This month’s “What the CV-Hec is Happening” Blog features Araceli Tilley, one of the first students to utilize the CVHEC Central Valley Transfer Project’s Program Pathways Mapper software to plan her college career enroute to becoming a doctoral candidate next fall. A graduate of Stone Ridge Christian High School, Araceli is completing a master’s degree at Stanislaus State with the Class of 2026 this spring after earning an associate degree at Merced College in 2022 and a bachelor’s at University of California, Merced in 2024. She begins the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership program at Fresno State in August – an academic journey mapped out using PPM. Araceli has participated in several panels for CVHEC regarding the Transfer Project and PPM including the consortium’s 2023 and 2025 higher ed summits as well as serving on a CVHEC panel at the Community Colleges League of California 2023 statewide conference in Palm Springs. Now for this blog, she looks back on those experiences and updates how the software not only helped guide her successful higher ed path to date but also how she introduced it to other students when she became an outreach ambassador at Merced College where she now serves as Student Support coordinator while completing her master’s. PPM and the Central Valley Transfer project were recently recognized nationally by Complete College of America following the consortium’s participation in CCA’s national conference last November.
(CVHEC blog ideas are welcome: Tom Uribes, cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu).
From finding my way to mapping the way for others
My journey with CVHEC and the Program Pathways Mapper
BY ARACELI TILLEY
Student Support Coordinator – Merced College
I started my student journey in higher education at Merced College in fall 2020, amid a global pandemic that completely altered my college experience.
I had originally planned to attend Fresno State, but given those circumstances at that time, I found it made the most sense to stay home and begin my education at the local community college. Being completely transparent: I wasn’t too thrilled about this change in plans. I had no idea what to expect or what I was getting myself into at Merced College. I knew a few things for certain: I wanted to major in psychology and transfer to a four-year university, laying out the path for me to pursue my master’s degree in counseling.
Like most first-year college students, I was clueless when it came to selecting classes and staying on track to meet my goals. I registered for seventeen units in my first semester. Yes … one-seven! I had no clue just how difficult that might be. Within the first two weeks, I was struggling and decided to drop my statistics class, which took a huge toll on my confidence. I cried wondering how much this would set me back. 17-year-old-me was thinking the absolute worst.
“I’m not going to graduate on time!” “I’m going to be set back!” I was spiraling to say the least.
Araceli Tilley (second from left) joined the CVHEC Central Valley Transfer Project team for the Community Colleges League of California statewide conference in 2023 to share her successful experience with the interactive software Program Pathway Mapper: CVPT leads Stan Carrizosa, Sr. and Tom Burke and Jennifer Johnson of the Foundation for California Community Colleges (right).
Then, amidst my juvenile breakdown, I came across the Program Pathways Mapper on the Merced College website. I keyed in my desired major degree and quickly realized that I was perfectly on track to graduate within two years, despite my decrease in units that semester. A dark cloud disappeared from over my head, and I nearly kissed my laptop in excitement and gratitude … the Program Pathways Mapper had saved me from a monumental breakdown at that moment!
Fast forward three semesters: I’m registering for my final semester at Merced College and decided I wanted to transfer to UC Merced, a last-minute decision as I originally intended on transferring to Fresno State. Again, being an unknowing college student, I had no idea that to transfer to UC Merced I needed a different communications class than I had already taken, due to the differing IGETC/CSU requirements. Luckily, I referred to the Program Pathways Mapper at just the right moment and noticed that I needed to register for a new communications class — ASAP!
Again, in the spirit of transparency, I don’t like asking for help. I never had any intention of visiting a counselor, because honestly, I didn’t want to make the time. I worked 30 hours a week on top of going to school full-time, and I just didn’t want to make the trip to campus. I always treated the PPM as my guide, and it got me out of multiple sticky situations, which I am eternally grateful for.
As a student at Merced College — I picked up a job as an outreach ambassador for the Office of Student Equity and Success. I eventually secured a full-time position as an administrative assistant in the Office of Student Success, which was a very exciting advance in my career. In this role, I not only supervised nearly 40 student employees, but I also worked with students seeking academic support services every day.
One of my student employees expressed interest in applying to UC Merced like I did but was still unsure of how to go about it. You guessed it — I recommended the Program Pathways Mapper. This tool was able to help my student employee figure out what his path to UC Merced would look like, what classes he needed to add to transfer over, it even showed him salaries of different professions in his desired major. He was hooked.
Circling back to my role at Merced College — when I was serving as an administrative assistant I was asked by my vice president to serve on a student panel for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium summit, and I eagerly agreed. I have always been an advocate for higher education and student success, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to share my experiences with a broader audience. I had no idea what to expect, or how many wonderful people I would meet.
I attended the summit in October 2023 with a few goals in mind: to be honest about my experiences, be compassionate in my delivery, and be open to whatever this opportunity had in store for me.
Little did I know that Stan Carrizosa — CVHEC Transfer Project co-lead who is a president-emeritus of the College of the Sequoias in Visalia — would approach me shortly after I spoke on that panel asking me to join the CVHEC Transfer team at the Community Colleges League of California conference in November 2023 out in Palm Springs. I was excited about the opportunity not only because I was creating so many new connections, but also because I was able to do what I’ve always dreamt of: advocating for student success! When I told my vice president of the invitation, he jokingly stated that I was “going on tour!”
At the CCLC conference, I again shared my experiences with the PPM and how it has transformed my educational journey. If there is one thing that I can say for certain — it is that CVHEC has changed my life. Since those experiences, I have also served on a panel at the UC Merced 2024 Transfer Summit, and again at the CVHEC summit in May 2025.
Being involved in these panels and conferences has not only allowed me to be a voice for students but has challenged me to grow and find my voice. I was never an outspoken individual growing up, and not one to share my unsolicited opinion, but these experiences have allowed me to develop into the confident advocate that I am today, and for that I am grateful beyond what words can express. Through CVHEC I have made lasting relationships, networked with people I never thought I’d have the opportunity to meet, and have had doors open for me that I didn’t know existed.
I love this organization and all that it stands for, and I hope to continue contributing to the work that they are doing to transform the higher education system into something that better serves our students and community.
