Event
Beyond Designation: Thinking Intentionally about Servingness in the CSU
- November 5, 2025 • 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM PT
- VIRTUAL
Overview
Inspired by the passage of SB 1348 establishing the state designation of “Black Serving Institutions” (BSIs), this virtual convening will bring together CSU students, staff, including institutional researchers, administrators and faculty to discuss the concept of servingness within the context of BSIs, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Asian American, Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs).
During our morning session, we will engage with one another to consider how recent challenges to the availability of federal grant funding provide opportunities to rethink how we define, practice, measure, and sustain servingness–in ways that are meaningful to students. This session is designed for all who might engage in servingness, including faculty, program staff, researchers, and administrators.
Following lunch, the second half of the convening will dive deeply into how to operationalize and measure servingness. Most appropriate for practitioners in the CSU who work with or aim to work with data within their servingness efforts, this session will include opportunities for participants to actively engage with data.
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Robert (BJ) Snowden, Ed.D.
Executive Director of the Central Office for the Advancement of Black Student Success, California State University, Sacramento
Dr. BJ Snowden, is an equity-driven higher education leader with over 22 years of experience in instruction, student affairs, and institutional effectiveness. He currently serves as the interim Executive Director of the CSU Central Office for the Advancement of Black Student Success, where he leads statewide efforts to institutionalize equity-centered policies, implement systemwide strategic goals, and certify Black-Serving Institutions across California.
His commitment to community and student success has earned him numerous recognitions, including being named one of Sacramento’s Black Change Makers by the Sacramento Bee in 2023 and receiving the Community College Outstanding Leadership Award from Sacramento State.
Dr. Snowden holds a Doctorate in International & Multicultural Education with an emphasis in Racial Justice from the University of San Francisco, a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Radio, TV, and Film Production from San Jose State University.
Timothy P. Fong, Ph.D.
Dr. Timothy P. Fong is the Inaugural Executive Director (ED) of the California State University Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Student Achievement Program (CSU ASAP). The ED is responsible for all aspects of establishing and leading a central office to administer the CSU ASAP. The Central Office operates on behalf of the CSU Chancellor’s Office (CO) to allocate programmatic funding, support program development and training, and build a network across the CSU system in support of AANHPI student success. The office is housed at the Sacramento State campus. Dr. Fong was previously Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and was the founding Project Director and Principal Investigator for the Full Circle Project (FCP) funded by the U.S. Department of Education. FCP is a comprehensive approach to implement a strategically focused, campus-wide effort to improve retention and graduation rates of underrepresented and underserved Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students. FCP aims to assist AAPI students throughout his or her entire college careers and provide ample opportunities to engage in service both on and off campus to enhance their university experience.
Middle leaders who are engaged or interested in servingness within MSIs. These virtual conversations do not require a team.