Welcome to the Knowledge Center, an online resource for CSU faculty, staff, and administrators. The Knowledge Center provides curated, synthesized, and succinct information and links to support CSU middle leaders in adopting equity-minded and student-centered approaches on their campus.
Knowledge Center Memos
Prepared for Devastation: Crisis Management versus Disaster Reactions in Higher Education
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.nancial assistance.
CSU Leaders Navigating the Pandemic and Racial Injustice
By Madeleine R. Kerrick, Breaunna Alexander, Connie Tan
The California State University (CSU) campuses, like many institutions, contended with the magnification of deep-rooted structural and social inequities when the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckoning of May 2020 converged. These findings highlight that campuses need to address equity with the same level of responsiveness and action-orientation with which they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I Had to Surpass”: Administrative Barriers that First-generation College Students of Color Face
By Keena P. Walters
We define administrative barriers as nonacademic processes and protocols that students must complete to succeed in the university. We share our findings with specific recommendations and actions to remove administrative barriers that can increase student success, such as providing clearer communication about requirements and deadlines and improving access to financial assistance.
Prepared for Devastation: Crisis Management versus Disaster Reactions in Higher Education
By Dr. Shonda Goward An immediate emergency response is something that the CSU knows how to execute, for example, during the excessive heat of 2022 or the Tubbs Fire of 2017 that impacted Sonoma State. Where the CSU has room to develop is with...
“I Had to Surpass”: Administrative Barriers that First-generation College Students of Color Face
By Keena P. Walters First-generation college students that are also Students of Color face additional challenges in their college journeys, compared with continuing-generation students, as they must figure out how to navigate university processes...
Supporting Black Students in the CSU through Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Representation, and Respect
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...
Network Research
CSU Leaders Navigating the Pandemic and Racial Injustice
By Madeleine R. Kerrick, Breaunna Alexander, Connie Tan The California State University (CSU) campuses, like many institutions, contended with the magnification of deep-rooted structural and social inequities when the COVID-19 pandemic and racial...
Destination Integration: Perspectives of Students and Advisors about Improving Academic Advising
May 2019 In this second of our two part series exploring advising practices on five CSU campuses, we expand on the previous report by bringing in the voices of advisors and students at these five campuses, and summarizing the perspectives of...
Destination Integration: Strategies to Improve Academic Advising
December 2018 Many campuses across the California State University (CSU) system are seeking to improve academic advising as part of their efforts to increase student progress and graduation rates. In this exploratory study of efforts to improve...
CSU Leaders Navigating the Pandemic and Racial Injustice
By Madeleine R. Kerrick, Breaunna Alexander, Connie Tan The California State University (CSU) campuses, like many institutions, contended with the magnification of deep-rooted structural and social inequities when the COVID-19 pandemic and racial...
Destination Integration: Perspectives of Students and Advisors about Improving Academic Advising
May 2019 In this second of our two part series exploring advising practices on five CSU campuses, we expand on the previous report by bringing in the voices of advisors and students at these five campuses, and summarizing the perspectives of...
Destination Integration: Strategies to Improve Academic Advising
December 2018 Many campuses across the California State University (CSU) system are seeking to improve academic advising as part of their efforts to increase student progress and graduation rates. In this exploratory study of efforts to improve...
Tips and Strategies From Middle Leaders
Disaster Management Tips and Strategies
On March 4, 2022, 30 individuals from 14 CSU campuses came together virtually to learn from others about how to manage campuses and departments during a crisis-and after. They also spent time thinking about the ways that middle leaders have a...
CSU Student Success Network Strategies for Practitioners
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...
CSU Faculty and Staff Share Strategies to Support Students Online
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...
Literature from the Field
Supporting Transfer Students at San Diego State: A Case Study about Middle Leadership
July 2021 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...
The COVID-19 Caretaking Crisis: How Faculty Can Support Student Parents during Virtual Learning
March 2021 According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), approximately 22% of students in U.S. community colleges and public four-year universities are parenting at least one dependent under 18 years old. This is a significant...
Laying a Foundation for Equity Work on Campus: A Profile of the Chico State Team at the CSU Network’s Middle Leadership Academy
By Thad Nodine, Senior Fellow, EdInsights This is the fifth in a series of blogs by the CSU Student Success Network to share information about efforts to eliminate equity gaps in the CSU. When faculty, staff, and administrators from Chico...
Supporting Transfer Students at San Diego State: A Case Study about Middle Leadership
July 2021 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...
The COVID-19 Caretaking Crisis: How Faculty Can Support Student Parents during Virtual Learning
March 2021 According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), approximately 22% of students in U.S. community colleges and public four-year universities are parenting at least one dependent under 18 years old. This is a significant...
Laying a Foundation for Equity Work on Campus: A Profile of the Chico State Team at the CSU Network’s Middle Leadership Academy
By Thad Nodine, Senior Fellow, EdInsights This is the fifth in a series of blogs by the CSU Student Success Network to share information about efforts to eliminate equity gaps in the CSU. When faculty, staff, and administrators from Chico...
The Knowledge Center and the CSU Network are facilitated by the Education Insights Center (EdInsights) at Sacramento State, an independent research and policy center devoted to student success and the public benefits of education.
Questions or Comments?
Contact us at studentsuccessnetwork@edinsightscenter.org
Student Success
Network Calendar
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
THURSDAY, MARCH 2
9:00am
Your Power in Middle Leadership: Building Equity Focused Programs, Holiday Inn, San Diego, CA
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
9:00am
Your Power in Middle Leadership: Building Equity Focused Programs, Holiday Inn, San Diego, CA
THURSDAY, APRIL 13
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
FRIDAY, APRIL 14
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
SATURDAY, APRIL 15
12:30pm
In-person Middle Leadership Academy
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