California State University, San Marcos
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

The California State University does not discriminate on the basis of gender, which includes sex and gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation in its education programs or activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and certain other federal and state laws, prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation in employment, as well as in all education programs and activities operated by the University (both on and off campus). The protection against discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation includes sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and gender based dating and domestic violence and stalking.

https://www.csusm.edu/title9/index.html

With the arrival of a new president in 2019, the focus has shifted to be centered around a culture of care and how does every aspect of what we do focus on Inclusive Excellence. So it's not just about the bias response's protocol but shifting the culture to be more proactive instead of reactionary when dealing with discrimination.

For students: The CARE Team (Campus Assessment, Response, and Education) promotes a safe and productive learning, living, and working environment by identifying, discussing, investigating, evaluating, and working on student behavior that poses a concern, potential threat, or actual threat to self or others. The CARE Team is comprised of Dean of Students, Student Life and Leadership Director, AVP DEEO, AVP of Communications, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and University Police, as well as ad hoc committee members as necessary.

For Faculty: Faculty - Advocacy, Care, Engagement and Support (FACES) began as an initiative to address the needs of faculty but in 2020 the initiative shifted into a university wide program aimed at institutionalizing a system of care. FACES serves as a vehicle to acknowledge and work to find solutions to various faculty related issues and needs at CSUSM. One main area of focus is faculty support through campus related and national crises, issues surrounding departmental and campus related racial tension, faculty to faculty (bullying) incivility, and the need for relevant professional trainings to address student needs.

The website for bias reporting and more information can be found here: https://www.csusm.edu/equity/reporthate.html

Protocol for response includes:
1. Immediate response to the person reporting the incident. This response includes a care and acknowledgement piece for the harm done.
2. Discussion of possible actions/options available for the person reporting the incident.
3. The process also includes involving other entities on campus that can contribute to the solution.
4. The solution ranges from preventative education to restorative justice. Strategic actions that the campus can take to improve campus climate within the particular context occur following an incident.

Examples of these strategic actions taken in the last couple years include: Beloved Community Initiative, the Council of Care and the reimagining of the Campus Police Departments role and support with bias response. Also, a committee formed for Freedom of Speech. Lastly, the President created an action plan to address anti-blackness and systemic racism (https://www.csusm.edu/president/email-messages-from-president-neufeldt/08.05.20.action.plan.to.address.anti.blackness.and.systemic.racism.pdf)

In addition, there was a re-design of the website to make it easier for people to report an incident.
https://www.csusm.edu/equity/reporthate.html

In addition to the Bias Response team, the Critical Issues Team (CIT) is advisory to the President and Vice Presidents, charged with the following:

1. Proactively and re-actively address campus concerns and issues.
2. Receive and develop university response to campus concerns and issues.
3. Make recommendations to the President and Vice Presidents via the Chief of Staff on actions to address campus wide concerns or issues, which may include communications strategies, training, programming, or commitment of university resources.
4. Respond to early alerts regarding events, activities, demonstrations, or gatherings that may involve or have adverse impacts to campus or on university operations.
5. Review upcoming or unanticipated events to assess security and other university resource needs, and develop university response messaging.
6. Develop protocol for responding to unplanned or disruptive activities and incidents. Make recommendations for changes to university policies, procedures, or protocols.
7. Mobilize during immediate or unplanned activities to take immediate actions within established protocols.
8. Meet as needed to establish processes and protocols and to respond to situations.

For Students:

• Memorandums of Understanding and Guaranteed Admissions Programs.
Admissions and Recruitment works directly with the counselors and students from the eight Alliance to Accelerate Excellence in Education (The Alliance) School Districts, the Santa Isabel Tribal Community Initiative, and Foster Youth Initiatives.

• The Alliance at CSU San Marcos is a regionally focused initiative intended to improve the college attendance and completion rates of students within North County. Guided by principles of partnership, collaboration and academic excellence, the Alliance serves as the oversight and support office for guaranteed admission agreements with nine area school districts. The Alliance has allowed us to increase the number of first generation, low income and underrepresented students at CSUSM.

• The Tribal Community Initiative is in place on campus and includes a guaranteed admission with the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel through the CSUSM and Santa Isabel Tribal MOU. CSUSM’s California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center attracts Native American students. At CSUSM we have a full time Tribal Liaison who works regularly with the 18 local tribes, one of her duties is to recruit students. At CSUSM we also host the Dream the Impossible Native American Youth Conference for K-12 students that brings hundreds of Native youth from all over the country to our campus and allows them to imagine college as a goal.

• CSUSM also has three Memorandums of Understanding that provide former foster students automatic admissions. The MOU’s are with the San Pasqual Academy Foster Youth and the Counties of San Diego and Riverside.

• The CSU San Marcos Admissions Office has an MOU to accommodate students meeting routine eligibility requirements from out of our local admissions area who are in the Pathways in Education program: http://www.pathwaysedu.org/. For information regarding our local area for admissions and impaction, please go to: http://www.csusm.edu/admissions/impaction/

• CSUSM also initiated two new MOU’s this past fall with College Bound California http://collegeboundca.org/ and Reality Changers http://realitychangers.org/. Our admissions office will work diligently to 1) inform and assist prospective students in these programs about the admissions process 2) increase offers of admission to qualified candidates and 3) ultimately increase the number of students from our California communities who are underserved, and predominantly first generation.

• To best serve the growing number students associated with the School Districts in the Alliance, as well as those in our own MOU’s, the admissions office has created and hired a new ‘Assistant Director of Recruitment and School Partnerships’ position as well as an Admissions Officer, Coordinator of School Partnerships.

• Unit/Department Efforts
CSUSM’s EOP program also recruits underrepresented students and hosts the “Brother’s Gonna Work it Out” youth conference that helps in the recruitment of underrepresented youth.

• Our CAMP program is designed for students from migrant families and works with K-12 migrant education programs assisting with college readiness and transition to college programs. CAMP works with primarily a Latino migrant student population, although the students can be of any racial or ethnic groups as long as they are classified as migrant.

• CAMP recruitment efforts include presentations to high schools in San Diego, Imperial, and Coachella Counties College Fairs and professional conferences.

• Evaluation of high school transcripts are made by CAMP counselors to ensure that students meet all CSU A-G entrance requirements in 11 & 12th grade. If they are not meeting entrance requirements then they have time to make up courses.

• The Graduate Program at CSUSM takes students to the annual California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education. The forum is held statewide and prepares students to select, apply and prepare for graduate programs.

• Admissions has created and assigned a new position to a to recruit and retain underrepresented prospects and seek out new partnerships.

• Signed a new partnership/MOU and service agreement with the Blue Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on the education and empowerment of underserved youth ages 13-18 in the greater San Diego County community.

• Events included information sessions, campus tour, housing tour and CSU Mentor workshops.

• Assisted in the creation of two new MOU's with Sherman and Noli Indian High Schools that provides guaranteed admissions. Noli is a middle school and high school on the Soboba Indian Reservation near San Jacinto in Riverside County. All of its students are American Indian as determined by tribal enrollment or Bureau of Indian Affairs affiliated status. Sherman is an off-reservation boarding school for American Indian students in Riverside.

For Faculty and Staff:
In an effort to recruit and increase diversity at our university for faculty and staff we advertise in diversity publications and/or job boards to attract diverse candidates such as s the following:

1. Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
2. Latina/o Caucus (LLC) of CFA
3. Hispanic Caucus of AERA.
4. Bilingual/Bicultural Caucus of AERA
5. California Association of Asian Pacific American Education (CAAPAE)
6. American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AASTP)
7. American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
8. Association for Women in Science
9. Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
10. National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers

We participate in diversity recruitment events. We request diversity accomplishments from job candidates to consider in the hiring process.

We require search firms we use to include diverse candidates as part of the pool of job candidates. We do require search firms to include us with diverse candidates as a part of the pool but specifically for our Manager/Administrative positions and although we do not require diverse job candidates to be included in the final pool of all candidates we look at the diversity of pools and don't move forward without diversity shown. Strategic funding is used to hire diverse candidates to be competitive with salary, benefits and start-up funds to garner a yes from all selected candidates. Participation in diversity-related programming is considered in the tenure and promotion processes as service.

We have also reviewed and revised all recruitment and hiring procedures to include best practices in diversity. Our Human Resource’s office has created a new recruitment guide this year to help with pre-recruitment information and information specific to the formation of search committees and required diversity training. Developing and implementing processes to ensure that job descriptions are created and reviewed to consider and address diversity. Also each division and college (and its components where appropriate) are identifying any underrepresentation and inequities in retention rates among its employees. Each division or college will develop strategies to remedy any identified underrepresentation or inequity in retention and integrate these strategies into its strategic plans.

For Students:

Student Health and Counseling offers a variety of mentoring, counseling, peer support for underrepresented students. In addition, our centers on campus: LatinX Center, Black Student Center, Cross Cultural Center, Pride Center offer mentoring and peer support.
ACE Scholars serves our foster youth students and provides a variety of services to our students.

Project Rebound was developed to assist formally incarcerated students.

Student Support Services (SSS) is a TRIO program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. TRIO SSS has been hosted at Cal State San Marcos since 1993 and is currently funded to provide support to 200 students from first-generation, low-income and disability backgrounds. The primary purpose of TRIO SSS is to increase the retention and graduation of first generation students.

DREAMer Resource Office is specifically designed to support undocumented students.

Veteran Services provides opportunities for mentorship and professional development; networking and portfolio building; and to meet with VA claims representatives and university deans.

Faculty/Staff:
CSUSM has the Faculty/Staff Associations the office of Diversity, Educational Equity & Inclusion considers it a priority to support the meaningful work of the various Faculty/Staff Associations (FSAs). FSAs are all-volunteer organizations, officially recognized by the institution through our office, which allows them to apply for funding and host events on campus. The following FSAs are officially recognized:

• Black Faculty Staff Association (BFSA)
• Asian Pacific Islander Faculty Staff Association (APIFSA)
• Latino Association of Faculty & Staff (LAFS)
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and Ally Faculty Staff
Association (LGBTQA FSA)
And newly developed is our Jewish Faculty Staff Association


Each of the Faculty Staff Associations also help create a supportive campus environment for faculty and staff of color, through networking, building community, providing activities to assist in retention and promotion by offering professional development opportunities for faculty and staff of color. For example, every year all of the Faculty & Staff associations come together to offer a free leadership conference. The conference offers professional development to faculty and staff by discussing strategies for career advancement and sharing insights on how to navigate the unique challenges that people of color and other underrepresented groups might encounter in the workplace, the conference supports all faculty and staff who want to enhance their development of skills and professional growth opportunities.

In addition the Following services are offered:
• University Ombuds- The Office of University Ombuds is a confidential place to talk and helps current CSUSM faculty, staff and enrolled students resolve University-related conflicts, disputes or complaints on an informal basis. CSUSM faculty, staff and students can work with the Omuds to develop options, explore solutions and understand policy where appropriate. Ombuds can also provide referrals. The office is confidential, neutral, informal and independent.
• CSUSM offers the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP is a professional counseling service to assist employees and their family members through a period of personal difficulty. This service consists of trained and experienced licensed clinical professionals with special expertise in counseling individuals with personal problem. The program is always confidential.
• LGBTQIA Safe Space is a group support offered by our Student Health and Counseling Services Office. This group provides a safe and supportive environment for persons who identify as LGBTQIA, those who might be questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, and those who would like support as they navigate the coming out process. Come join us to meet new people, build a sense of community, and to share your experiences (both the benefits and challenges) of being LGBTQIA.
• FAMILIA UNIDA EMPOWERING RAZA (F.U.E.RZA ) is a mentoring program developed within the PASO HSI grant designed to meet the needs of the Latino male PASO Scholars in their second year with resources and support that are not currently available to them. As part of the F.U.E.RZA mentoring program, students Critically reflect on their diverse experiences as Latinx/Chicanx students to develop an awareness of social inequalities and structural barriers to academic progress in order to effectively advocate for self and others. Identify strengths that are rooted in cultural heritage thereby enriching cultural capital to overcome adversity, promote academic success, develop positive ethnic identity, and foster agency.
• The Faculty Mentoring Program(FMP)at CSUSM serves to enhance the retention and graduation rates of first-generation and economically-disadvantaged college students. Research suggests that the most effective way we can achieve these goals is by reducing social estrangement and creating a university culture of positive participation and support. The Faculty Mentoring Program is to help students from limited socioeconomic backgrounds to complete their college education. Understanding and respecting cultures other than one’s own is at the core of the program. Thus, the FMP works tirelessly to ensure that all CSUSM students, regardless of immigration/refugee status, are made to feel welcome, supported and respected.

• The Office for Training, Research and Education in the Sciences (OTRES) provides a supportive multicultural environment for student and faculty career development in the biomedical sciences and related disciplines. The OTRES sponsors programs that focus on science education, student support services, research training, and research participation. OTRES houses three key programs that support underrepresented students. Those programs are Maximizing Access to Research Careers -Undergraduate Student Training for Academic Research (MARC U* STAR), and the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE). Both programs are funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH/NIGMS) intended to prepare qualified undergraduate and or graduate minority students majoring in the sciences to enter and succeed in doctoral studies (Ph.D. or M.D. /Ph.D.). The program is for underrepresented students in the sciences, which include American Indians or Alaska Natives, Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, or students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students. The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program is a joint project of the National Science Foundation and The California State University. The objectives are To increase the number of students from underrepresented groups graduating from college with degrees in Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM)To increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who pursue graduate studies in STEM.

The following programs are here to support and prepare students from under represented groups for professional careers:

1. Maximizing Access to Research Careers: https://www.csusm.edu/otres/marcprogram/index.html

2. The RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) Program at
CSU San Marcos is funded by the National Institute of General
Medical Sciences (NIH/NIGMS). The RISE Program is intended to prepare talented
and motivated minority undergraduate and graduate students majoring in the sciences to enter and succeed in doctoral studies (Ph.D. or M.D. /Ph.D.). The RISE Program is for underrepresented students in the sciences, which include American Indians or Alaska Natives, Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, or students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students


3. CSUSM’s OTRES program also recruits underrepresented students for both undergraduate and graduate STEM programs. Most of OTRES recruiting efforts are aimed at CSUSM students for graduate programs. They send emails, post flyers, and seek recommendations from faculty and staff. However, OTRES also has partnerships with Palomar College and Mira Costa College for recruiting transfer students. Many of their most successful students have been transfers from these community colleges. The programs links can be found below.

4. The Sally Casanova Scholars Program is a CSU wide program that provides scholarships to underrepresented groups to assist in their effort to become faculty (https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/faculty-staff/predoc/SallyCasanovaScholars)

5. Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP)
The Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) is a competitive program that provides loans to a limited number of full-time doctoral students at accredited universities across the United States. Its purpose is to increase the pool of individuals who show promise of becoming strong candidates for CSU instructional faculty positions by providing financial assistance to doctoral students with the motivation, skills, and experience needed to teach the diverse student body in the CSU. It is a competitive program open to doctoral students across the country.

http://www.csusm.edu/otres/riseprogram/index.html
http://www.csusm.edu/otres/lsampprogram/index.html http://www.csusm.edu/gsr/csu_scholarships/