The CSU Student Success Network named Bianca Romina Mothé, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences at Cal State San Marcos, as its new director. As a faculty member and researcher at San Marcos since 2003, Dr. Mothé has helped design novel vaccines for rapidly mutating pathogens, including HIV. She also served as associate dean for undergraduate studies from 2016 to 2018 and faculty director for service learning from 2013-2016.

In this Q & A, Ántonia Peigahi, director of policy and records management at California State University Sacramento, shares her perspectives about the power of being a “middle leader” in supporting equitable student success, including through her work on the advisory board of the CSU Student Success Network. The Network defines middle leaders as faculty, staff, and administrators in the CSU who have leadership roles on campus regardless of whether their position title acknowledges these roles. 

San Diego State University has made headway over the past several years in creating a supportive environment for transfer students on campus, including innovative programming, a new centralized office, and improved graduation rates for transfer students. How did these changes come about? A case study by Informing Change, a firm specializing in evaluation, suggests that the innovations and new programming can be traced to leadership and relationship building among middle leaders at San Diego State. Middle leaders are defined by the CSU Student Success Network as faculty, staff, and administrators in the CSU who have leadership roles on campus regardless of whether their position title acknowledges these roles.

By Dr. Thad Nodine for the CSU Student Success Network

The Middle Leadership Academy, amid a pandemic, supported eight CSU campus teams in developing plans to address equity in 2020-21. During the year, the Academy reconfigured its sessions from longer, in-person events to offer shorter, more frequent online meetings. In both the in-person and virtual formats, the Academy scaffolded supports to build leadership skills among mid-level faculty, staff, and administrators and to help CSU campus teams develop projects to address and support equity on their campus.

By CSU Student Success Network Team

The applications for our Middle Leadership Academy are now open! The Network answers some of the Frequently Asked Questions and explains more about the program.

By CSU Student Success Network Team

The CSU Student Success Network is excited to have you for our annual conference, ‘The Time Is Now: Forging New Visions for Equity in the CSU’. We are a few weeks away from our June 4 deadline for conference proposals and we’ve received some exciting submissions so far! For those of you who are still working on your submission, here are five fast tips to enhance your proposal!

By CSU Student Success Network Team

Building on our summer 2020 conversation series, nearly 60 individuals from 17 campuses came together virtually on February 11 to participate in another Navigating Uncertainty Together session. The self-moderated session enabled cross-campus groups of individuals in similar roles to share their experiences over the past year, learn from one another, and collectively identify equity-minded approaches to challenges they are facing in their work. Below, we share some of the themes and strategies that emerged from the conversations.

By Thad Nodine and Kalifa Madden

A panel of students moderated and presented at the opening session of the first annual statewide conference by the CSU Student Success Network, an independent network facilitated by EdInsights. Representing campuses from Northern,…

By CSU Student Success Network Team

CSU faculty, staff, and administrators are using a range of creative practices to increase student engagement, facilitate equitable remote learning, and broaden access to virtual student supports. In a series of online conversations hosted by the CSU Student Success Network in July and August, over 150 faculty and staff across 21 CSU campuses shared strategies and learned from each other about student-centered online practices. In the spirit of navigating this unique year together, we want to disseminate the ideas, tips, and practical strategies our colleagues shared during the sessions.