On Friday, April 20, the latest class of talented students graduated from the first phase of the innovative EXCEL  (Excellence through Community Engagement and Learning) program, which provides San Francisco residents with job-skills training followed by a four-month paid internship at UCSF. Over half of the current class members are from the city's southeast sector neighborhoods of Bayview/Hunter's Point and Visitacion Valley. 

UCSF EXCEL, which was formerly known as the Community Outreach Internship Program (COIP), recently announced its new name to better describe the transformative development that participants experience. For example, former intern Yolanda Tompkins, who is now a UCSF career employee with the Physical Therapy department, calls the program a "motivational tool and a gift."

Current EXCEL participants have just completed ten weeks of classroom training provided by program partner JVS. The training curriculum -- which includes computer skills, basic administrative duties, professional communication, and conflict resolution skills -- is all designed to prepare students for new careers in business administration. With their classroom skills training complete, the EXCEL students will now enter a four-month paid internship throughout departments across the UCSF campus and medical center, where they will be working 32 hours per week and return to JVS for continued training every Friday.

The UCSF EXCEL program is made possible through a mix of public funding through the City and County of San Francisco's Human Services Agency Jobs Now! 3 program, foundations including the Walter & Elise Haas Foundation, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, the San Francisco Foundation, Mt. Zion Health Fund and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Thanks to the generous support from funders like these, EXCEL is expanding to two cycles in 2012, with outreach for the second cycle of 20 participants beginning in May 2012. 

For more information about the EXCEL program, please contact Damon Lew, assistant director, UCSF Community Relations, at dlew@cgr.ucsf.edu.

In support of the  Youth Employment and Education Program initiative being championed by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, UCSF recently announced that it will provide approximately 120 internship opportunities to young people in San Francisco. Through a variety of different programs, students will be able to explore careers in the areas of healthcare, research and education. UCSF programs include:

• PITCH (Program for Investigating and Training for Careers in Health)
• Gladstone Summer Scholars Program
• Department of Pediatrics Summer Internship Program
• Center for Excellence Health & Leadership Program for Youth
• Science and Educational Partnership (SEP)

For more information about summer youth internship opportunities at UCSF please email community@cgr.ucsf.edu.

The latest numbers show that during the month of February 2012, 19 percent of the total work hours on the construction of the one-of-a-kind UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay have been completed by San Francisco residents. Since the project began in December 2010 through the end of February 2012, 20 percent of the total work hours have been performed by San Francisco residents.  

Through March 2012, the UCSF Medical Center Parking Garage project at Mission Bay achieved a rate of 25 percent of the total project work hours having been performed by San Francisco residents.  The parking garage project is scheduled for completion in the Summer 2012.   

These statistics reflect ongoing efforts toward a goal the University set to hire a workforce averaging at least 25 percent local residents during calendar year 2012.

The new medical center, a 289-bed complex featuring three separate facilities specializing in serving children, women, and cancer patients, is scheduled to open in 2015. Learn more by reading this recent article from the San Francisco Business Times, which features a tour of the construction site led by Cindy Lima, executive director of the UCSF Mission Bay Hospitals Project. You can also find monthly updates on local hiring and work underway by visiting the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay website.

Community members interested in applying for UCSF construction employment opportunities should contact UCSF's partner, Mission Hiring Hall, at (415) 865-2105. A Submission of Ready, Able and Qualified Local Craftsperson form can also be downloaded on the  UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay website and submitted to mpenn@missionhiringhall.org.