By Dr. Shonda Goward

Many CSU campuses were caught unaware when COVID-19 required them to pivot to online instruction and student support in March of 2020. Everyone in the California State University (CSU) transformed their offerings to serve students through online instruction and support. This memo focuses on physical and health disasters, but reputational disaster has also recently struck the CSU and the work the system is doing to review our crisis management protocols there are also important financial assistance.

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By Keena P. Walters and Jaquelyn Caro-Sena

With the recent calls for racial justice across the country, institutions of higher education in California were forced to reflect on their own practices and policies and commit to better serve students of color, particularly Black students. In May 2020, the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s Office, under the leadership of former Chancellor Dr. Timothy P. White, released a Call for Unity and Reunification and later that year reaffirmed the system’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. These responses both inspired and reflected similar actions taken by CSU campuses in which they released statements affirming that Black lives matter and acknowledging the devastating effects of police brutality and racial injustices for communities of color.

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By Breaunna Alexander

Developing a transfer-receptive campus climate within the California State University (CSU) could better support students of color in successfully entering and graduating in a timely manner. Despite higher education administrators’ and researchers’ projected decline in enrollments at the CSU as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 23-campus system experienced a slight uptick in enrollments during the fall 2020 semester.

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By Connie Tan

For the past 17 years, Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales has been teaching in the Asian American Studies Department with a focus on community responsive pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching and evaluation, and Filipina/o/x American Studies. In this interview, Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales encourages faculty, staff, and administrators to examine and understand the structures that create inequities in the CSU system, develop specific and clear equity goals and antiracist campus plans, understand the wealth of knowledge that students bring to campus by actively listening to what they say about their needs and perspectives, and take actions to address student concerns, including implementing a humanizing pedagogy.

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By Connie Tan

The convergence of a global pandemic and pervasive patterns of racial injustice has magnified the deep structural and social inequities in the United States. In this interview, Dr. Leece Lee-Oliver (Blackfeet, Choctaw, Wyandot, Cherokee), assistant professor of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and American Indian Studies and director of American Indian Studies at Fresno State University, explores the context for and implications of racial equity work in the California State University (CSU). Other interviews by the CSU Network addressing equity in the CSU include conversations with Dr. Frank Harris III (Download PDF), Dr. William Franklin and Dr. J. Luke Wood, and a student plenary at the CSU Student Success Network Conference in 2020.

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By Jaquelyn Caro-Sena

Undocumented students in colleges and universities face an array of challenges unique to their immigration status including a high risk of COVID-19 exposure, economic insecurity, lack of access to financial aid, volatile immigration policies, and discriminatory policies and practices at various campus levels. Each year, 27,000 undocumented high school seniors graduate from California schools, but less than 10% pursue higher education. At the postsecondary level, there are up to 70,000 undocumented students in the California Community Colleges, approximately 9,500 in the California State University (CSU), and about 4,000 at the University of California.

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By Breaunna Alexander

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. This memo summarizes existing literature in that area. Key findings from the literature indicate that opportunities for collaboration appear to be particularly crucial for online learning environments, and that by actively building a strong “teaching presence” and “social presence” faculty can facilitate collaboration and engagement among students.

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By Connie Tan
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. This memo summarizes existing literature in that area. Key findings from the literature indicate that opportunities for collaboration appear to be particularly crucial for online learning environments, and that by actively building a strong “teaching presence” and “social presence” faculty can facilitate collaboration and engagement among students.

Read Memo