The Office of Student Success Innovations (OSSI) has teamed up with multiple departments at California State University, Northridge to launch a new initiative called CSUN Connects.

Kristy Michaud, who directs the initiative, said that the project aims to unite CSUN faculty, staff and students.

“CSUN Connects is a project that we created with the purpose of trying to get faculty, students and staff to connect around experiences they have in common,” Michaud said.

“The idea was to get [faculty and staff] to either have in their email signature, in their syllabus, on their Canvas page or on their door or desk, some kind of statement that expressed an experience they’ve had,” she added.

Ultimately, Michaud said, the goal of CSUN Connects is to “create campuswide conversation about shared experience.”

Another objective of the project is to “[know that] faculty and staff have similar experiences to that of students, [which] helps the students’ sense of belonging and boosts retention rates,” said Elizabeth Adams, associate vice president for student success.

Currently, CSUN staff have created six door and office placards to help spark those connections and conversations. The signs include the messages: “I am a first-generation college student,” “I started at community college,” “English is not my first language,” “I am a veteran,” “I earned a degree from CSUN” and “My first semester of college was a struggle for me.”

CSUN Connects is open to every Matador. The project launched in March, and a few months in, mostly faculty and staff are printing out and using the placards, but OSSI staff said they hope students will start downloading placards during the summer term.

To get the placards, learn more about CSUN Connects or make suggestions for other experiences, please visit the CSUN Connects website.

On June 21, nonprofit organization Bikes4Orphans teamed up with California State University, Northridge’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Resilient Scholars Program for the first time to give away 17 bicycles to foster youth students.

The Resilient Scholars Program prepares CSUN students for university life by administering tools to become successful in college. To help aid this transition, CSUN and EOP teamed up with Bikes4Orphans, an organization that donates bikes to third-world countries to provide youth with reliable transportation.

“The students that are receiving the bikes are all foster youth or orphans, so it really helps them because many of them don’t have transportation, and a lot of them will be staying at the dorms or close to the dorms,” said Jina Gonzalez, Resilient Scholars Program coordinator.

Bikes4Orphans supporter All Saints Church Foster Care Project suggested the bike donation to CSUN Professor Melanie Williams. The bikes will help the students navigate the campus with ease, Gonzalez said.

“We support the foster youth to navigate the university,” Gonzalez said. “We know that many foster youth are able to do it academically, they have the skills academically, however what gets in the way is the transition from high school to university and the transition to independence. They don’t have family support or guidance, so we provide a lot of the follow-up guidance that they’re lacking.”

Getting a bike was empowering, but also a great way to stay healthy, said Resilient Scholar Miguel A. Rodriguez.

“It feels enabling, empowering and motivational to move about and go out more and maybe be on time,” Rodriguez said.

Bikes4Orphans officials noted that they send most of their donated bikes overseas, but want to focus more on helping local students. According to the organization, only 3 percent of foster youth graduate from college.

“Knowing you have a direct impact on someone is absolutely the best feeling,” said Shawnt Bazikian, co-founder of Bikes4Orphans. “We thought the bikes would be a perfect solution for transportation and access, and buses [can be] unreliable, cars are too expensive and walking is too slow.”

Bikes4Orphans spent long days fundraising to provide the money for the bikes, helmets and locks for the students.

The June 21 bike distribution, which took place at CSUN’s Chicano House, included an informational session on how to use the bikes and locks, as well as helmet fittings.

​​CSUN Department of Chemistry faculty Kayla and Mike Kaiser run an organization called BikeCar101. They participated in the info session to help spark a love of bicycles in the EOP students.

“We want to make sure that [the students] form a loving bond with their bicycle, meaning they take care when they lock it up, and that they’re comfortable with the gearing system,” Kayla Kaiser said.

For more information about CSUN’s EOP Resilient Scholars program, please visit https://www.csun.edu/csun-eop/eop-resilient-scholars-program-rsp. For more information about Bikes4Orphans, please visit http://bikes4orphans.com.

In 2007, women in the United States earned 17 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering and 79 percent of bachelor’s degrees in education. Through programs such as Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), California State University, Northridge faculty and staff hope to encourage more girls in middle and high school to pursue majors and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Research shows that young women begin to lose interest in science and mathematics around age 15, unless their interest in these fields is nurtured. CSUN computer science professor Ani Nahapetian is just one of the many professors who have pledged to support young women interested in STEM.

“If we can change the perception of computer science as a male-only field and open it up to women, it’s good for the field,” said Nahapetian. “The more diversity in [computer science], the more our field can grow and become better.”

As an undergraduate, Nahapetian double majored in computer science and engineering, and she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science.

“When I was a student, there [were few] women in my engineering and computer science classes,” Nahapetian said. “Now, women are still a minority in computer science at CSUN and nationwide. There’s a lot of room to grow.”

Vidya Nandikolla, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering — who was the only female faculty member when she was hired in 2014 — shared that most semesters there are few women in her classes, and some semesters there are none.

“It’s a unique perspective being [one of two] female faculty members,” Nandikolla said. “You walk in and you see one or two — and sometimes zero — females in a class of 25 to 30 [students]. It’s like, ‘Okay, something has to be changed here.’”

Female STEM professionals speaking to girls and young women is the key to that change, Nandikolla said.

“Whenever I get the chance to go to [middle and high] schools, I don’t let that go,” Nandikolla said. “Increasing the number of girls coming into engineering — that is my goal. And when young women and girls see [women STEM professionals], they think, ‘I can do it, too.’”

Alexandria Chavez, a manufacturing systems engineering major and intern for WISE, said that women in programs such as SWE and WISE have been instrumental in her success as a female engineering student.

“WISE has given me [the opportunity to be] around amazing women with such great educational backgrounds,” Chavez said. “Being around them showed me I could get my master’s too.”

Of all the lessons she has learned from the groups, one that impacted her most was about progress, Chavez said.

“Any direction you want to go in is fine,” she said. “Just don’t go backwards. Always keep moving forward.”

A brief resource guide for young women in STEM at CSUN can be found here.

Nicole Wilson ’05 (Political Science), M.A.’17 (Education) is a prime example of a hardworking Matador.

In April, Wilson was invited to the California State University Chancellor’s office by Sheila A. Thomas, assistant vice chancellor/dean of Extended Education, and honored with the Emerging Leader for Extended Education award for her work in California State University, Northridge’s Near Peer Mentoring program.

“It was an honor to be recognized for doing something that I really love,” Wilson said. “I enjoy working with students [and] improving their experience in higher ed.”

Wilson is the co-creator of CSUN’s Near Peer Mentoring program — where students help one another by acting as mentors in developmental math courses. The program’s development began in 2015 and launched this past spring. As graduate students, Wilson studied faculty diversity and developmental math and her partner Jesse Knepper, studied autism. The two decided to focus and collaborate on the developmental math research.

The Near Peer Mentoring program was proposed to The Clinton Global Initiative campaign, named after President Bill Clinton. In 2015, Knepper and Wilson learned about the initiative from CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison’s announcement and call for entries. CSUN fully funded the program after it was accepted by the campaign.

“We proposed a mentoring program where students placed in remedial math could partner with other students [taking] remedial math, so they can help each other succeed,” Wilson said.

Knepper, program manager at CSUN’s Tseng College for Graduate, International and Midcareer Education, said that the partnership with Wilson and the peer mentoring program were great experiences.

“Part of the challenge of bringing a new program onto campus is going through networks and speaking to the right people,” Knepper said. “[Wilson] was an instrumental part in facilitating some of those relationships that we needed to build.”

While Wilson was earning her master’s, she used her time responsibly. She said she had a knack for being productive and finding time to help others or study.

“I would plan ahead and get all my work done, [and would use] my lunch breaks to study or to volunteer for the mentoring program,” Wilson said.

Wilson also developed relationships with several organizations on campus [to further the Near Peer program]. She is part of the CSUN Graduate Leadership Council, ExCel Board (Experience Confidence and Enjoyment in Learning), CSUN Student Outreach and Recruitment, CSUN Black Alumni Association and had participated in the CSUN Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Graduate Student Orientation. These opportunities gave her the chance to help others and contribute to student success, she said.

“It’s all about developing relationships with people, and people hearing my passion for all students,” she said.

Wilson remains involved with ExCEL, which provides resources to help students learn about some of the psycho-social challenges that may be interfering with their academic success. The goal of the program is to provide a class for students on academic probation, to help boost their grade point averages.

Wilson said she appreciates her support system of family, co-workers and former professors.

“The support that I [received] motivated me to keep going,” Wilson said. “I feel like I am where I’m at because of all those elements.”

As an educator, Wilson aims for student success by focusing on marginalized students and collaborating with university colleagues to help boost graduation rates. She hopes to meet the CSU’s 2025 graduation initiative to increase CSUN’s four-year graduation rate to 40 percent and six-year graduation rate to 70 percent, she said.

“I want all students to [feel] represented,” she said. “Sometimes students face different obstacles, and I aim to make things equitable. The graduation rates can always be improved. I want all students to be successful.”

The performing arts are not simply heard and seen onstage for entertainment; they also offer a visual and educational experience to be absorbed into the minds of audience members and carried throughout their lives.

Officials with California State University, Northridge’s Arts Education program at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center), hope to have that impact with their Student Matinee Series — which is designed to provide K-12 students an introduction to the educational benefits of the performing arts.

Since 2011, the center known as The Soraya, has provided the Student Matinee Series program for students all across the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles. Each matinee seats 700 to 1000 students.

For the academic year 2017-18, the Student Matinee Series will feature seven performances centered around the theme “Music Knows No Borders” — a major programming initiative for the center’s 2017-18 season.  The program will showcase diverse art forms, from the famous Yamato Drummers of Japan to flamenco dancers to African American “stepping” in “Step Afrika!” as well as other interactive cultural expressions from Mexico and Pakistan.

“We want these students to see professionally produced, high-quality, world-class performances that they normally don’t get a chance to see,” said Anthony Cantrell, director of arts education for The Soraya.

The new season also will feature a dramatic performance entitled, “Jabber,” written by Marcus Youssef, about the life and discovery of self-identity of a young Muslim woman in high school. The play also challenges stereotypes about young adolescents and the Middle East by showing a young woman’s life at home and school, and tackling issues of romance and conflicts between religion and race. This program is offered to students in grades nine through 12.

“[The students are] going to watch a show about high school and have a level of identity that they can recognize, ‘Hey, what happens on stage might touch me in ways that feel familiar to my life,’ or struggles that [students] might have with race or their parents or romance at that age,” said Cantrell.

Once teachers sign up to attend the event with their students, they will be sent performance-based study guides to help them create course materials to prepare students for what they’re going to experience, said Cantrell.

He also visits schools and conducts pre-show workshops. Some of the performances are followed by Q&As sessions or educational workshops.

“The workshops can dig a little deeper into the whole notion of the purpose of the arts, arts education [and] the transformative quality of the arts,” he said.

“This is one of the favorite things that these teachers and students get to do together,” added Cantrell. “The teachers that come [to the performances] repeatedly, truly embrace the idea that [arts education] is actually instruction and not simply enrichment. The teachers get the

idea very clearly that we are trying to impact instruction, and that’s why they come back again and again.”

Cantrell said students also embrace the experience, and often return to The Soraya for other performances.

Public school teachers and administrators can register for the events free of charge. Private school and home school groups will be charged $5 per ticket for the event. Accommodations for children with disabilities are available by request, including translators for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Groups are responsible for their own transportation.

For more information, visit the “Music Knows No Borders” website

To register for a performance or for more information, please contact Anthony Cantrell at anthony.cantrell@csun.edu or (818) 677-8847.

California State University, Northridge was well represented July 20 with five alumni among the 22 teachers honored by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) at the annual Teacher of the Year Luncheon.

Roxana Brock ’08 (Teaching Credential), ’09 (Early Childhood Special Education); Dana Brooks ’07 (Teaching Credential); Jonathan Rubio-Garcia ’16 (M.A., Mathematics Education); Ximena Rodriguez ’08 (Educational Administration), ’16 (Credential); and Grace Maddox ’05 (Teaching Credential), M.A. ’11 (Education) were honored by LAUSD at the University of Southern California.

“Having five alumni from the Michael D. Eisner College of Education honored at the LAUSD Teachers of the Year luncheon illustrates the CSUN legacy of excellence,” said Shari Tarver-Behring, interim dean of the Eisner College. “We pride ourselves in the outstanding work by these teachers and view this honor as a testament of their commitment to student success. This is also a prime example of how CSUN continues to have one of the best teacher-preparation programs in California.”

This notoriety continues a trend where CSUN alumni have been honored annually by the second-largest school district in the country. Though they are all products of CSUN, the five honorees traveled very different paths to educating young minds and reaching this great honor. Here are their stories.

Roxana Brock 
Brock teaches special-needs children age 3 to 5 at Telfair Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima. She has been a special education teacher for 20 years. Receiving this recognition from the district placed her in fine company.

“It’s an honor to be recognized, especially to be recognized for something that I love to do,” Brock said. “It’s [not only] validation for the things I do every day, but [also inspiration] to improve as a teacher.”

Brock said she taught special education in the jungle of her home country of Argentina before emigrating to Northridge in 1999, without knowing the English language.

“I brought with me [from Argentina only] my teaching credential. I had no English … so I went back and took all the English as a second language (ESL) classes from ESL 1,” Brock said.

Once she was fluent in English, Brock applied to CSUN based on recommendations from friends and community members.

“I decided to enroll at the college that everyone recommended to me,” Brock recalled. “And I was not disappointed. I love CSUN.”

Along with her husband, who has supported her throughout her academic journey, Brock said CSUN has been one of the biggest support systems in her tenure as a teacher.

“CSUN has helped me since I started my credential in 2003,” Brock said. “I really wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the support of Dr. Deborah Chen and Dr. Michele Haney. They are very special to me, even today.”

Dana Brooks 
A social studies high school teacher at John H. Francis Polytechnic Senior High School (“Poly High”) in Sun Valley, Brooks practiced law for 20 years before switching careers to public school education.

“I wasn’t sure how I would like teaching because I came from law, but I feel like I’ve made a difference,” Brooks said. “I have one of my former students studying law in the fall, and seeing that and how I was able to guide him was amazingly rewarding.”

Brooks chose to study for her teaching credential at CSUN because of the welcoming nature of the Eisner College faculty and staff. The college staff showed her how to apply and enroll in courses and gave her the tools needed to be successful, she said.

“I went to CSUN a week after classes started and presented myself to the Eisner College school office and said, ‘Hey, can I enroll in your credential program?'” Brooks said. “[The college] was amazing and supportive — I enrolled in their classes, which gave me the chance to teach.”

Brooks recalled the cultural studies and pedagogy courses as her favorite classes because they gave her the history and background on Title I students. Title I, part of the federal Elementary and Secondary Educational Act of 1965, provides funding to states and districts to improve education for disadvantaged students.

“I had a pedagogy class taught by a history professor that I distinctly remember fondly and a cross-cultural class as well, and they both helped me better understand the kind of students I would be teaching in Los Angeles,” Brooks said.

Brooks added that she is grateful for Poly High, noting that teaching is one of the most enriching things in her life.

“It’s the students — they get me up in the morning, I think about them every day and how I can be a better teacher and help them with their learning,” Brooks said. “They’re amazing, they’re sponges, they’re funny and heartbreaking sometimes, but it’s the students.”

Jonathan Garcia  
The students inside Garcia’s math class at Arleta High School in Arleta aren’t the only ones learning each day. Part of Garcia’s philosophy — and one that’s led to him being named an LAUSD Teacher of the Year — is to treat teaching as a learning process.

“As teachers, we continue to learn who our students are and try and adjust [our teaching style] to fit their needs,” Garcia said. “If the curriculum you did last year doesn’t fit the students that you have this year, then you have to change it.

“[I’ve learned that] having a personal rapport with students is also essential,” Garcia added. “Knowing the students’ strengths and building a relationship helps them to be more open to learning and becoming free thinkers.”

Originally from the Philippines, Garcia moved to LA in 2007. His education at CSUN helped mold him into the teacher he is today, Garcia said.

“The education I received at CSUN better prepared me in teaching mathematics to diverse populations, and allowed me to improve my research skills by helping me reflect on my teaching practice,” Garcia said. “The program also helped me know my students’ needs and guide them in achieving their goals of being college ready.”

Garcia’s biggest reward as a teacher is having former students express the impact he’s made in their lives, he said.

“Students I’ve taught have come up to me many times, and the feeling is amazing that I was able to touch people’s lives in a positive way,” Garcia said. “It drives me to continue on further.”

Grace Maddox 
When Grace Maddox was 15 years old, her high school art teacher, Mrs. Butcher, influenced her to teach. Years later, Maddox followed her advice — she went to the Art Center of College of Design for art and California State University Northridge to obtain her credentials.

At the Art Center College of Design, Maddox earned her undergrad in illustration. She developed strong skills in figure drawing, painting and perspective. In addition, she learned how illustrations have the ability to define social, political and cultural ideas, making them an ideal solution for creative and communications projects.

At CSUN, Maddox received her teaching credential and received her master’s in educational leadership.

She was motivated by her professors and looked up to them as role models.

“Once I began studying at CSUN, I understood why so many great teachers graduated from there,” she said. “My professors were all very knowledgeable and inspirational — which made me want to become a teacher like them.”

One of the most important lessons Maddox learned from professors was how to create a safe and inviting classroom to make her UCLA Community School students eager to learn.

“[Students will] try to meet you half way,” she said. “[They will] try and see themselves get better and better. That gives them confidence. That confidence makes them want to come to school.”

As a South Korea native, Maddox is also grateful for the support she received from the Michael D. Eisner College of Education, which provided her a Bilingual Teacher Scholarship. The scholarship offers individuals of Asian descent and those who maintain a 3.0 grade point average with scholarships for tuition, textbooks and other expenses.

With the scholarship’s help, she earned her master’s without financial worries.

“While at CSUN, I truly felt that the school wanted all of us to succeed [and] become great teachers,” said Maddox.

Maddox is humbled to have received the Teacher of the Year Award and honors Mrs. Butcher, the Art Center College of Design and CSUN for helping her get where she is today.

“It’s truly an honor, and I’m grateful,” said Maddox.

Ximena Rodriguez 
Throughout her elementary and middle school years, Rodriguez and her family hardly had the opportunity to set down roots. Originally from Chicago, Rodriguez constantly moved from place to place before ultimately calling the San Fernando Valley — and CSUN — home.

“I chose to come to CSUN because it had a wonderful reputation, and I received a warm welcome when I first stepped onto campus to explore my opportunities,” she said.

To Rodriguez, CSUN provided not just a valuable education, but a cornerstone in her life.

“I know I can always return and connect with educators when there is a new challenge before me,” she said. “I have connected with superstars in the world of education thanks to the programs offered at CSUN, and I am always grateful for the support.”

As an English teacher at James Monroe High School in North Hills, Rodriguez said she firmly believes in the power of writing. She encourages her students to write every day and consistently has her classroom stocked full of pens, pencils and paper.

“I believe in using writing as a tool for growth and learning,” Rodriguez said. “Usually, the writing will take a stress-free form like journaling or a quick-write, so that my students develop confidence in their writing.”

Rodriguez’s dedication in the classroom led to her nomination for the district’s highest teaching honor.

“Every time I stand next to my seniors at graduation, I feel such pride and joy in their accomplishments,” she said. “Being recognized as a Teacher of the Year makes me feel that same pride and joy a thousand times over.”

English 313 “Studies In Popular Culture” Fall 2017.

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Aug 7, 2017) — Condensing the monumental impact that popular culture has on consumerism into a single-semester syllabus is nothing short of a superhero feat.

Charles Hatfield, professor of English at California State University, Northridge, has done just that by enlisting the help of DC Comics superhero Batman for the English 313 class he will be teaching this fall, “Studies in Popular Culture.”

“After teaching Batman in my comics and graphic-novels course this past spring, I was thinking, ‘I’m teaching Studies in Popular Culture for the first time in a while. What can I do to keep things fresh, to challenge myself and to draw students by reaching where their interests are?” Hatfield said. “I thought, ‘Batman! That might do it.’”

English professor Charles Hatfield holds up a Batman novel inside his office in CSUN’s Sierra Tower. Photo by Lucas Wiggins.

The class — designed to explore the way audiences interact with and use mass culture and the possible social and political meanings — gives students the opportunity to critically analyze transmedia marketing by studying popular art forms such as comics and movies.

“The idea is not just comics, it’s Batman in all media: music, TV, games, toys, etc.,” Hatfield said. “In the study of mass culture, there’s the argument of structure versus agency. If you’re on the agency side, then you would be inclined to say that the consumers of mass culture are not just passively absorbing whatever the culture industries provide. However, the structure side denies that we have agency, that as individuals or as communities, we don’t have the power to resist whatever is being given to us.

“Is it a matter of dependence and absorbing what the big, monolithic corporate producers of this material give you?” he asked rhetorically. “Or is it a matter of using mass culture as a means of individual expression?”

Spanning generations, the long life of Batman has led to drastically contrasting interpretations. These clashing versions of the character take on different attitudes, providing topics for discussion on issues such as justice, economic and social class, crime and gender. The course objectives stress the influence that media marketing has on these issues, as well as how consumers and fans are affected, according to Hatfield.

“You have this trademarked character who’s been around for almost 80 years, but is still not in the public domain,” he said. “At the same time, there’s lots of unlicensed or frankly even illegal activity around the Batman character that you can see at events like Comic Con.”

Students enrolled in the course this fall can expect to leave the class with an understanding of the marketing strategies used by corporate media giants like DC Comics, and how consumer choices are influenced by them.

“Students will draw a lot of knowledge about the history of the Batman franchise, but that’s not the primary thing,” Hatfield said. “They’ll come away with a sense of what people call a transmedia franchise, or a cross-platform franchise, how that’s variously expressed and the fact that a franchise can move across media.

“They will have a sense of the social reach of transmedia-franchise marketing and how it can be many different things to many people.”

When Justin Gonzalez stepped on the campus of California State University, Northridge the morning of July 27, he was openly wondering about his future.

A 16-year-old attending Los Angeles Leadership Academy, he’s a first baseman/center fielder on his high school’s baseball team. He is also a participant in Dodgers RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities), a program within the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. Dodgers RBI is a baseball/softball youth development program for ages 5-18 that simultaneously aims to: increase participation in the sport and use sports participation as an engagement tool to increase access to education, literacy, health, wellness, and recreational resources in some of Los Angeles’ most underserved communities.

That’s what brought Gonzalez to CSUN on this warm summer day, the second day in 2017 that saw more that 100 young people participate in college tours tailored to them. As he walked the campus and learned about the university, then sat for informational sessions that lifted the veil on what it took to go to college and work toward a degree, Gonzalez started to see his future take form.

“Before I came here, I didn’t really want to go to college, but the mentors, the questions that they answered for me made me really want to go to college,” said Gonzalez, who visited CSUN through Montecito Heights Recreation Center. “It’s a big part of my dream. My mom wants me to do it. I want to make her proud.”

Making college seem more attainable was the goal for the Dodgers RBI days at CSUN. Representatives from CSUN worked with counterparts from the Dodgers Foundation to prepare a day that would be informational and impactful for the young people. The goal was to have these young people see that college could be a reality for them.

“Education is such an important aspect of our Dodgers RBI program,” said Nichol Whiteman, executive director of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. “We want all participants to see college as accessible. We want to expose them to campuses like CSUN, which not only have excellent academic programs but are leaders in inclusivity. Our partnership means more youth can and will see themselves in a place that they thought was not possible.”

Vanessa Guzman, 17, was another student touched by the program. Guzman is entering her senior year at Academia Avance Charter High School in Highland Park, where she’s a catcher on her high school softball team. She said she wanted to learn more about the college majors available to her, specifically nursing.

While on the CSUN campus tour, many of the participants like Guzman admired the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, the Matador Bookstore and several academic buildings. She was one of many students fascinated and visibly impressed as they walked into the state-of-the-art Student Recreation Center.

The students also learned about financial aid and scholarship opportunities that could be available to help offset the cost of their education. Many of the students said they were pleasantly surprised that this aid was more accessible than they had guessed prior to the visit.

“It’s a big part of my dream, going to college and being the first one to graduate in my family,” Guzman said, adding that it was important to be on campus with young people from the Dodgers RBI program because she was “around the kids who all want to achieve better.”

Walking around CSUN was an important part of the day, to make college seem more tangible. Tour guides from CSUN’s Student Outreach and Recruitment Department and the administrators who chaperoned the young people shared about their own college journeys to show how higher education was a possibility for the students.

Christian Oliva, a recreation coordinator at Montecito Heights Recreation Center, shared his own experiences as a California State University, Los Angeles alumnus. Oliva stressed the difference a college education can make in a young person’s life.

“Listening about scholarships, financial aid and loans, it’s become more possible than it was a week ago, because of this partnership with the Dodgers, CSUN and the RBI program,” Oliva said.

One person mixing Matador Pride into her work on this day was Brittany Polk ’15 (Theatre). Bringing young people to her alma mater was especially important to her because she is now the recreation leader at Roosevelt Park, which also brought a contingent of Dodgers RBI participants. Polk wanted to show the youngsters she’s working with that she was a “living example” of someone who came from their same circumstances, worked hard and was now back in her old community helping the next generation do the same through the Dodgers RBI program.

“The majority of them, this is their first time on a college campus,” Polk said. “We talk about going to college just to further their possibilities. By them coming on the actual tour and seeing it in action, and to see me and how far I’ve come, the college tour is very important with the Dodgers RBI program because it gives the kids a visual of their dreams right here in person.”

With the help from CSUN, music veteran Wes Hambright is a 2017 LAUSD “Rookie Teacher of the Year.” Photo by David Hawkins.

Since childhood, Wes Hambright had planned to play music professionally.

Teaching music, on the other hand, wasn’t something that immediately came to mind for the talented composer, whose music has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, American Idol, The Tyra Banks Show and programs on the Discovery Channel.

“Being a musician for such a long time, I never thought teaching would be something I’d enjoy or be able to do,” Hambright said. “I eventually started teaching private lessons years back, after it was recommended by friends and neighbors. Once I got started, I found that it was very rewarding.”

Hambright never looked back. After speaking with a neighbor in 2015 who mentioned that Daniel Pearl Magnet High School — in Lake Balboa, next to Birmingham High School — had lost its music teacher weeks before school was about to start, Hambright applied for an emergency substitute teaching credential and began to teach music classes a few days a week. The school hired him as a full-time teacher in August 2016.

Now, with the help of California State University Northridge, he’s been named an LAUSD Rookie Teacher of the Year. On Aug. 13, Hambright was honored at Dodger Stadium before the Los Angeles Dodgers took the field against the San Diego Padres.

“Because this is my first year teaching full time, I’m quite blown away and extremely honored,” Hambright said of the award. “The classes at CSUN have been indispensable. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done if it wasn’t for CSUN.”

What makes Hambright’s journey even more unique was that during his 2016-17 “rookie” year, he was taking night classes at CSUN toward his teaching credential, which he is on track to complete in 2018.

In the meantime, Hambright has an “intern credential” from CSUN, which means that he is employed as a teacher while enrolled in the university’s teaching credential program.

The musician has flourished in CSUN’s credential program and as a high school music teacher, but it’s been far from easy.

“It’s been a huge challenge, especially in my first semester [in the credential program] because I had to get used to the system at CSUN,” said Hambright, who teaches everything from guitar to choir and songwriting. “I’ve pulled long hours as a composer trying to finish a song for a film or show, but teaching five classes every day and studying for classes at night is different.”

Although challenging, teaching has been an extremely rewarding experience, he said. Hambright, who also composes contemporary ballet music in Los Angeles when he’s not teaching, noted that his favorite part of teaching at the high school level is preparing his students for bi-monthly concerts in front of family and friends.

In the classroom, Hambright stresses listening above all. He makes it a point to listen to the same music his students enjoy and asks his students to reciprocate.

“I want my students to be able to listen to hip-hop, opera, J-Pop or house music and then be able to draw comparisons between the genres,” Hambright said. “I try and make my classes a collaboration, instead of me standing on a pedestal saying I know all the information.”

Hambright credited a large part of his early success to CSUN and his mentor, CSUN Coordinator of Music Education Mary Schliff, who came to his class a handful of times over the past year to observe and give pointers.

“The support and tools CSUN teaches you on how to deal with diverse learners has been great, and [Schliff] has been really helpful in helping me teach choir classes, since I’ve never taught it before,” Hambright said. “A lot of kids sign up for that class, not because they necessarily want to sing, but because it fits their schedule and counts as their art credit. So we focused a lot last year on how to teach it.”

If the first year of his teaching career was any indication, Hambright has a bright future.

“I knew I was doing a good job, but hearing it from my peers took it to a whole new level,” Hambright said. “[Being named Rookie Teacher of the Year] made me realize I’m on the right path and doing something good.”

The meaning of justice in the context of U.S. and global crime and criminal justice institutions is a core focus of California State University, Northridge’s newest academic department, the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, which launches its new major this fall.

More than 320 students have signed up to join the department’s inaugural class of majors who will explore a practical and social scientific understanding of America’s criminal justice system, as well as examining criminal justice practices around the world.

Vickie Jensen

“A deliberate choice was made when we created this department,” said Vickie Jensen, acting chair of the new department. “Not only are we looking at criminology and the institutions that address crime, but also justice in a broader sense. Sometimes those concepts are aligned, and sometimes those concepts appear to be at odds with one another. Justice is a broader term that encompasses how we — whether in law enforcement, the courts or as members of the community — contribute to and shape a just society. Criminal justice is just a starting place for that conversation.”

“Several agencies, such as LAPD and the LA City Attorney’s office, are embracing the evolution of criminal justice to a more just and broader perspective,” Jensen said. “It is our hope that CSUN and its students will be an active and vital part in that conversation, and that our future graduates will have an impact on what a just society looks like in years to come.”

Vice Provost Stella Theodoulou helped shepherd the department’s creation when she was dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“The new major in criminology and justice studies is an example of the commitment of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences to its strategic priority of designing curriculum that not only prepares students to meet the needs and challenges of the region and urban America, but also provides them with areas of study that are innovative and skills-based that enhance their ability to think critically,” Theodoulou said.

The department is drawing its faculty from disciplines across the campus and will be housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Current and retired members of local law enforcement agencies, representatives from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office — including its Community Justice Initiative — and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform and victims’ rights, have agreed to become active contributors to the new program. Some have agreed to either teach or lecture to classes, and others have agreed to serve in an advisory capacity to the department as it evolves.

“The goal is to have a variety of voices involved, not just those from law enforcement,” Jensen said. “One critical piece in the direction of the program is ensuring that the community, in all its diversity, is represented. It is important for our students to learn to think critically and to listen to multiple voices from our communities.”

The department will include courses that address a wide variety of crime and justice issues, including understanding diversity and inequality as manifested in the criminal justice system locally, nationally and globally; the impact of crime on individuals, communities and societies; the understanding of both juvenile delinquency and the system of juvenile justice; patterns and trends in incarceration rates, the climate and culture of correctional facilities, and gender and diversity issues in corrections; domestic violence; white-collar crime; and a focus on women as victims and perpetrators of crime, as well as how gender impacts men’s experiences with offending and victimization.

Bruce Zucker, who spent more than 20 years teaching business law in CSUN’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, is among the faculty who will make up the new department. Zucker, who practiced criminal law as a defense attorney specializing in appeals, parole and white-collar crime, said he was excited to be part of the team that developed the department’s curriculum and focus, in addition to being a founding faculty member.

“There’s a quote from ‘Crime and Punishment’ that I always share with my students. To paraphrase the quote, ‘A civilization is measured by the way it treats its prisoners,’” he said of the classic novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. “All participants in the criminal justice system — from judges to prosecutors, defense attorneys, jailers, parole officers and police officers — must treat people as human beings, with dignity and respect, no matter their background, no matter what they did or what they are accused or convicted of. That reflects on all of us as a society. If they, [the future students], learn that, then we will have done our jobs.”

Since her arrival at California State University, Northridge last year, Paria Zandi has worked to empower survivors of sexual violence, interpersonal abuse and stalking, through a trauma-informed and culturally responsive lens. As CSUN’s care advocate, Zandi provides a confidential space for survivors to discuss their experiences, concerns and options. Zandi understands the short- and long-term effects a survivor may experience and, she said, she’s committed to providing advocacy services to meet the unique needs of every survivor.

“Every person coming in [for advocacy services] has a different circumstance,” Zandi said. “My role is to help inform survivors of their options, so they can make decisions they feel are best for themselves and for their healing.

“A survivor may not know what to do after an assault,” Zandi continued. “There are steps people can take to preserve evidence, there are different ways to report an assault and there are many resources for them to access that support. I want survivors to know that I am there to listen without judgment, and to know that they are in a safe place and that I never make them do anything they don’t want to do.”

Her physical presence on campus is important, Zandi said. Her private office is located in the Klotz Student Health Center on the east side of campus, where she already has assisted dozens of survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

“I want students to know that this resource exists on campus. A lot of the time, students don’t know I’m here for them,” she said. “They don’t know that there’s a sexual assault expert on campus that they can reach out to. It’s something they really should not have to [navigate] on their own.”

Zandi is part of the team at Strength United, a chartered center operated through CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education. Strength United was founded 28 years ago by Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling faculty, and it provides an interdisciplinary approach to ending abuse and violence. Ninety percent of its staff are CSUN alumni, and it trains 40 graduate-level and 120 undergraduate students a year to provide direct services to individuals of all ages who have experienced child maltreatment, and domestic and sexual violence.

Strength United serves thousands of children and adults annually. It provides confidential 24/7 support and crisis intervention, along with long-term counseling, victim advocacy and prevention-education programs.

With a survivor in her campus office, Zandi can pick up the phone and make calls together with the survivor — to a law enforcement detective, for example — if they don’t feel comfortable making those calls on their own. She can also accompany survivors as they make reports and provide statements, obtain restraining orders or undergo a forensic medical exam.

As Care Advocate, Zandi can also work with various campus partners, such as the Title IX Office, to facilitate accommodations for survivors, including waivers for fees for pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease testing from the Student Health Center. She can also help make changes in a student’s academic schedule and other class accommodations, and put in place interim measures such as no-contact directives which are mutual agreements between parties not to have contact with one another, either directly or through social media, third parties, or other forms of communications.

Throughout the upcoming school year, in addition to providing survivor advocacy, Zandi will continue to collaborate with key campus partners to address the campus culture through prevention education and awareness programming, she said. She offers trainings in partnership with Project D.A.T.E. (Discovering Alternatives for Today’s Encounters) and other peer educator programs, as well as with CSUN’s Title IX coordinator.

“We have Project D.A.T.E, MenCARE, The BLUES Project and all these entities on campus that are focused on sexual assault prevention and outreach, [and] getting the community to talk about it,” Zandi said.

Zandi said she also aims to meet with sororities, fraternities and athletic groups on campus to spread the word about the services she offers.

Zandi’s door is open to any CSUN student, faculty or staff member, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Her office is located in the Klotz Student Health Center, room 140G, and she can be reached at (818) 677-7492 or paria.zandi@csun.edu.

After hours and on weekends, or to learn more about helping someone affected by child maltreatment, domestic violence or sexual violence, call Strength United at (818) 886-0453 or (661) 253-0258, or visit https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/strength-united.

CSUN also offers another confidential resource phone number, the CSUN Helpline, at (818) 347-HELP (4357) or online at http://www.csun.edu/helpline.

Every August, the Office of Student Involvement and Development at California State University, Northridge welcomes thousands of new Matadors at the New Student Orientation (NSO).

This year, organizers welcomed 6,000 new students who toured the campus from Aug. 2-25. Participants included first-time freshmen, as well as those transferring from community colleges, and international students.

Orientation staff sort the students by college, major or program and may have the opportunity to hear from either CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison or Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students William Watkins.

NSO plays a key role in welcoming new students to the CSUN campus, said Christopher Aston, assistant director of student development.

“The goal is to bridge and connect students into school — to the academic, social and cultural context of the university,” Aston said. “It’s to support that continuous process of integrating these students.”

NSO is also one of the first times students meet their peers and are able to make friends before the fall semester starts. Current CSUN students lead the tours and activities.

NSO leaders can show students attending a different perspective of the campus. Matador mentor, Jodie Rink states that students attending NSO will get a well-rounded education of CSUN.

“NSO can offer information about the campus as a whole, as well as personal resources that are specific to each individual student depending on how much they share and how much information they want to get,” Rink said. “It’s really focused on the resources on campus and there are a lot of things on campus that freshmen and new students don’t really know about, so it gives them a chance to see what CSUN has to offer.”

While on the tours, students can learn about their class schedules, the library, clubs on campus, the campus book store and the TAKE program, which is a performance of various topics such as relationships, body image, prejudice and overall student transition.

“When you see a bunch of students in the morning, they’re not feeling the unity of the campus yet, and they may come in with a head full of fears and doubts,” Aston said. “But when they leave, you can see the genuine and authentic smiles coming from them.”

For more information about NSO, please click here.

California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison highlighted the numerous accomplishments of the university’s faculty, students and staff in her annual Welcome Address to the university Aug. 24, and presented the opportunities and challenges of the new academic year that began Aug. 26.

With nearly 40,000 students anticipated this fall, Harrison affirmed that all employees play a role in “Matadors Rising” — the title of Harrison’s speech and the name of CSUN’s student success campaign to help more students earn degrees and realize their potential.

“With student success as the university’s number one priority — ‘Matadors Rising’ is an effort to which everyone on campus, regardless of our role, department or division — can and does contribute,” she said.

Spotlighting the accolades and milestones that occurred during the past academic year, Harrison linked these initiatives and programs to student success.

“I ask all of you to remain focused on our commitment to our students and to excellence — to doing what you have always done with great dedication in meeting the needs of our students, and to produce graduates who are engaged and prepared to lead in today’s increasingly global world.”

Harrison opened her remarks by welcoming the audience to CSUN’s newly renamed Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Performing Arts (formerly Valley Performing Arts Center) following a transformative $17 million gift from the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation in July — one of the largest in the history of the CSU and the system’s largest single gift in support of the arts. The gift will support the first-class performances and student engagement opportunities at the center, which will use the shortened name “The Soraya.”

The speech outlined the university’s planning priorities — from student success to using athletics as a tool for student, community and regional engagement — with particular focus throughout on student success and boosting graduation rates.

In two of many campus highlights and examples of academic success, Harrison praised CSUN students who have developed applications to improve accessibility and quality of life for people with disabilities, as part of technology and entrepreneurship competitions: In the university’s second annual Fast Pitch competition, CSUN undergraduates Edgar Limon, Arvin Flores and Jasmine Beeman developed “smart script” internet code to help visually impaired people better navigate through websites. And in the Information Technology-sponsored VARJAM event, student Miranda Taylor took first place for her “Adventure VR” virtual reality program that helps those with mobility challenges experience nature by bringing it to them.

CSUN’s record-breaking 2017 graduating class of 11,500 will be followed by 10,000 new students this fall. Harrison emphasized a number of innovative campus initiatives that focus on using data to improve CSUN graduation rates and student success, as part of the graduation goals for the year 2025 set forth by the CSU chancellor’s office and the CSU board of trustees.

“I would encourage every faculty member to use our data tools to examine your own results, especially for opportunity gaps,” Harrison said. “Do not rest or feel confident until you have examined your own course data and can in good conscience say, ‘I am reaching and effective with all of my students.’ Make use of new technologies and approaches that relate better to our growing and diverse millennial generation.”

During her remarks, Harrison also struck a more somber note, reflecting the divided and unsettled mood in the country following this month’s violence in Charlottesville, Va.

“Diversity and inclusion are campus priorities and should be explicit in all our endeavors,” Harrison said. “We have to openly and repeatedly reject hate and bigotry in any and all forms.”

Toward the conclusion of her address, Harrison drew the greatest applause from the assembled faculty and staff by speaking about CSUN’s commitment to its values, regardless of the changing political landscape.

“I will not back down from facing white extremists and naming names: neo-Nazis, the KKK and a White House administration that seems so far not to be aligned with the values and goals that we hold at CSUN and the CSU (California State University),” she said.

Philosophy professor Adam Swenson, president of the Faculty Senate, opened the program by welcoming new faculty members, staff and leadership. Jonathan Goldenberg, president of Associated Students, also gave greetings on behalf of CSUN’s students.

“My successes and who I am as a person are a direct result of the experiences I had at this university,” Goldenberg said. “New lives are made here at CSUN.”

Click here for the full text or to watch a video of President Harrison’s address.

The staff and student workers of the University Student Union (USU) at California State University, Northridge have long shown a passion for displaying students’ artwork, but in 2017, they have turned that passion into a pièce de résistance.

This spring, the USU hired alumna Ariel Mazariegos ’17 (M.F.A., Art) as the new art curator in charge of the USU Student Art Collection. Mazariegos oversees where the students’ art will be displayed and acts as the mediator between the student artists and the USU. Her newest project is a website where people can see a map of all art displayed at the USU — the website is expected to go live by the end of the 2017-18 academic year.

“I’m curating the space and starting to ask questions [such as], ‘How does a student navigate the space?’ and ‘How does a viewer see this?'” Mazariegos said. “I’m interacting with the spaces, and all sorts of things come into play, like the colors of the wall [and] lighting.”

The expansion of the USU Student Art Collection is an important goal, said James Matzen, USU graphic designer, and Michael Niles, USU marketing manager. Both hope the art will inspire CSUN students and expose them to a new range of art that they would not normally see in exhibits.

“Students really want to see other students’ stories,” Matzen said. “It helps connect them with their fellow students around campus. A lot of the narratives and stories we may see through the art are universal, and students can connect to it.”

The USU officially launched its Student Art Collection in 2006, which was created by USU Executive Director Debra Hammond and Department of Art chair Edward Alfano in the mid-1990s.

Alfano had seen empty display cases during a stroll around the USU, and he suggested to Hammond the idea of placing student art from the department in the cases. Hammond agreed, and their partnership began.

“For years, I was putting up projects from my students [in the display cases], and I would change them monthly, ” Alfano said. “That was my first interaction with Debra, and [I saw] her interest in showing students’ art for the benefit of all.

“The USU is one of the few organizations on campus actively pursuing the mission to showcase student art,” Alfano said. He said he believes an organization like the USU supporting student art expresses that the university cares about the fine arts and wants to integrate it as much as possible.

Every year, the USU staff buy pieces from CSUN art exhibitions that showcase the work of undergraduate and graduate art students, to expand and diversify the Student Art Collection.

In 2016, USU staff partnered with students in CSUN’s Public Art class to create artworks for the Oasis Wellness Center, a facility on campus where students, faculty and staff can go to relax, revive and decompress. Hammond and Jimmy Francis, director of the Student Recreation Center (SRC), led the collaboration between the Public Art classes and the Oasis Wellness Center.

“It goes back to the Student Union’s commitment to student art,” said Francis. “If we’re going to build a building, we are going to put student art in it. There’s art in the conference room here [at the SRC], a sculpture at the end of the rec center [and] we’d like to get more art in the Oasis conference room as well.”

Unwind, one of the works created by Victor Castaneda, Naomi Nadreau, Garen Novruzyan and Emi K. Williams, hangs above the fireplace in the Oasis. Another work, Wonderwall, created by Victor Campos, Michelle Jacobson, Trevor Curran, Jae Kitinoja and Jordyn Kieffer, is mounted on the front wall of the entrance on either side of the door.

The final piece, Pillars of Life, by Joyanna Cazares, Tanner Gilliland-Swetland, Gabriela Herrera, Tanya Nolan and Mei Zhao, is an interactive artwork that stands in two locations — in the Contemplation Garden and facing the outdoor lounge. The sculpture consists of resin seeped into the cracks of two large wooden pillars, reminiscent of telephone polls. Hollowed out, at arm’s length, is a space with a tin canister. Inside, students can find notebooks with journaling prompts such as, “What advice would you give CSUN students?” or “Draw something that represents your time at CSUN.” Students can fill out pages of the notebooks and return them to the space. Oasis visitors also can choose to read the advice and thoughts, or make additional comments of their own.

Soraya Fallah stepped up to a podium in the Anaheim Convention Center and spoke for the voiceless.

Her subject: children with disabilities from Middle Eastern, North African and Southwest Asian backgrounds. Many of them grew up in war zones, in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Sudan and Syria. Some are born with physical, mental and emotional disabilities. Other injuries and issues were born of explosions and gunfire.

When these children come to the United States, they are frequently placed in special education classes with students — and, often, teachers — whose cultures and experiences are far different from their own. Even students from Middle Eastern, North African and Southwest Asian backgrounds born in the U.S. face language and cultural barriers to a quality education, Fallah said.

Before Fallah ’17 (Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Policy Studies) began her research at California State University, Northridge, there was almost no information to guide these students’ teachers. The children represent a population so invisible it has never been properly counted. Fallah had to coin an acronym for the region: MENASWA (Middle Eastern, North African and Southwest Asian).

On Aug. 20, Fallah spoke at the Multicultural Education Conference in Anaheim. Addressing teachers, teachers-in-training, education professors and school administrators from around the country, she provided tips on how to reach these students and help unlock their potential.

“If we don’t have any information about a population, how can we hear them?” Fallah said. “How can we craft a plan to help these individuals? If you don’t know where they come from, how can we ask a question to help them? Their unique situation warrants an understanding by all educators who may work with them and their families.”

By helping Fallah publish and present her findings, CSUN is amplifying a voice others have tried to silence. Fallah has spent her life speaking up for children’s rights, women’s rights and human rights in the Middle East, and she was even imprisoned in Iran for her political activism. As she reaches an audience of educators and policy makers with the power to make change, her CSUN dissertation, Giving Voice to an Invisible Population, could positively impact the lives of children across the planet.

Finding Her Voice

Fallah, 50, has seen firsthand the physical and emotional tolls that war takes on soldiers and civilians alike.

She was born the third of seven children in Baneh, a small city in a mountainous area of northwestern Iran on the Iraq border. Baneh is part of the Kurdistan region, which also includes parts of Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Fallah’s Kurdish heritage put her at odds with the Iranian government in the 1980s and 1990s, when she was a teen and young adult, as Kurdish forces clashed with the Iranian government.

In the 1980s, Iran was also at war with Iraq. When she was 21, her younger brother was wounded during his mandatory service for the Iranian army. Shrapnel is still lodged in his legs. He dealt with emotional scars as well.

“A child should not have to lose friends at a very young age. I lost many of them,” Fallah said. “I also saw my family grieve the loss of close relatives, neighbors and friends. A child should not be incarcerated, but by the age of 14 I had already been arrested and had witnessed many of my friends tortured and imprisoned. Some people I knew disappeared, and I still don’t know their fates.”

Facing the choice of wallowing in depression over her circumstances or fighting to change them, Fallah fought. She was first arrested for writing graffiti on a wall, “Land belongs to those who work on it.” There would be other arrests, then interrogations and torture.

Still, she worked to make her world a better place. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in international relations and law, both from Tehran Azad University. She married Michael Moradian in 1985, at age 18 (and kept her maiden name). Her daughter, Cklara, was born in 1987, and her son, Zaniar, in 1993. (Cklara Moradian is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work at CSUN.)

It wasn’t safe for them in Iran. Her family was granted political asylum, first in Azerbaijan and then in Denmark. In 1997, they moved to Los Angeles.

“From a very young age, my husband and I wanted to come to the United States,” Fallah said. “There are so many opportunities. We wanted to pursue our education and be free. We wanted to raise our voices about what we believe.”

Fighting with Education 

It would be years before she returned to school. Her time, mental energy and economic resources were taken up by her two children and activism through organizations such as Amnesty International, which often led her to travel to conferences across the globe. She also made a career in social work.

As her children finished up their own bachelor’s degrees, in 2014 Fallah applied and was accepted to numerous doctoral programs. CSUN, with its emphasis on education policy and practical research, was her first choice.

“I decided to make education something in my hand I fight with,” Fallah said. “So much of a child’s future is shaped by the quality of schooling they receive. If you educate those children or help those children get educated, that’s the best way to help.”

Her professors at CSUN, including Wendy Murawski, chair of CSUN’s Center for Teaching and Learning, first helped her narrow down her research focus to a manageable topic.

“She wanted to save the world,” Murawski said.

Fallah gathered data through a survey that was open to current U.S. residents, age 18 and older, from a MENASWA background, related to students with special needs or disabilities. The survey was sent to 8,000 random households, 123 schools and 200 organizations located in cities known to have large MENASWA populations. She promoted her work on a blog and on social media. Members of her target communities referred their friends and family.

Fallah was sensitive to the historical and ongoing conflicts in the region, stating in bold-faced type that her study was intended to be inclusive of all ethnic and religious groups.

At the beginning of the project, Fallah and her professors thought they’d be happy to receive 100 valid surveys. She received 267. She heard from families of children with autism, physical disabilities caused by war and emotional issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. She also interviewed 13 families, conducting in-depth interviews in person or by phone, giving her subjects a chance to get comfortable and open up about the challenges they’d faced.

“One of the grandmas cried and said, ‘This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about my grandchild,’” Fallah said.

Fallah’s son, Zaniar, a professional in computational statistics and statistics research, helped her analyze her study results and ensure its integrity.

“I was really impressed with the level of support not only of her immediate family but also her community,” Murawski said. “It’s very clear people are interested. That speaks to both Soraya herself and to the population. They’re interested in having a voice. They really want to make sure their children are getting the best services they possibly can.”

Surprising Results

Fallah’s research uncovered surprises. The U.S. Census currently does not have an ethnic category for people of Middle Eastern or North African descent — these individuals are typically counted as “white.” When Fallah conducted a pilot survey almost two years ago, 95 percent of participants were in favor of being counted under their own ethnic category (which is likely for the 2020 Census). But in recent months, given the shifting political climate in the U.S., attitudes have changed and Fallah’s subjects no longer want their own category.

“It’s safer to be under the white category,” Fallah said.

Other key study findings: As survey respondents’ income and English proficiency dropped, so did their families’ satisfaction with American schools. It’s hard to ask for services when you don’t speak the language, Fallah said. There are also cultural stigmas in some MENASWA families that prevent families from asking for help.

Now that Fallah has conducted in-depth research about MENASWA students with disabilities, she is working with CSUN to help tell those stories.

CSUN will publish her 340-page dissertation, and her professors will help her submit excerpts of her research to peer-reviewed journals. Her professors have helped her apply to present at conferences, and provided a coach who helped her prepare for her presentations and the questions she might receive. Currently, Fallah and Murawski are co-authoring a book chapter already accepted for a book on Social Justice and Education.

Fallah’s work has been covered by media outlets in different languages throughout the world. She was even contacted by the mayor of an Iraqi province who believed her work could benefit students there.

The Anaheim conference gave her the chance to provide educators with steps for more effective work with MENASWA families, such as recognizing specific issues and increasing cultural understanding. Her presentation will directly improve the lives of students in classes across the country, and education professors who heard her speak will also be able to share her tips with classes full of future educators.

“Educators should know where those kids come from,” Fallah said. “They should know: what is the history and story of their life when they arrived in this country? Maybe the child has no education, maybe he has PTSD, maybe he doesn’t know English. I know it’s hard, but we can start learning — we cannot ignore those experiences.”

With tacos and cold drinks in hand, California State University, Northridge students, faculty and staff gathered on Bayramian Lawn for the annual President’s Picnic on Aug. 30.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students William Watkins said the picnic was a perfect way for Matadors to get to know one another as the new semester kicks off.

“CSUN has a big emphasis on belonging and while this event is focused on welcoming students, it also applies to everyone who is a part of the CSUN family,” Watkins said. “This kind of event really allows the campus community to come out and share some time together and wish each other well for the year ahead.”

The picnic, which took place took place during afternoon and evening sessions, offered free food courtesy of the Orange Grove Bistro, live music, information booths about campus resources and a chance to talk with CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison.

For transfer student William Ferguson, the picnic served as a way to meet new people on campus.

“Everyone I talked to was so nice and welcoming, which helped make this first week of school easier,” Ferguson said. “I am really excited for the rest of the semester.”

California State University, Northridge Educational Leadership Professor Richard Castallo is no stranger to working at a university. After working in K-12 and higher education for more than 40 years, Castallo decided to share some of his experiences and thoughts in a book written through narrative fiction.

Castallo was inspired to write because CSUN had offered him the opportunity to participate in the Faculty Early Retirement Program. Professors at this stage in their profession are given the chance to teach part-time for a few years. Castallo took this time to do something for himself and decided to pursue writing as a way to channel his energy.

“[Writing] caused me to reflect on things I had witnessed over the years, [such as] when I was a public school teacher, a principal, a professor and a chairman in different departments, and colleges and universities I worked at or attended,” he said.

In June, Castallo published his fourth book, Dealing with Dysfunction. The book tackles common problems that arise involving faculty and staff in university settings, by offering six guidelines to help solve those issues. This narrative fiction was inspired by his life. He wanted to write a book that was not a standard textbook.

The book was the result of personal experiences from the different positions he has held in his 40-plus year tenure as an educator, Castallo said. He described the book as the “story of a professor who’s been in a department a long time and used to be chair of the department.”

The main character had gone back to teaching but then returned to the chair job after being asked by colleagues to help settle a lot of the infighting going on in their department. The story shares how the dean and chair dealt with the problems they confronted, he said.

“The novel is fiction, [characters in the book are] not based on any one person,” Castallo said. “I kind of retold some stories through what might have been.”

In his book, Castallo suggests some key strategies to employ in the classroom and office. They are lessons that can be learned along the way while reading the book.

“People in leadership have to have a clear and tangible vision that they can communicate to others,” Castallo said. “Number two, to be effective, they’re obligated to live that vision every day in the things they say and more importantly in the things they do. Number three, they need to have a moral compass.”

Before he wrote the book, Castallo researched and spoke with professionals in order to create a well-rounded self-help book.

“I interviewed a number of people who had been in leadership positions such as chairs of departments, principals, students and former school superintendents [while] preparing to write,” he said.

The book was reviewed by Inside Higher Ed, where critic Nick Roll praised Castallo for his unique way of writing.

“The writing, while generally positive and constructive, can also be blunt and humorous,” Roll wrote.

Castallo has a fifth book in the works, a tale about “a bunch of misfits at a golf course,” he said.

At this year’s California State University, Northridge eLearning Showcase, faculty demonstrated how technology can enhance the learning experience of students in the classroom. Presentations included Abraham Rutchick’s Hybrid 2.0: Real-time Online Section (ROS), Kaitlin Bahr’s BioStatsBuddy app and Sally Spencer’s Interactive Simulations: Bridging the Gap Between Course and Career. In this series, CSUN Today profiles each of these projects. This story looks at Kaitlin Bahr’s BioStatsBuddy app.

Biostatistics is an academic hurdle all health science majors must conquer at California State University, Northridge. A required course for all health science majors including: public health, health administration, and radiological majors. Biostatics covers the principles, theory and practice of statistical analysis in health. Ultimately, students are taught how to use those concepts in health planning, epidemiological research and experimental research.

To ease students’ journey through the course, CSUN Department of Health and Human Development professor Kaitlin Bahr created an app to simplify its concepts. The app, BioStatsBuddy, is intended to improve students’ ability to solve equations, improve memorization of formulas and better prepare for exams.

“BioStatsBuddy is a tool for students taking the course to get additional practice,” Bahr said. “It’s there to help them with calculations, additional learning problems and to help them in class.”

Bahr said she was thrilled to learn that the university’s Faculty Technology Center (FTC) could help her create the app, with the help of student app developers. It was her first foray into app development, she noted.

“It was great working with Greg Mena, a former staff member from the FTC,” said Bahr. “A team of students and staff [worked] on the app, and meeting with them was like putting together a storyboard animation project.”

Once the app was ready to go in May of 2016, Bahr and the students put it through two beta testing rounds, collecting feedback from [other] CSUN students. The first round was done during the summer of 2016 with eight students and the second round was completed the spring of 2017 during the lab portion of [Bahr’s] biostatistics class.

“The students told us about what components they liked, including the ease of the app and that it was [an] all-in-one application, instead of multiple websites and other apps,” Bahr said. “It’s a nice, easy tool to help them.”

The professor presented the new app at CSUN’s eLearning Lecture in May, a showcase that featured concepts for thoughtful integration of technology and pedagogy. The event also showcased the projects of eight other professors.

“I felt honored to have the app showcased,” said Bahr. “It was great after working on the app for the last year. I appreciate and value this opportunity, and the work and commitment from the FTC, students and the support of the faculty.”

Bahr said she hopes the app will be updated to a second version with more features. “My hope is to expand it for increasing student engagement to help understand the material and add more practice problems,” said Bahr.

Diego Cartagena, vice president of pro bono services at Bet Tzedek, provides training on the legal issues raised for U.S. citizen minors when a parent is deported, to CSUN students in spring 2017. Photo courtesy of Hilary Goldberg.

In the melting pot of Los Angeles and especially on the diverse campus of California State University, Northridge, countless residents work with or know someone who has struggled with immigration issues. Many have been personally touched by these struggles. In this climate, faculty members in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics have stepped up to take action the best way they know how: through volunteerism and legal aid.

In the spring, Hilary Goldberg, assistant professor of business law and real estate, and her colleagues joined forces with nonprofit legal organization Bet Tzedek to mobilize more than 130 CSUN students and faculty volunteers to assist local families. This fall, they’re expanding their efforts.

Bet Tzedek and the Nazarian College faculty will offer a training session from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 25, in the Ferman Presentation Room of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library. The training is free and open to the public, as well as to CSUN students, faculty and staff.

Bet Tzedek, which means “House of Justice” in Hebrew, is committed to helping families prepare for the aftermath of a child having one or both of his or her parents removed from the United States. The nonprofit is funding the training at CSUN.

During the session, Diego Cartagena, vice president of pro bono services at Bet Tzedek, will provide training on the legal issues raised for U.S. citizen minors when a parent is deported. He’ll also cover the applicable laws that permit parents to designate caretakers or guardians for their children, as well as providing a primer on the necessary legal forms and affidavits. The end of the training session will include time for Q & A and networking.

After volunteers attend the training, Bet Tzedek staff will work with them to schedule shifts at the organization’s public legal workshops, which are usually between one and three hours and offered multiple times throughout the semester. At the workshops, volunteers are paired with undocumented parents to complete forms and “caretaker affidavits” — to help children avoid foster care by being placed with other relatives and friends — under the supervision of Cartagena and other Bet Tzedek attorneys.

“I love this program because, aside from providing and promoting high-impact community service work, it provides a powerful educational and human learning experience for students in a short period of time, making it accessible to our dynamic working-student population,” said Goldberg, also an attorney.

“Bet Tzedek has mastered the art of volunteerism,” she said. “You’re immediately put to work, and you immediately feel useful.”

The Red Cross estimates that there are approximately 250,000 U.S. citizen children of undocumented parents living in Los Angeles County.

Sandy Samuels, an adjunct professor of business law in the Nazarian College and former president and CEO of Bet Tzedek, made the connection between the organization and CSUN. Other CSUN support has come from the DREAM Center, Department of Social Work, Oviatt Library staff and William Watkins, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. The involvement of the CSUN community has been crucial and steadfast this year, Cartagena said.

“It has been incredibly impressive to see the school and students’ commitment to this project,” he said. “From evening workshops to early weekend clinics, [the] students have stood with our community members to assist them. We sing CSUN’s praises to everyone. When I am at law firms pitching the project, I am often asked whether there are any Spanish-speaking volunteers to help the non-Spanish-speaking attorneys. I let them know, ‘CSUN has you covered!’”

In anonymous surveys, participating CSUN students were effusive in their praise for the program and the opportunity.

“Volunteering for this clinic came with a great responsibility,” one student wrote. “We had to be sure to protect the location of the clinic and keep it confidential, which people our age tend to forget because of our constant use of social media. Accidentally publicizing the location of the clinic could lead to parents being taken away from their kids and forced out of the country, which is partly what we are trying to protect them from at the clinic. I could see the trust that the people attending the clinic had in us.”

The partnership has born fruit so quickly that Bet Tzedek is considering CSUN for more projects, such as involving students and faculty as volunteers with its clinics that help with employment law and landlord-tenant issues, Goldberg said.

The Oviatt Library is located at the heart of the campus, at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. Parking permits are available at kiosks around campus or the information booth on Prairie Street at Darby Avenue.

To learn more about Bet Tzedek’s legal aid program, visit https://www.bettzedek.org/our-services/rapid-response/

At this year’s California State University, Northridge eLearning Showcase, faculty demonstrated how technology can enhance the learning experience of students in the classroom. Presentations included Abraham Rutchick’s Hybrid 2.0: Real-time Online Section (ROS), Kaitlin Bahr’s BioStatsBuddy app and Sally Spencer’s Interactive Simulations: Bridging the Gap Between Course and Career. In this series, CSUN Today profiles each of these projects. This story dives into Sally Spencer’s Interactive Simulations: Bridging the Gap Between Course and Career presentation.

At the fifth annual eLearning Showcase earlier this year, eight California State University, Northridge faculty members presented their ideas to increase students’ quality of education. Professor Sally Spencer, of the Department of Special Education, presented Interactive Simulations: Bridging the Gap Between Course and Career.

Her presentation focused on the CSUN Simulator, a program that uses “mixed reality” to allow students to practice skills such as teaching, counseling, social work and journalism, in a virtual environment. Although the program, formerly known as TeachLivE, has proven valuable to numerous CSUN departments, Spencer said the technology is so rare that other universities may pay CSUN to use it.

Mixed reality merges real and virtual worlds to produce an environment where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real time, providing a realistic simulation that cannot currently be replicated by purely virtual systems.

While in a lab or classroom, a student sits in front of a television with a life-size avatar on a large screen. The simulator uses a combination of artificial intelligence and a live person to allow students a real-life experience without real-life consequences, Spencer said.

“[The benefit of the simulator] is that it resembles a live interaction, but at any moment the students can say ‘pause,’ and ask [other] students in the classroom, ‘What do I do? How do I get through this?’” she said. “They support each other through this interaction.”

According to Spencer, CSUN purchased a license for the simulator in 2016 and is now able to serve as a service provider. This means faculty can “rent out” the simulator to other universities, creating revenue to help fund use of the simulator in other courses at CSUN.

“We want to work with other universities who pay us to use the simulator, so that we help fund the CSUN students,” she said.

The CSUN Simulator was created more than a decade ago by faculty at the University of Central Florida. Spencer had been using the simulator since 2012 and said she decided to incorporate the simulator in the classroom as a new way to get current and future teachers to practice their craft. However, at first, she didn’t realize the potential of the simulator and its significance in other fields.

“[Ten years ago], the simulator was just a classroom,” she said. “But over time, they started creating these adult avatars … and then we thought, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much potential for these adults.’ You can use them for almost anything.”

Now, CSUN faculty are using the technology in 14 courses, throughout the Michael D. Eisner College of Education and across six different departments, including journalism and cinema and television arts. Spencer said she hopes to expand the use of the simulator to even more classrooms at CSUN, and she plans to offer it to campuses nationwide.

Diane Gehart, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, used the CSUN Simulator for the first time in the spring. She said students and teachers alike reacted positively to the simulator.

“[Students] reported that they felt they learned more in that one class than the rest of the semester because it was so practical,” Gehart said. “Instructors also loved the technology because they were able to more effectively grade students on the actual skills we are trying to teach.”

Spencer hopes to bring this simulator, called CSUN Simulation Services under CSUN’s license, into as many classrooms as possible, to transform the education CSUN students receive.

“There aren’t many universities in the country using this [software],” she noted. “Our students are really fortunate to have the opportunity to use it. We want it to become a tool that defines CSUN as a place of innovation.”

For more information on how to incorporate the simulator into courses, please email Sally Spencer at sspencer@csun.edu.