Rocio Ayala conducts summer research

2012 Jul 28

Rocio Ayala of Reseda is spending the summer conducting research at California Lutheran University.

Ayala, a graduate sociology major, received a Pearson Scholars Summer Program fellowship for her project titled "Educational Experiences of Undocumented Students." She is examining how college experiences empower and encourage undocumented students to engage in social activism.

Based on written proposals and academic performance, a faculty committee awarded 30 fellowships to undergraduate students with funding from more than $160,000 in grants from the university, Amgen and the California Wellness Foundation. With guidance from faculty mentors, the students are conducting full-time research throughout the summer. Their projects range from testing the muscle-bone relationship in cyclists, to building a robot, to determining whether interfaith dialogue can help build peace. The students will publish their results and present them at conferences.

CLU is a selective university located in Thousand Oaks, Calif, with centers in Oxnard and Woodland Hills for graduate courses and its Adult Degree Evening Program. With an enrollment of 4,100 students, CLU offers 37 undergraduate majors and graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Management and Graduate School of Education. Doctoral degrees in educational leadership, higher education leadership and clinical psychology are also offered. Members of the CLU student body come from across the nation and around the world and represent a diversity of faiths and cultures. For more information, visit www.callutheran.edu.