California State University, Channel Islands
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

California State University Channel Islands is committed to serving the diverse educational needs of the people of the State of California and the world’s diverse population. This commitment extends to the pledge to create an educational and work environment in which diversity is viewed as a desirable and valuable asset to the University itself and the community it serves. The CSU Systemwide Guidelines for Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Programs in Employment (Executive Order 1088 and Executive Order 1096), affirms California State University's commitment to non-discrimination on the basis of disability and to providing reasonable accommodations upon request by qualified individuals with disabilities. The California State University is committed to maintaining and implementing employment policies and procedures that comply with applicable state and federal nondiscrimination and affirmative action laws and regulations. Discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, medical condition, and covered veteran status is prohibited. Additionally, Executive Order 1088 and Executive Order 1096 prohibits retaliation for filing a discrimination complaint, opposing a discriminatory act, or participating in a discrimination investigation or proceeding.
For a full description, view Executive Order 1088 and Executive Order 1096.
The non discrimination statement is posted online here: http://www.csuci.edu/drp/nondiscrimination.htm

CSUCI's Investigation Procedure can be viewed in this flowchart: https://www.csuci.edu/titleix/documents/1097-policy-and-procedure-flowchart-incident-response.pdf

Under guidance from Executive Order 1096/1097, those who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, act of discrimination or hate crime can receive support from the office of Title IX & Inclusion. The Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation (“DHR”) Administrator within the office is responsible for developing Campus training policies, conducting training, and establishing an administrative structure that facilitates the prevention and elimination of Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation.

The University will respond to all Complaints and will take appropriate action to prevent, correct, and discipline conduct that is in violation of Executive Order 1096/1097. When an allegation of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation has been reported to the DHR Administrator, outreach to schedule an intake interview commences immediately.

During the intake interview, the investigation procedure and timelines are discussed, the Complainant is informed of their Rights & Options, including the right to have an Advisor for any meeting held with the university, and reasonable interim remedies are determined. The Early Resolution process is also discussed as a viable means to address the allegation depending on the severity of the incident.

Interim remedies may include, but are not limited to referral to Counseling and Psychological Services (students) or the Employee Assistance Program (employees), No Contact Orders, classroom accommodations, work schedule alterations, or supervisory changes.

Article III of CSU Executive Order 1097 outlines the Campus Procedure for Responding to Complaints regarding discrimination or harassment. The procedure states that campuses will respond to all complaints and take appropriate action to prevent, correct, and discipline conduct that violates the Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimintation, Harassment, and Retaliation (EO 1097). All complaints will be reported to the DHR Administrator (Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation) or Title IX Coordinator (Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking). The date of receipt shall be deemed to be the Complaint filing date. The DHR Administrator/Title IX Coordinator shall offer reasonable accommodations to Students who are unable to submit a Complaint because of a qualified Disability. Complainants also have the option to initiate an Early Resolution Process if they would like to explore whether their complaint can be resolved by the university without an investigation. For complaints that do not pursue the Early Resolution Process, the university will investigate the complaint, whether or not a formal written complaint is submitted. Full detail of the investigation and complaint resolution process is available in Artile III of EO 1097: https://tinyurl.com/qvusxz9

California State University Channel Islands has implemented several programs with the purpose of recruiting underrepresented students. Admissions and Recruitment visits high schools and community colleges within CI’s service region (Southern Santa Barbara County to the north and Northern Los Angeles County to the south, and east to Santa Clarita). Admissions and Recruitment also participates in CSU initiatives to reach underrepresented students as well as attend regional and national college fairs as far north as the Central Coast/Central Valley and as far south as San Diego. The CSU initiatives for underserved students encompass providing services and outreach to the following populations: Hispanic/Latino, African American, Asian & Pacific Islander, as well as Native American. Furthermore, Admissions and Recruitment hosts many high school and community college groups throughout the year. Last year, nearly 5,200 guests from 118 groups visited campus and received an admissions presentation and tour of campus. The vast majority of groups consists of high schools serving underrepresented/underserved students. Finally, individual and family tours are offered on weekdays throughout the year as well as on select Saturdays. These tours, like the group ones, attract a very diverse student body from the local area as well as points north and south.

The CSU’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) provides admission, academic and financial support services to historically underserved students throughout California.The primary goal of the EOP is to improve access of low-income, first generation and historically disadvantaged students with potential for academic success by making higher education a possibility. EOP provides a comprehensive program of support services which include, but are not limited to, recruitment, preadmission counseling, orientation, summer program, diagnostic testing, financial aid follow-up, special admissions, pre introductory instruction, academic advisement, tutoring, learning skill services, and personal, educational and career counseling.

As the largest producer of teachers in California, the CSU is being called upon to expand its teacher preparation programs to meet the staffing needs of California's K-12 school districts. Teacher shortages in the state are projected to last for the next decade, and the Chancellor's Office of the CSU and campuses have initiated efforts to meet this demand. A number of campuses are involved in EduCorps, a comprehensive teacher recruitment effort to identify and encourage promising undergraduate students to consider a career in teaching. The effort has a special emphasis on attracting and preparing more male and female teachers of color with the goal of providing students with role models from their own backgrounds. EduCorps represents a community of individuals interested in shaping the future through teaching. Its two key purposes are:
-to significantly increase the number and diversity of students entering CSU's teacher preparation programs, especially in high-need areas such as mathematics, science, special education, and bilingual education
-to provide ongoing, high-quality support to members on their path to earning their teaching credential

CSUCI has recognized the need to increase diversity in the faculty body. In order to do this, CI has launched the Advancing Faculty Diversity (AFD) project. The AFD project is evidence-based, and illuminates more clearly the need for change to develop processes and concrete outcomes for the future. A funded grant allowed four faculty to serve as AFD Leads. The AFD Leads conducted research and developed a list of recommendations that are being instituted for the 2019-20 faculty recruitment cycle. With the addition of a new AVP, CI is overhauling the entire tenure-track faculty recruitment process to include these six recommendations:

1. Inclusive Job Search Criteria: New Faculty Position announcements with equity-minded language through-out and includes criteria that requires applicants to write statements both on teaching and mentoring diverse students with a focus on Latinx, African American, and American Indian
2. All Advertisement is utilizing equity-minded language and an emphasis on CI as an HSI
3. New Training for Search Committees emphasizes the use of an equity-minded lens in recruitment from faculty position announcements to targeted outreach
4. Equity Advocates are elected from the membership on each Search Committee and Faculty Affairs to ensure that ALL search committees are elected by its faculty
5. Implicit Bias Training (webinar on “Implicit and Explicit Bias in Hiring a Diverse Faculty” with Shaun Harper, USC Center on Urban Education-CUE) is now Mandatory Training for all members of Search Committees
6. Certification of Applicant Pools: New Requirement for applicant pools to be certified before Phone Interviews and before invitations extended for Campus Interviews by AVP for Faculty Affairs, to ensure diversity is represented in the pool and that diverse qualified candidates are not being overlooked

CSU Channel Islands offers a multitude of programs for underrepresented students.

Underrepresented Student Initiatives was established fall 2016 in the area of Retention, Outreach & Inclusive Student Services. Housed within the Multicultural Dream Center at CSU Channel Islands, Underrepresented Student Initiatives supports the retention and persistence of marginalized populations including, but not limited to, those who identify as Latino, African American/Black, Asian American & Pacific Islanders, LGBTQ+, Assembly Bill (AB) 540, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), or undocumented. Our services seek to provide resources and foster a student-centered campus community dedicated to the holistic success of our students. Key events and services include: mentoring, academic assistance, career exploration, workshops on scholarships and graduate school and more.
https://www.csuci.edu/mdc/programs/underrepresented-student-initiatives.htm

A new program at CSU Channel Islands focuses on student academic success by increasing engagement and fostering a sense of belonging on campus for African American students. Made possible by a grant from the CSU Chancellor's Office, the African American Outreach & Transitions Academy (AATA) connects incoming CSUCI freshmen with faculty and staff mentors of color who help them overcome obstacles, develop an academic identity and navigate successfully through their first year.

The Promoting Independence and Educational Resources (PIER) program is a one-semester, voluntary transition and retention program targeting freshmen and new transfer students with disabilities enrolled in Disability Accommodations & Support Services (DASS) at California State University Channel Islands (CI). The PIER program connects first-year freshmen and transfer students to knowledgeable peer and staff mentors who help them get academically and socially acclimated to CI. Program requirements include: weekly meetings with a mentor, attending one workshop offered during the semester, and meeting with an academic advisor and instructors at least once during the semester.
https://www.csuci.edu/dass/students/support-programs.htm

The PATH Program supports and empowers students who are foster youth, adopted, in guardianship or kinship care, and/or have experienced homelessness. PATH provides services aimed to meet the unique needs of displaced students to improve access, retention and graduation rates.

Hispanic students are encouraged to join Adelante Mujer, El Club de Espanol, and M.E.Ch.A. These programs encourage students to appreciate and embrace their Latina/o heritage.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students can participate in Spectrum (safe place for these individuals to express their gender identity), Coming Out Week, Coming Out Stars which are all programs designed for LGBT students to feel accepted into the CI community.

Workforce Recruitment Program: Disability Resource Programs Collaborates with the Department of Treasury, Washington D.C. to provide CI students with disabilities the opportunity to interview for nation-wide internship opportunities.

The CSU’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) provides admission, academic and financial support services to historically underserved students throughout California.The primary goal of the EOP is to improve access of low-income, first generation and historically disadvantaged students with potential for academic success by making higher education a possibility. EOP provides a comprehensive program of support services which include, but are not limited to, recruitment, preadmission counseling, orientation, summer program, diagnostic testing, financial aid follow-up, special admissions, pre introductory instruction, academic advisement, tutoring, learning skill services, and personal, educational and career counseling.

The Center for Multicultural Engagement (CME) encourages and supports faculty to enhance multicultural and diverse perspectives as they engage in teaching, mentoring, program development, research, and creative endeavors. The CME provides mini-grants for faculty to integrate and enhance multicultural learning, develop mentorship opportunities for underrepresented students, conduct multicultural research, conduct community service, and other initiatives that further enhance multicultural perspectives and inclusion on campus.

CSUCI is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). The NCFDD is a nationally-recognized independent organization dedicated to supporting faculty, particularly under-represented faculty, post-docs, and graduate students in making successful transitions throughout their careers. CSUCI's membership with NCFDD provides online career development, training, and mentoring resources for underrepresented academic staff. Resources available through the NCFDD program include access to the Motivator Newsletter, webinars, multi-week courses, library of resources, job search process resources, and access to coaching and editing services. The membership also includes access to private discussion forums for faculty to network, seek support from peers, share information, and participate in challenges.

1. The California State University Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) is a program designed to increase the number of faculty with the qualifications, motivation, and skills needed to teach the diverse students of the CSU. CDIP prepares promising doctoral students for CSU faculty positions by providing financial support, mentorship by CSU faculty and professional development and grant resources. The mentorship provided in the CDIP helps students at every stage of their doctoral studies and also as they begin their professional career as a candidate for faculty positions. The mentor and mentee develop a Collaborative Plan of Support you that serves as the road map for the activities they will engage in together to prepare the mentee in the three facets of a professor's responsibilities: teaching, research and service.

2. The California Pre-Doctoral Program is designed to increase the pool of potential California State University faculty by supporting the doctoral aspirations of CSU students who have experienced economic and educational disadvantages. In 2018-19, the California Pre-Doctoral Program awarded funds to approximately 75 juniors, seniors and graduate students in the CSU. These funds are designed to enable current students to explore and prepare to succeed in doctoral programs in their chosen field of study. Awards are based on competitive review of student applications and given to current upper-division or graduate students who, in the judgment of the review panel, demonstrate academic excellence while experiencing economic or educational disadvantage, as well as committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level. All matriculated students enrolled on a CSU campus are eligible to participate.

3. The California Forums for Diversity in Graduate Education, planned by a consortium of public and private colleges and universities from throughout California, have been designed particularly to meet the needs of advanced undergraduates and master's candidates who belong to groups that are currently underrepresented in doctoral-level programs. The groups include low-income and first-generation college students and especially African Americans, American Indians, Chicanos/Latinos, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, Asian American women, and Asian American men in the arts, humanities, and social and behavioral sciences. CI has had the honor of hosting the 20th Annual California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education on Saturday, April 17, 2010. The Forum brings together approximately 1,000 pre-selected, high-achieving undergraduate and master’s students. The students will have an opportunity to explore graduate opportunities and resources by participating in numerous workshops conducted throughout the day. Students will also attend a graduate school recruitment fair where they will have an opportunity to interact with program recruiters from across the United States.
https://www.caldiversityforum.org/index.php

California Pre-Doctoral Program: http://www.calstate.edu/predoc/
Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program: http://www.calstate.edu/hr/cdip/

California Forums for Diversity in Graduate Education:
http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/forum-for-diversity/recruiters/

https://www.csuci.edu/hr/documents/ci-unisex-restroom-locations.pdf

https://www.csuci.edu/cme/

https://facultydevelopment.csuci.edu/ncfdd.htm