation, SS 8381
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032
All donations to ECST Travel Awards are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.