An academic outreach program for low-income and underrepresented minority high school and community college students moved its headquarters to UC Berkeley Sept. 24 to collaborate with the campus Division of Equity and Inclusion.

The Puente Project, which provides mentoring, counseling and tutoring services to students at 57 community colleges and 33 high schools throughout California, moved out of the UC Office of the President and into the division’s Center for Educational Partnerships in order to interact with groups “aligned with the same mission,” said Yvette Gullatt, executive director of educational partnerships at UCOP.

Frank Garcia, executive director of the Puente Project, said that the partnership between the program and the center is a way for the two organizations to serve more students throughout the state.

“(The center) has a high school program, and we have a high school program,” Garcia said. “They have a community college transfer program, and we have community college program. We’ll just extend those services through a wider community by partnering.”

Additionally, Gullatt said UC Berkeley students will be able to gain professional development and internship experience now that the program is housed on campus.

“There are lots of opportunities for students to gain exposure to K-12 through internships and opportunities to work directly with K-12 and community college students,” she said.

The project is co-sponsored by UCOP and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. Though it is now housed at UC Berkeley, the program will continue to receive funding through these channels. No additional money was used to finance the move, and the project will not receive any funding from the campus, according to project leadership.