Middle Leadership Academy

The withdrawal process at CSUDH is often overwhelming, leading to student stop-outs due to its lengthy and complicated nature. While discussions typically focus on why withdrawals occur, the obstacles in the process—such as extended review times and required signatures—add stress to students already juggling family obligations, full-time work, and transportation challenges. First-year and transfer students in the College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences have particularly high numbers of Withdraw Unauthorized (WUs). A streamlined process that integrates Health and Well-Being services could reduce WUs in these colleges and extend support to all students, increasing awareness and access to wellness resources.

Team Facilitator: Dawn Frank

Team Members: Chris Battle, Angelica Flores Avila, Ryan Weitzman, Salvador Valdez, Morgan Kirk

Our team aims to address lower retention and graduation rates among underserved 1st-year URM (Underrepresented Minority) and 1st-generation graduate students in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at Fresno State. These students face challenges such as mental health issues, inadequate academic support, and social isolation, negatively affecting their academic success. Existing evidence illustrates that at Fresno State, the Master’s program in Kinesiology revealed a decline in retention for URM students after the 1st year and a gap in 2nd and 3rd year graduation rates between 1st-generation and non-1st-generation students. By implementing targeted interventions like peer mentoring and wellness workshops, our project seeks to close these equity gaps, enhancing student success and creating scalable resources for broader institutional adoption.

Team Facilitator: Emily Acosta Lewis

Team Members: Cory Cowan, Caio Sarmento, Ph.D., Chabeli Torres, Miguel A. Perez, Ph.D., Jennifer Adame-Walker, D.P.T.

We seek to understand and improve outcomes for students who enter CSUN without selecting a major, or “exploratory majors.” Of 11,785 first-time freshmen (FTF) who entered as exploratory majors between 2009 and 2022, 30% were no longer enrolled and an additional 41% had still not declared a major by the end of 4 terms, and 50% were no longer enrolled by the end of 12 terms. In the past five FTF entry cohorts, about 300 students entered as exploratory majors 85% of whom were first-generation, 75% of whom identified as Latinx, and the majority as both Latinx and first generation. Learning more about these students and how to better serve them will help close our equity gaps.

Team Facilitator: Edelmira Reynoso

Team Members: Cynthia Greco, Vanessa Hernandez, Genesis Lozano, Martha Noyola, Conchita Battle

The campus community at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is working to be more intentional at serving our Latine/x students, staff, and faculty. CSULB received its Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation in 2005. In 2023, CSULB was among 30 colleges and universities to earn the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to Latine/x students. However, throughout the Seal of Excelencia data collection and analysis, findings indicated a need for assessment to examine intentionality and servingness of the Latine/x community across campus. Intentionality and servingness is the cornerstone of equity and inclusion work when seeking to close opportunity and equity gaps. CSULB needs to create a sustainable assessment model that centers, defines, and promotes intentionality and servingness.

Team Facilitator: Edelmira Reynoso

Team Members: Sonia Munoz-Duran, Cherelle Johnson-Davis, Jaqueline Morales, Elyzza Aparicio, Andy Sadek

As of Fall 2023 data, Cal State LA graduation rate for 4-year First time freshmen (FTF) is 26.7% and for 2-year transfer students is 40.5%. For FTF we have an average equity gap between Underrepresented Minorities (URM) and Non-Underrepresented Minorities (NURM) students of 5-7 %. Cal State LA aims to achieve 30% for FTF 4-year graduation rate, and 55% for FTF 6-year graduation rate by 2025. For transfer students, we have surpassed our 36% 2-year goal, and 1% short of reaching our 81% 4-year graduation goal. Each of the college advising centers engage in various graduation application activities individually. Developing cohesive, coordinated advising strategies can contribute to improving the undergraduate graduation, and equity gap rates across 6 college advising centers.

Team Lead: Catherine Ward

Team Members: Frances Hidalgo, Dr. Mark Tufenkjian, Caitlyn Beltran, Liudmila Flores, Ph.D., T Fox

Since 2007 (the first year of the federal AANAPISI program), SDSU has maintained an average total enrollment of 14.45% APIDA-identifying undergraduate students. That stated, ou`r data is incomplete. For example, our Southeast Asian population averages 2.98% and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) population averages 0.44%; the latest graduation rates for first gen and pell grant recipients lump Southeast Asian and Asians together and indicate that there is no data for NHPI students. We need more complete and disaggregated data and a system that pools existing campus data to illustrate how our APIDA students are using various campus resources. Building data literacy around our APIDA students will help cultivate a culture of servingness for our campus AANAPISI initiatives.

Team Facilitator: Ariana Mora Mero

Team Members: Virginia Loh-Hagan, Ed.D., Brian Hu, Ph.D., Matthew H Garcia, Christine Molina, Kathleen King

At present, the Black student population at Chico State is 2.7%. The first year retention rate for Black students in 22-23 was 66% and continues to be a challenge. There is a need to design a strategic and comprehensive enrollment plan for Black students which includes outreach and engagement with Black communities and families. As noted in the Advancing Black Student Success and Elevating Black Excellence Report, “the ability for students to feel a sense of safety and belonging, which is foundational to student success, begins with creating intentional spaces where are welcomed and affirmed.” We believe that those spaces exist not only on our campus, but also in our local services areas, outreach activities and beyond.

Team Facilitator: Julia Odom

Team Members: Darnell Lee, Tracy Butts, Tia Saunders, Molly Heck

California Competes reports that that there are over 6 million individuals, aged 25 to 64, that have some college coursework but have not earned a credential or degree, but are interested in completing their education. Known as “comebackers,” this group has paused their education for various reasons and are now considering re-enrollment. While research has primarily focused on personal and academic barriers, our team will explore the institutional barriers that hinder their progress. As a Hispanic Serving Institution, we will specifically investigate the experiences of Latine students, who often face unique challenges that exacerbate disparities in educational attainment. Understanding how institutional practices and policies affect their ability to re-engage with higher education is essential for developing strategies to support their successful return and ultimately enhance equity in California’s educational landscape.

Team Facilitator: Lynisha McDuel

Team Members: Noelle McCurley, Amber M. Gonzalez, Raul Teodoro, Anna Keck, Lilia Contreras

This team’s project is to review and update transfer processes from admissions through graduation with a focus on African American/Black undergraduate transfer students, and move toward a more inclusive onboarding experience that begins at application to build a stronger and more diverse transfer community.

This team will create an institutional framework rooted in inclusive pedagogy to re-engage students who’ve discontinued their education, provide them with guidance throughout the process of returning to Chico State, and make available to them access to student support services outside the traditional business hours as this is a frequent concern for the returning student population. The proposed parameters for this outreach group will consist of students who began their academic career with Chico State within the last three years but who’ve been absent from the institution for three or more semesters. Chico State’s Customer Relationship management tool identified approximately 2,025 students that currently fit these criteria.

This team will explore ways to proactively restructure the first-year seminar to fit the new GE pattern and find additional venues for ensuring content delivery. The goal of this team is to continue the work from year one. We aim to accomplish the following goals based on our work together last year: – Establish a permanent CSU Community of Practice for First Year Student Professionals -Present as a CSU group at FYE National Resource Center’s conference (February 2024). -Continue monthly CSU Wide meetings and development of online repository of resources -Collect data to assess FYE/S impact for GI2025 goals and outcomes. -Apply to external funding so that CSU FYE Professionals have a permanent Community of Practice based at Sacramento State, close to the MLA, EdInsights, and the Capitol.

This team’s project is to catalog the various efforts and outcomes of the various equity efforts that have been done on campus to further student success and reimagine student success as part of the University’s new polytechnic designation. A catalog will identify points of confluence and use those to guide the development of recommendations for programs, funding, professional development, and assessment.

This is one of two team’s from Fullerton. This team will address educational equity by focusing on creating a more inclusive, navigable, and accessible advising environment for all students at CSU Fullerton. Capitalizing on the knowledge and insights from four colleges (College of Arts, Engineering and Computer Science, Business and Economics, and Education), General Education, and two team members who are also instructional designers. The team aims to help retain and graduate underrepresented students by centralizing advising resources.

The objective of the Middle Leadership Academy at CSUF is to create a transformative and equity driven transfer onboarding experience for incoming transfer students. CSUF aims to close the equity gap that currently exists between FTYF and transfer students specifically in regards to the initial connection and engagement with students and the creation of a reliable and inclusive community for our transfer students. The project will focus on the college of Health and Human Development, which has a high number of transfer students in order to start small and grow into serving the entire incoming transfer student population.

This team will address persistent high DFW rates in first-year courses, especially among underrepresented students, with a focus on Black students. Finalize last year’s MLA project to offer faculty (1) learning opportunities to expand their knowledge of equity-minded practice, culturally conscious pedagogy, and available campus resources; (2) a resource toolkit for easy reference when students need support, and (3) an effective way to assess if these resources and growth opportunities are closing equity gaps in high DFW courses, especially for Black students. As a result of the recent CSU’s Advancing Black Student Success Call to Action report, CSULB strengthened its commitment to investigate where our Black Students are struggling and remedy the institutional factors involved. Therefore, we need to disaggregate data and examine student outcomes for specific underrepresented student groups to intervene more precisely.

This team will address administrative barriers and inequitable processes that define how students interact with campus offices. Objectives: Establish a hub for utilizing advising tools. Post transfer credit and create degree plans prior to initial registration for all incoming students. Review all registration hold categories for impact URM students. Conduct workshops/meetings for applying for graduation. Establish a monetary threshold for accounting holds that prevent registration.

The main issue this team will address is racial and economic inequity in student access to Academic Internships (AI) and student employment both on- and off-campus. Project objectives include a) creating a comprehensive, campus-wide plan that will result in a roadmap for students, faculty and staff; b) increasing the number of Latinx and Black students exploring and obtaining internships and on-campus positions in alignment with their future career goals; c) increasing the number of faculty who actively employ an equity lens when advocating for and supervising student internships. Long-range, accomplishing these objectives will ultimately improve graduation rates and career outcomes for Latinx and Black students.

Sonoma State University (SSU) is trying to improve retention and re-enrollment by strengthening our student early intervention infrastructure and tracking to better identify which students need additional support and the support modalities that are most beneficial. Team objective is to plan a better structure and process for gathering and tracking early alert data from multiple campus partners in order to: 1. Improve identification and tracking of how students are doing early on, in order to intervene more quickly and decipher what support is needed. 2. Increase communication and collaboration between student support services on campus 3. Build the infrastructure that allows for cross-divisional interventions and collaborations.

This project will focus on two critical components: 1. Conduct a Comprehensive Prerequisite Audit: Engage cross-campus partners to conduct an examination of course prerequisites at SJSU with a primary focus on; reducing bottlenecks, minimizing gate-keeping class sequences, creating course-taking flexibility, and evaluating local culture and custom (versus generating foundational knowledge) when mandating prerequisite course chains. 2. Reevaluate Degree Roadmaps: Reevaluate both 2 and 4-year degree roadmaps, particularly for first-year students, to maximize flexibility, increase retention, reduce time to graduation, and close equity gaps.

The First Year Seminar and Students in Transition team is a cross campus team composed of representatives from five campuses: Sacramento, Northridge, San Diego State, Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State). The project goal is to create a collaborative community of practice among all 23 CSU campuses to share practices, materials, and approaches around transitional academic programming for first-year and transfer students.. These cross-campus collaborations will help increase access to interventions that maximize student success and reduce equity gaps.

The academic literature shows that creating an integrated first year experience program that fosters a successful undergraduate student experience through strategic programming that focuses on positive academic transitions and the development of learning communities can move the retention needle significantly. The goal of this project is to develop a more integrated and intentional new student onboarding experience, from recruitment and admission through enrollment in year two for first-time, full time and transfer students that is both culturally relevant and academically grounding. Our targets are to increase retention from 75% to 78% in year 1 (Fall 2024), 83% in year 2 (Fall 2025), 84% in Year 3 (Fall 2026).

Developing an Inclusive Student-Centered Onboarding Experience: The Chico State project focuses on hiring and training student mentors to guide and support first-year students. These Student Navigators provide timely information, mentoring, reassurance, and help expand first-year students’ social and academic capital from their intention to enroll through the end of their first semester. The project also coordinates the delivery of timely information through targeted engagement to support student connection to services and the campus community. The Chico State project focuses on hiring and training student mentors to guide and support first-year students. These Student Navigators provide timely information, mentoring, reassurance, and help expand first-year students’ social and academic capital from their intention to enroll through the end of their first semester. The project also coordinates the delivery of timely information through targeted engagement to support student connection to services and the campus community.

El proyecto de Chico State se enfoca en contratar y capacitar a mentores estudiantiles para guiar y apoyar a los estudiantes de primer año. Estos Navegadores de estudiantes, Student Navigators, brindan información oportuna, orientación, confianza y ayudan a expandir el capital social y académico de los estudiantes de primer año desde su intención de inscribirse hasta el final de su primer semestre. El proyecto también coordina la entrega de información oportuna justo en el momento cuando el estudiante la necesite para promover su conexión a los servicios y a la comunidad del campus.

Black Student Success: Our project seeks to support Black/African American students through collaboration with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Academic Affairs) and the Division of Student Affairs to provide a transformative onboarding experience that enables students to have a sense of belonging and engage in culturally-relevant support mechanisms that sets up them up for success and integration in the college.

We want to empower faculty to provide culturally sensitive and relevant referrals, resources, and intervention to historically underrepresented minorities, Pell-eligible, and first-generation students which data shows earn DFW grades at a disproportionate rate compared to other students, by providing faculty data and relevant assessments to make informed decisions about their instructional practices and course structures.

This CSU, Monterey Bay team is addressing the experiences of underrepresented minority students (URM) with non-traditional grading methods in first-year writing courses. We are asking the research question, “What are the impacts of ungrading and other non-traditional grading practices in first-year writing?” in order to improve students’ self-concepts as writers and success at the university. Partly, this involves understanding students’ own definition of “student success” and incorporating that definition into our assessment practices. The CSU, Monterey Bay team plans to 1) hold focus groups with students, 2) facilitate discussion groups with students and faculty, and 3) expand the reach by possibly creating tutor resources for students’ self-evaluations of their writing and webinars or workshops in ungrading for faculty preparing to teach.

A-PLUS (Affordable Pedagogies for Learning for Underserved Students) Team Project: The CSUN Department of Chicano/a Studies is the largest and oldest such department in the country with a proud history of student activism and faculty dedication to social justice. AL$ shares the department’s world views of social justice, fairness, and equality. In order to improve the affordability of course materials in high-impact courses like CHS 100, our goals are to reduce financial and academic barriers for CHS students and increase CHS student engagement and classroom participation by creating a low/zero-cost course materials major pathway. In line with the departments’ curriculum and pedagogical praxis, we will work to reject profit-seeking systems which exploit CHS students and augment CHS faculty academic freedom without the influence of external interests.

Sacramento State Student-Parent Peer Ambassador Pilot Project: Sacramento State developed and implemented the Student-Parent Peer Ambassadors (SPPA) Pilot Project. Our project secured 3 semesters-worth of funding to develop, hire and train five SPPAs through the Parents & Families Program, in collaboration with the College of Continuing Education, the Transfer Resource Center, faculty from the RPTA department, the Women’s Resource Center, and two student-parents. The collaborative, cross-divisional project provides an integral step is to improve student-parent integration and sense of belonging while also helping student-parents navigate the higher education landscape. Through MLA, we developed the SPPA Pilot Program to be a campus-wide support network of 5 peer ambassadors who help student-parents and adult learners navigate campus services and foster a sense of belonging and community for this population. We created a triage and referral system to link pregnant and parenting students to campus and community services, and help give voice to this population to advocate for their needs across campus in and out of the classroom. Student-parents are a large group at Sacramento State; specifically 1 in 3 Hornets has a child. Student-parents are over-represented in many minority groups: 87.5% are women, 77% are low income, 38% are first-generation, and 66% are from communities of color (Sac State OIREP, 2022). Despite a higher GPA than the general population (3.07 compared to 2.91), student-parents take between 9-15 years to earn a bachelor’s degree (Attewell & Lavin, 2007; IWPR, 2019). Student-parents and adult learners must navigate institutional structures, policies, and programs that are largely designed with more “traditional” student populations in mind, which can negatively impact persistence and completion rates (Bergman, 2020). The SPPA Pilot Program helps student-parents by targeting resources and services to help them stay in school and graduate.

Our project supports faculty in closing equity gaps and strengthening retention rates by transforming the culture of student success through generative faculty learning communities (GFLC) that are asset-based, culturally sustaining and result in lasting, sustainable course-level changes.

Official race/ethnicity reporting structures may have historically contributed to an equity gap in resources dedicated to supporting NHPI students. The CSU system aligns race/ethnicity official enrollment reports with federal guidelines. Students who identify as Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander (NHPI) and with another race/ethnicity are categorized in either the Hispanic/Latino or Two or More Races categories in official Census reporting. As of Fall 2021 at CSUSM, 41 students or 0.3% of the total student population identify as NHPI. Yet further analysis reveals 197 students, or 1.4% of all students, identify as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (i.e., Chamorro, Fijian, Samoan) even if it is not their only reported race/ ethnicity.

The Stan State team will develop a Support Notification plan (1) to provide early intervention and targeted outreach to students identified as at risk. Also, to (2) reduce equity gaps and increase retention at the campus level.

Prioritizing an Equity Culture at SSU: Strategies to Support Ongoing and Valued Growth: While SSU has decreased equity gaps as part of the CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025 and corresponding Equity Priorities from the CSU Chancellor’s Office, the gaps persist. Our Equity Culture Collective (ECC) is working to increase student success and eliminate these gaps by shifting our campus culture to one that supports ongoing professional growth that is demonstrably valued by the campus community. This work includes 1) repurposing existing meeting times to include integrated professional growth opportunities related to student equity and success, 2) revising campus policies for faculty retention and tenure, program review, and syllabi to show that this work is valued, and 3) branding for the ECC to create an identifiable campus-wide community focused on the equitable success of all students.

The rising costs of textbooks increase non-tuition costs for students while also impacting access to course materials, academic success, and time to degree. CSUCI has been a leader in textbook affordability with the successful OpenCI initiative but they need to continue to maintain and expand the work being done in this area, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Channel Islands team focused on non-tuition costs for students because with the return to campus this year, they observed many faculty that had adopted OER or other affordable textbook alternatives are returning to traditional and costly textbooks.  The Channel Islands team plans to (1) explore the potential regression in OER efforts across campus and (2) try to minimize reversion to costly course materials.  

The Channel Islands team focused on the disenrollment of students for non-payment with a plan to (1) examine the issue of disenrollment of students for non-payment and the subsequent impact on historically underrepresented groups and (2) examine whether this disenrollment practice is equitable (by race, socioeconomic status, etc.) and if it promotes student success in terms of retention and time to degree. If not, the team wants to create a new process that addresses these inequities while still fulfilling our fiduciary responsibility to the University.

East Bay is 22nd in the CSU in terms of the equity gap for underrepresented minority (URM) students and 23rd in the gap for Pell eligible students. The gap has not improved and has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the shift to online learning. The East Bay team focused on student equity gaps with a plan to (1) develop tools, with appropriate visuals to illuminate opportunity gaps at the individual and departmental levels.(2) To generate self-reflection protocols for faculty to use in examining longitudinal grade data within the larger institutional context. (3) To support individual, strategic, data-informed changes needed to promote equitable student success.

The Humboldt State team is focusing on equity gaps in retention and graduation rates for underserved students with a plan to (1) develop programming and assessment centered on equity, antiracism and cultural bias into specific practices, mindsets, and course outcomes to reduce equity gaps. (2) To build sustainable programming with ESCALA alumni leaders to engage a greater number of faculty and staff in equity work. (3) Finally, to assess the effectiveness of the program through changes in faculty and staff mindsets, campus climate and student outcomes.

The Sacramento State team is focusing on equity gaps with a plan to (1) develop a framework to include cultural competency in instruction in high impact STEM courses with low completion and (2) identify courses or pathways for redesign built upon the principles of cultural competency and subject matter knowledge. They will also focus on (3) developing strategies for practicing cultural inclusion and proficiency in the classroom and (4) building community partnerships with stakeholders across programs and levels around cultural competence.

Project Rebound was created in 1967 to matriculate formerly incarcerated people directly to San Francisco State University. Project Rebound has since expanded to a consortium of 14 CSU campuses. Rebound campuses seek to understand the challenges and opportunities formerly incarcerated students encounter. Project Rebound plans to take data gathered in a Basic Needs survey of Project Rebound students to create  data-driven strategies to mitigate housing and food insecurities faced by Rebound students.

The Adult Re-Entry Learners team is focusing on re-entry learners with a plan to (1) identify and categorize system-level policies and practices that may act as barriers for re-engaging stopped out adult learners and for those learners to persist to completion. (2) Develop ideas for addressing those barriers, as well as ideas for system-level policies and practices that would better support returning learners. The intention is to share this work at the system level, creating an opportunity to collaborate and promote best practices for returning and adult learners.

The CSU San Marcos team represents the new OUGS/Learning and Tutoring Services/Student Life Centers collaboration.  The LTS Directors and the SLC Directors have met and propose to work together to integrate academic support and the Student Life Centers.

The Stan State team is returning to focus on Black student success with a plan (1) to explore factors that contribute to or hinder Black student success by conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis of factors found at the CSU Stanislaus and at comparison institutions. Also to (2) identify relevant, effective strategies to improve Black student success at the campus level.

The San Jose State team will develop an initiative to increase overall First Year persistence and eliminate equity gaps. The project will take a pilot program, Spartan Village, and develop it more intentionally after a quick start-up due to a Chancellor’s Office grant.  The team plans to (1) examine the relationship between Summer Bridge, Orientation and Spartan Village, (2) make the Spartan Village sustainable after the pilot grant period, and (3) use the pilot program to contribute to the improvement in First Year persistence and eliminate the Equity Gap. 

The Chico State team is returning to a faculty focus with a plan to (1) develop a set of resources (readings, sample syllabi and assignments, best practice guides, etc.) to support the faculty equity dashboard that will launch this fall and (2) develop a “Close the Gap” faculty learning community to be offered through the Office of Faculty Development this spring.

The CSU Fullerton team is pursuing implementation of the Titans for Equitable Education plan that was developed during the 19-20 MLA. The proposal for 2019-20 was described as ‘to lead development, branding and implementation of a new student equity initiative on the CSUF campus aiming to increase retention and enhance development of a sense of belonging among underrepresented and Pell-eligible scholars beginning in fall 2019’.

The Cal State LA team is focusing on developing equitable and inclusive residential admission strategies, transition programs, engagement opportunities, co-curricular services, and career development programs, that will help middle leaders to encourage students to live on campus after living off-campus for extended periods of time during Covid-19. With the arrival of Covid-19, Cal State LA had to reduce their residential community to below 10% capacity (approximately 60 students) for 20-21 just as they prepared to open a new community during fall 2021. Campus-wide collaborations will be critical as we transform into a residential community that will promote the academic success and well-being of our diverse student population given the addition of a new 1500 bed facility. Cal State LA serves a high number of first-generation college students.

The Cal Poly SLO team is planning to work on meaningful evaluation of effective and inclusive teaching, which will inform faculty practices, including promotion and tenure decisions. Cal Poly ranks high among public institutions and prides itself on its Learn by Doing philosophy.

The CSU San Marcos team is setting out to create a connected and cohesive pathway of opportunities and resources over the academic life course of the transfer students from orientation to graduation.

The Stan State team is focusing on Black student success. We will do a deep dive into our data looking at the success of Black students. We have many survey tools where we can disaggregate data by race/ethnicity, and no one has done so.

The San Diego State team is focusing on the Men of Color program. This program looks to build a community with a focus on brotherhood, mentorship on all levels, academic success, increasing retention and graduation rates, career readiness, and resources for alumni.

The San Jose State team is proposing to develop a formalized professional development pathway (e.g., certificate or sustainable institute) for faculty in equity-minded and inclusive pedagogy, supported cross-divisionally and managed by our university’s Center for Faculty Development.

Chico State is identifying best practices, both in Academic and Student Affairs, for addressing equity gaps, and providing a strong suite of resources for faculty and staff to implement effective changes, building on the success of the 2018-19 team.

Cal State Fullerton is leading development, branding and implementation of a new student equity initiative on campus aiming to increase retention and enhance development of a sense of belonging among underrepresented and Pell-eligible scholars beginning in Fall 2019.

Humboldt State seeks to develop a coordinated campus-wide infrastructure to support incoming and first year transfer students including pre-matriculation, curricular and co-curricular efforts. This will include the design, implementation, and assessment of: pre-matriculation on-boarding and outreach efforts, a transfer seminar, peer mentoring, advising support, career preparation, and a centralized hub/space.

Cal State Long Beach is working to collaboratively explore the experiences of their campus’ undeclared student population, including different facets of their student experience and disseminate this information to the greater campus.

Cal State LA is working to address the topic of belonging as it relates to Black students, and tenets of the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025 — retention, success, and graduation.

CSUMB is working to develop a framework, including a multi-year implementation process, for engaging lecturer faculty in CSUMB’s equity-focused student success work, including assessing their current reality and establishing a plan to better support lecturers.

SUN looks to design a comprehensive plan for promoting and implementing high impact practices, such as service-learning and community engagement projects, project-based learning, internships and externships, and similar projects across campus.

Sacramento State looks to examine student success indicators and equity gaps within the population of approximately 5000 “Expressed Interest” (EI) student on campus.

CSUSB looks to strengthen the foundation and increase the effectiveness of STEM PLUS+ Pathways Program (SPP) during the critical pilot year. The long-term goal of this project is to develop clear institutionalized four-year STEM holistic student academic and engagement pathways that will greatly benefit their targeted students and serve as a model for their institution at large.

San Jose State is working to research first year experiences that most effective for URM students.

Cal Poly SLO is looking to establish intentional opportunities and partnerships across the university in order to enhance the Cal Poly Scholar experience in a scale-able and sustainable manner.

CSU Bakersfield is developing a student support program to help increase the access, retention, and graduation rates of underrepresented minority (URM) males.

Chico State is defining and institutionalize equity and equity gap language, engaging students to better understand the reasons for higher rates of disqualification for URM students, and beginning to identify effective high-impact classroom practices that it can bring to scale.

Fresno State is investigating ways to connect students to existing campus resources and services during times of crisis to decrease dropout rates and improve their chances of re-enrolling after emergencies.

Cal State Fullerton is examining 1st generation, Pell Grant, and Under-Represented intersectionality for students and associated outcomes in retention and graduation rates. This includes a comprehensive look at equity-minded practices across the campus in an effort to catalog what work is being done in the service of these students and where efforts needs to be improved upon.

Humboldt State is engaged in professional development to facilitate the elimination of equity gaps.

Cal State LA is developing strategies that will facilitate the removal of barriers for foster youth via the implementation of equitable and inclusive practices, and connection to resources that will serve to enhance their graduation rates and overall college-going experience.

Cal Maritime is developing strategies to increase representation of female students as well as improve their leadership development and lived experiences on the campus.

Cal Poly Pomona is creating a 4-year cross-divisional plan to increase student success by addressing equity-minded classroom practices.

Sacramento State is measuring the impact of EO1110 implementation on equitable outcomes in first-year writing and math courses, and, to the extent we find inequities, ascertaining their causes and recommending and implementing solutions.

San Diego State University is focused on improving graduation and retention outcomes of first-generation college students. This will be done by building community through cross-divisional partnerships with our first-generation student community, faculty and student affairs, academic departments, and research and assessment.

San Jose State University is exploring how Calculus level math placement and first year science courses impact both diversity and equity gaps. The problem is multifactorial, and SJSU is working inter-departmentally to develop innovative communications, programming and support based on Carol Dwek’s growth mindset research to address student and parent concerns and disparities in summer transition programs, frosh orientation, academic advising and first year science courses and career readin