A team of CSUN researchers talked to more than 700 students to find out what makes an effective teacher. The results of their study can be found in the new book “Learning from the Learners.” Photo by Lee Choo.

Educators and policy makers have argued for years about the most effective ways to foster student learning, but rarely have they asked students to tell them what helps them learn.

A team of researchers at California State University, Northridge did just that. Over the course of 10 years, they talked to more than 700 high-performing undergraduate students and asked them what helped them in college. The results of the study can be found in the new book, “Learning from the Learners: Successful College Students Share Their Effective Learning Habits,” which offers insights into how educators can become better at teaching, and students become better at learning.

“Students know what makes a good or bad teacher,” said CSUN geography professor Steven Graves, who took part in the study and contributed a chapter to the book. “With this study, we listened to the students to learn how we can be better teachers.”

Journalism professor Linda Bowen, who also took part in the project and co-wrote another chapter of the book, said that in the process of listening to the students, “we learned that a lot more of them are ready for college and able to handle things than we think, if we get the teaching right.”

For 10 years, faculty and staff from disciplines across the campus examined the learning habits of successful students based on what the students told them about their learning strategies, their plans for succeeding in college, and the learning approaches they thought best fostered a positive learning environment. The Learning Habits Project included both open-ended survey responses and in-depth interviews with more than 700 CSUN students, following them annually from their freshman year to graduation.

“With one or two exceptions, no other volume on the widely discussed hot topic of student success relies on such a wealth of data about what works from the point of view of students,” said Bettina Huber, former director of CSUN’s Office of Institutional Research, who led the study with communications studies professor emerita Elizabeth Berry.

The study’s results offered some surprises and affirmed what many participants suspected, but did not have the data to back their suspicions.

Many of the positive things that faculty did in class appeared to be basic, but were transformative for the students, such as a professor learning the names of the students.

“You wouldn’t think that would be important, but it is,” Graves said. “It tells the students that they matter to the professor. That sort of connection can be difficult to build in large classes — I’ve got one class with 125 students in it. Sometimes you don’t have an opportunity to know them individually, so you might take the opportunity to let them get to know you a little better, to make that connection that you trust them enough to share a bit of yourself with them. In return, they trust you.”

The researchers found insisting that students take advantage of faculty office hours or encouraging study groups helps students tap into support networks when they need help. And passion for the subject being taught can turn that teacher and class into a favorite.

Cynthia Rawitch, former vice provost and one of the volume’s editors, recalled interviewing a biology major who credited her excitement for a class on DNA to the professor, who clearly loved the subject.

“Students are very astute at picking up body language,” Rawitch said. “When a teacher is passionate about a subject, the students, for the most part, will be too.”

One of the things the researchers found that they needed to improve was the students’ ability to read effectively at the college level.

“We spend so much time making sure students are college ready when it comes to math and writing, we’ve forgotten about reading,” said Bowen, who co-wrote the chapter “Reading with Understanding.”

She noted one student who, when asked about his reading strategies, responded: “I haven’t really taken any classes that have been particularly helpful in developing my reading skills. Any development in my reading has come from my own analyzations of what I need to gain from reading. Over time, I’ve learned by trial and error.”

Bowen said educators could save students a lot of “trial and error” if they shared their own strategies for succeeding in college.

“When you talk to the students and they tell you the strategies they have come up with to succeed, it seems pretty basic and logical,” Bowen said. “But they had to create these strategies for themselves. It’s pretty simple to take just a couple minutes at the beginning of class to share what helped us when we were students. They don’t have to follow the advice, but you’ve given them something to add to their tool box, in case they need it.”

Among the surprises for Rawitch was how much the students disliked the use of electronic technologies in the classroom if they were poorly used.

“We heard that over and over again,” she said. “PowerPoints are the obvious ones. It was like all the faculty in the university decided that PowerPoints were the way to go. Some learned how to do it, others did not. You have students in class after class after class looking at PowerPoints on walls, on boards and laptops, and the faculty were just as boring as they were before.

“One of the things I learned is that doing something badly is almost as bad, or maybe worse, than not doing it in the first place,” Rawitch said.

Graves, who wrote the chapter “Being the First to Go to College, said an assumption is often made that first-generation students are underprepared for college.

“While they may not have a tradition of going to college in their families, or they come from schools that have high achievement gaps, what many of their families do give them, for lack of a better word, is grit,” Graves said.

“Their freshman year may be difficult,” he said. “There may be a bit of a culture shock. But by the end of year four, they have caught up, and they are successful students. They may not have the experiences other students have, but the sacrifices they and their families have made to get them to college have given them a different set of tools, grit and determination, that they can draw on to succeed.”

Graves said some first-generation college students suffer from “imposter syndrome,” the belief that they don’t really belong in college.

“We, as instructors, have to disabuse them of that as best we can,” he said. “They are just going through a bit of adjustment, and we now have the data to prove it with this study.”

Even before the study was complete, Bowen said, faculty and administrators across the campus were using what they were learning to make the university more learning-centered and their teaching more engaging.

“The students know what makes good educators,” she said. “It’s important that we listen to them.”

The annual California State University, Northridge Bull Ring New Venture Competition has returned to campus this spring for the third time. The 2018 contest, hosted by the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, started with a kickoff event Feb. 6 at Bookstein Hall, and participants may apply until March 11.

The contest includes two selection phases. A jury of 10 entrepreneurs and industry leaders will select 20 teams to present their work at the semifinals on April 3, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room at the Delmar T.  Oviatt Library. The event will be set up as a trade show: each team will man a booth presenting, pitching their startup ideas and products to guests and judges. Audience members may vote to send one team to the finals.

Five teams will reach the Bull Ring finals on April 24, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the University Student Union’s Grand Salon. During the event — modeled after the hit ABC TV show Shark Tank — finalists must present an on-stage pitch of their business and participate in a Q&A session.

The winning team will earn a $20,000 grand prize — and $10,000 for the second-place team and $5,000 for third — and all semifinalists have the chance to win $250 in cash and $30,000 of in-kind prizes.

“The Bull Ring provides a platform for entrepreneurial-minded students from across the university to join a community, receive mentoring and support, and, ultimately, move their new venture ideas to the next level,” said Ryan Holbrook, director of the Nazarian College Entrepreneurship Program.

On their way to the finish line, participants will get support from mentors and coaches to polish their startup ideas and gain access to potential investors. Three workshops support the teams in different aspects of business creation.

The Feb. 6 kickoff event featured guest speaker Eric Rose, a product innovation and management consultant. Rose supports businesses in developing new product ideas and moving them into the marketplace. His presentation included advice on how to successfully conduct customer discovery research.

“It is important to ask the right people the right questions, in order to get insight into what product benefits the market values the most,” Rose said.

The kickoff event also allowed CSUN students to share their business ideas and recruit potential team members. Ismail Hossain, an organic chemistry graduate student and teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, touted his idea to create a device that makes waking up in the morning easier by combining lights, scents and music.

“I am looking for engineers who want to join my team. I already bought all the parts — I just need help with the assembly,” Hossain said.

Wandoly Juarez, a business management senior, used the event to network and explore project opportunities. “I want to see what I can bring to the table. It’s a good experience to start off and dip my toes into entrepreneurship,” she said.

On Feb. 20, a second workshop will provide a primer on intellectual property. The third workshop, on March 6, will give students advice on how to successfully pitch to investors.

“It’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur at CSUN, with all the opportunities and resources available,” Holbrook said.

CSUN’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics has been at the forefront of entrepreneurship and innovation. Students can sharpen their entrepreneurial skills with programs such as the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, an on-campus incubator that promotes innovation and entrepreneurship; VARJAM, a virtual and augmented reality competition; and Fast Pitch, a venture competition.

Students interested in the CSUN Bull Ring New Venture Competition can apply via the Bull Ring Canvas page by using the code FLXHED. The competition is open to all current CSUN students and fall 2017 graduates. Each team must consist of at least two people. Non-students are welcome to participate — however, at least 50 percent of the team members must be enrolled as CSUN students. Each team must submit a 10- to 25-page slide deck or a five- to seven-page business plan, and a video no longer than two minutes. For complete guidelines, please go to the CSUN Bull Ring website.

Nineteen classical musicians — all dressed up in shirts, suits and dresses — packed up their instruments and hiked about half a mile to the middle of Stoney Point in Chatsworth, to play a concert on a mountain. 

Carrying their delicate violins, violas, cellos and basses — the latter easily weighing 50 pounds including the case and music stand — Project Resonance’s musicians made their way through the canyon. 

Once they reached the top after about 20 minutes, they began playing. On top of Stoney Point, Project Resonance’s music accompanied rock climbers Momtaz Alhindi and David Housky. Bryan Barcinas, founder and music director of the ensemble, created a personal soundtrack for the two of them.

“Rock climbing takes a lot of trust. We wanted to portray that feeling of pushing forward and reaching the top of a mountain,” Barcinas said. The ensemble’s melody represented Alhindi and Housky’s friendship and their climb to the mountaintop. The notes of the melody ascended, the tune starting low and reaching higher — just as the rock climbers did. ​

Project Resonance is a unique new orchestra in the Department of Music at California State University, Northridge. The musicians aim to inspire people through music and get them to care more about other individuals’ personal stories. Each project includes the writing and performance of music that is fueled by real-life stories and experiences. The compositions are meant to accompany people’s creative arts and passions. Every soundtrack suits someone’s individual story.

In December 2017, Project Resonance musicians reached out to Alhindi and Housky through a Facebook climbing group and set up a date for their personal concert session — the orchestra’s second project. While the climbers conquered the mountain and the orchestra played, a small crowd of passing hikers stopped to watch the performance. The scene was filmed by videographers and CSUN students Pablo Azanza, Matt Benedetti, Nadia Fox and Jay Seen. For better sound quality, the music was re-recorded later in the Organ Room at CSUN’s Nordhoff Hall.

For its first event, Project Resonance surprised quadriplegic mouth painter Esvin Rodriguez with a performance in October 2017. Rodriguez’s personal soundtrack consisted of Latin rhythms.

“I also had the orchestra make ‘shh’ whispers with their mouths to imitate the sound of waves, because waves are a common theme in Esvin’s paintings,” Barcinas said. The musicians awaited Rodriguez — who had no clue about what was about to happen — at the Cypress Hall courtyard, where Project Resonance had set up a small outdoor art gallery with 25 of Rodriguez’s paintings.

Barcinas, a music composition senior, lead composer and conductor for the ensemble, founded Project Resonance in August 2017. With his classmate and co-composer Miguel Leyva, a senior in media composition, Barcinas recruited a full orchestra of 39 musicians.

“All of the people are classmates, and we set them up by word of mouth,” Barcinas said. “Together, we participated in a music contest, where we had to create our own version of the Genius television show’s theme song. I thought it would be nice to continue the orchestra and promote real stories.”

Barcinas had dreamed of establishing an exceptional ensemble since he transferred to CSUN from Pierce College in 2015. “I just didn’t have enough experience back then,” he said. “My [music composition] major at CSUN was a tremendous help and prepared me for it. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my education here.”

“Bryan’s unique abilities and drive have brought [Project Resonance] to fruition,” said Elizabeth Sellers, a professor in the Department of Music. “The department is very proud of Bryan and his ‘out-of-the-box’ approach to music making.”

The ensemble includes string, brass and percussion instruments, but also instruments that are rarely found in traditional orchestras.

“I liked that Bryan created a specific guitar part for me, even though it’s not at all conventional,” guitar performance senior Andrew Gomez-Ramirez said.

Trumpet performance junior Alejandro Paz joined on a whim when a trumpet was needed for Rodriguez’s soundtrack.

“I love to play and enjoy taking opportunities to play whenever I can,” Paz said. “I like to support the community, and I wanted to be part of the project and what it stands for.”

Initially, Barcinas reached out to the public by posting about Project Resonance in Facebook groups, inviting people to share their stories with him. He received an avalanche of feedback — more than 100 email replies in two weeks.

“A lot of the stories were really tragic,” Barcinas recalled. “Some people wanted to dedicate a piece of music to a beloved person. One guy asked us to help him with his proposal. His girlfriend had just given birth to their child, and he wanted to ask her to marry him in the hospital.”

However, Project Resonance does not compose commissioned music pieces. The musicians handpick every story. The hardest part of the project is the coordination, Barcinas said. “It’s not easy to find a day when everyone is available,” he said.

Another challenge is the funding. Barcinas has been paying the orchestra’s expenses for production equipment, such as microphones and music stands, out of his own pocket. “We can’t take the university’s equipment off campus, but the orchestra’s goal is to do creative things around the area,” Barcinas said. To raise money, Project Resonance started an online crowdfunding campaign and is looking for patrons.

“All these musicians have decades of ​experience, and some of the instruments they own cost over $20,000,” Barcinas said. “And they are just [playing in the orchestra] for free, because they believe in the people and their stories.”

To learn more about Project Resonance, visit https://www.patreon.com/projectresonance.
To watch videos of the performances, visit the orchestra’s YouTube channel. Photos of the concert for Rodriguez are available here.

When staff at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica see the yellow school bus pull up in front of their theater, they know exactly who will be getting out of it: Hawthorne High School theater students. They come off the bus one by one, dressed in their finest attire — at the behest of Estella Owoimaha-Church ’10 (Africana Studies).

“By our third field trip, the people who ran the theater were like, ‘Oh, Hawthorne High is here,’” Owoimaha-Church said. “My kids got off the bus and were like, ‘What? You know us?’ And a lady commented, ‘Yeah, you’re the kids who always dress up so nice!’ There was a sense of pride among my kids.”

To Owoimaha-Church, it’s essential to represent Hawthorne High in the best possible way, including being dressed to a tee at the theater.

Her dedication and love for her students, combined with the experiences they share, earned the English and theater teacher a spot as a finalist for the 2017 Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of Education. The $1 million prize is presented to an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to their profession.

California State University, Northridge alumna Owoimaha-Church has done just that.

Made for Education

Since she was in her teens, Owoimaha-Church knew she was destined to be an educator. She thought she would move into education policy or advocacy, but students she worked with as an undergraduate inspired her to pursue a teaching career.

“While I was at CSUN, I was a college mentor and advisor for GearUp Project STEPS, which is a partnership between CSUN Student Outreach and Recruitment and North Hollywood High School. I got to work with students from sixth grade to their freshman year of college,” Owoimaha-Church said. “The year I was applying for my graduate program, I had decided to focus on policy, but my kids were like, ‘No, Miss! You should go in the classroom.’ It was because of them that I decided to be in the classroom full time.”

In her four years as an English teacher at Hawthorne High School, Owoimaha-Church has revitalized the theater department, increased student participation, increased graduation rates and improved reading and writing skills.

The theater students at Hawthorne have turned it around in large part because of policies that Owoimaha-Church implemented, including grade and attendance checks.

“I have been and am really hard on them,” Owoimaha-Church said. “If I get a bad grade check, I ground them.” She calls it “grounding” because she takes away privileges from kids who don’t submit satisfactory grade checks. If half or more of her theater students are grounded, Owoimaha-Church turns rehearsals into study hall.

When she wanted to take her kids on field trips, Owoimaha-Church realized that many of them couldn’t go because they had terrible attendance records.

“I started cracking down on attendance: You’re not going to the Pantages [Theater] if you didn’t go to class,” she said. “Attendance began to improve, and grades [continued] to improve.”

Thanks to Owoimaha-Church’s new policies, students excelled and the Hawthorne theater kids began to break barriers.

“This is [the theater department’s] fourth year in existence,” Owoimaha-Church said. “This will be my fourth group of seniors who graduate. Last year was the first year all of our seniors graduated. This year marks the first year that every single one of my seniors applied to a four-year school.”

Relating to Students

It wasn’t easy, she said, because the students suffered from apathy after being told they wouldn’t graduate on time. It’s a position Owoimaha-Church knew well, which helped her relate to students at Hawthorne.

Born and raised between Inglewood and South Los Angeles, Owoimaha-Church moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was in high school. She enrolled at North Hollywood High School, where she struggled to graduate on time due to personal matters.

“At some point in high school, with everything I was going through — my mom was in prison, I was raising my younger brother — high school wasn’t easy,” she said. “I started screwing up 10th and 11th grade. My teachers did stuff for me that my parents weren’t able to do: they took me to New York to experience Broadway for the first time, they took me to England to experience the West End [theaters], [they paid] for my college applications.”

Owoimaha-Church knew she had made the right career choice as she remembered all the teachers who helped her during the toughest years of her life. The personal struggles she faced nearly prevented her from graduating from high school, but her teachers never gave up on her — and she never gave up on herself.

“My teachers [held an intervention] for me. They said, ‘you’re going to get it together or else.’ And I was in the room crying,” she said. “I promised to get it together, and they sent me back to class. I made up all my classes and brought up all my grades in time to graduate. I owe them everything, and the only place I could even make a dent in that debt is by dedicating my time in the classroom.”

Owoimaha-Church’s high school teachers had a tremendous impact on her future, a pattern that continued with her professors at CSUN.

“[My] most influential professor while at CSUN was Dr. Karin Stanford. She has been a mentor to me and, to this day, is still one of the most important people in my life,” Owoimaha-Church said of the Africana Studies professor. “She has a way of pushing students to do things we assumed we were incapable of doing. If not for her, I wouldn’t have traveled to Atlanta as a sophomore in college to present my research findings in front of a bunch of experts. Time and time again, she pushed and provided opportunities like this.”

Owoimaha-Church said she loved everything about Stanford — especially that the professor “went above and beyond to help retain students of color and young women looking to navigate higher education and sustain themselves while in college.”

Still a Winner

The Global Teacher Prize nomination came at a point in her career when Owoimaha-Church was feeling particularly demoralized and unsure if her efforts were appreciated, she said.  As a finalist, she was flown to Dubai to collaborate with other finalists in her cohort, as well as finalists from previous years.

Owoimaha-Church completed the application for the Global Teacher Prize in October 2017. Two months later, she got a phone call during her sixth period class while she was with her students. She didn’t recognize the phone number, so she ignored the call, but the same number then called her classroom landline to tell her she’d been chosen as a finalist.

“I was so shocked and overjoyed and so very confused. My kids got worried and asked me what was wrong and I told them [I was a finalist],” Owoimaha-Church said. “They all started screaming with excitement. And then the voice on the phone was like, ‘So, can you send a photo now?’ And I did.”

Though she did not win the $1 million prize, Owoimaha-Church said she still considers herself a winner.

“We got a video [message] from Prince Harry — Prince Harry! I was like, ‘Prince Harry’s talking to me. Prince Harry knows who I am,’” Owoimaha-Church said, laughing.

“He sent me a video to tell me I lost, but I got to go to Dubai,” she added. “I didn’t win the $1 million, but I get to be a part of this network of the best teachers in the world. It was the most liberating and validating experience of my life. That was the real prize.”

Whenever Tom Iland ’08 (Accountancy) walks onstage, he wants to captivate his audience. Usually, that doesn’t take him long — he just shows them a trick.

Iland assigns each of the 26 letters in the alphabet a numerical value: A is one, B is two, C is three and so on. He may ask a person in the crowd — say, Cordelia — for her name, and then add up the letters’ numerical values in seconds. While the person is spelling — C-O-R-D-E-L-I-A — Iland is calculating. Cordelia equals 67.

“I have always been good with numbers and figures,” Iland said. “They called me ‘the calculator’ in junior high school because I could add up all those numbers really quickly.”

When Iland was 13, he was diagnosed with autism. His first reaction to his learning difference was denial. After his mom explained the diagnosis to him, Iland sat in his bedroom and cried for an hour.

“I didn’t want to be different, I wanted to be like everybody else,” he said. “But then I figured, it was a relief to finally have a name to my unique quirks and skills.”

When Iland was 3 years old, he would rearrange letter magnets into words on the refrigerator for hours. Later, he would rewind parts of his favorite movies over and over, and find them just as funny.

Repetitive behaviors are a sign of disorders on the autism spectrum. Autism is a developmental disability that can include challenges with social interaction, difficulty with communication skills, or the development of unique strengths and differences — such as Iland’s peculiar ability to calculate the numerical value of letters.

His talent for numbers facilitated his career. When Iland transferred from College of the Canyons to California State University, Northridge in 2005, he decided to pursue a degree in accounting. After graduating, Iland worked as a certified public accountant for seven years. However, he did not feel like he was pursuing his passion.

“I had a little bit of an inkling — maybe I could tell my story about autism,” he said. “Maybe I could inspire my peers that are struggling with autism. Maybe numbers isn’t all the rage.”

Stepping Into an Uncertain Future

In November 2015, Iland quit his job as an accountant and started establishing himself as an autism advocate, guest speaker and Distinguished Toastmaster.

“For the first time in, I think, ever — I felt truly alive,” he said. “I had really found my purpose. This was what I was meant to do with myself.”

With the support of his mother, Emily Iland ’07 (M.A., Special Education), ’09 (Post-Master’s Certificate, Education Therapy), an adjunct professor in the CSUN Department of Special Education, Tom started to share his personal experiences about life on the autism spectrum. The pair spoke at local autism conferences, such as the Autism Society of Los Angeles.

Now, Tom Iland is encouraging others to find their purpose. He recently published his first book, Come to Life! Your Guide to Self-Discovery, which aims to help young people — with or without autism — to find their path in life. Three months after publication, it ranked as an Amazon bestseller in the special education category. On Feb. 12, Iland’s book earned the Mom’s Choice Award, which recognizes family-friendly media and products.

The book includes exercises and activities to help young people develop their full potential. Each chapter consists of a text and exercises. Readers learn how to identify their strengths and challenges, how to put in writing their thoughts and how to create lists that can help them in making decisions.

“The book is based on my mantra: Know yourself, love yourself, be yourself,” Iland said.

“Life doesn’t come to you — it’s up to you to ‘come to life,'” he continued. “You are the one in charge, and you have to speak up and say what you want.”

Iland conducts workshops and gives talks on an array of topics, across the United States and Mexico. He educates on autism awareness basics, how to overcome obstacles such as finding a job or establishing a romantic relationship, transitioning from childhood to adulthood, and tips on how to best explain to children what their disability means. In 2017, Iland had approximately 15 such professional engagements, with groups ranging in size from 20 to 120 people.

Police Safety Education 

Iland has worked with nonprofit organizations and companies such as Deloitte and The Walt Disney Company, and he collaborates with the Los Angeles Police Department on a safety program for police interactions with people on the autism spectrum.

“People with autism take things literally,” Iland said. Sarcasm and tone of voice are hard for them to identify, he said. “If police tell a person with autism to hold up their hands where they can be seen, the person literally might start approaching the officer with hands held up.”

To educate young people, Iland and his mother created a series of autism awareness videos called Be Safe — tailored to youth on the autism spectrum — to promote safe police interactions.

“The videos explain what to do and how to behave in a police encounter,” Iland said. For people on the autism spectrum, watching a video is an easier way to learn — especially for exploring the feelings and intentions of other people, he said. Iland himself struggles with relating to situations where he has no prior experience.

“If a thing hasn’t happened to me before, my mind is a blank page,” he said.

CSUN’s Special Accommodations

Iland had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get where he is today. His education at CSUN opened the door to his professional career, he said. He especially valued the extra support he received as an undergraduate, from CSUN’s Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES).

Being permitted to take tests in a quiet environment was an enormous help for Iland, who got easily distracted by classmates’ noises, he said.

“I’m really grateful that [DRES] was so accommodating and allowed me to take exams in another room or have double time,” he said. “A lot of students don’t have that luxury, or don’t come forward to ask their professors for help.” 

In the future, Iland hopes to add empowerment and accountability coaching to his portfolio, to support people in reaching their personal goals.

“I want to start an online consulting business and, ultimately, expand from the autism community, which is only 1 to 2 percent of population,” he said. “I don’t want to miss out on the other 98 percent.”

To learn more about Tom Iland and his work, visit his website http://thomasiland.com. 

When Roy Campanella became the first catcher of color in Major League Baseball history in 1948, he had no idea how far his impact would spread. He couldn’t know that he was paving the way for future baseball greats like Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, who were among the 27 minority players who participated in the 2017 All-Star Game.

Ten years after joining the majors, the future Hall of Famer was injured in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His perseverance, work ethic and dedication to physical therapy and his community led to The New York Times calling him “a universal symbol of courage” and “an inspiration” for people living with disabilities.

Today, the Roy and Roxie Campanella Foundation helps further that impact by providing 25 California State University, Northridge physical therapy (PT) students with scholarships for the renowned doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program.

For the past 20 years, the CSUN Department of Physical Therapy has partnered with the Roy and Roxie Campanella Foundation to provide financial assistance to CSUN PT students. In 2009, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation joined forces with CSUN and the Campanella Foundation so the scholarships could continue. Each year, the scholarship cohort has grown, expanding to the present number of 25 scholars during the 2016-17 academic year.

On Feb. 9, the diverse 2017-18 scholarship cohort, which is a good representation of CSUN’s many ethnicities and backgrounds, came together for a luncheon at the Orange Grove Bistro. The 25 students each shared words of gratitude directed toward members of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and Joni Campanella-Roan — Roy and Roxie Campanella’s daughter — who represented her parents’ foundation.

“To have my father’s legacy continue through these students at CSUN is just very heartwarming to me, because I know how important it was for my mom and dad to have physical therapists embrace different cultures, different backgrounds, different ethnic groups,” Campanella-Roan said. “The diversity of the students receiving these scholarships makes me know that everything that my parents dreamed of is happening.”

Nichol Whiteman, the Dodgers Foundation executive director, also attended the luncheon and, along with Campanella-Roan, presented scholarships to the students.

“The definition of breaking barriers in this room is pretty priceless. There are students who are the first in many different ways,” Whiteman said. “Whether it be the first to obtain a graduate degree … the first to obtain a college degree or the first to get an education in this country. We have heard so many different ways in which this scholarship and this financial assistance is helping these students, but it’s way bigger than physical therapy.

“Physical therapy is a caveat and a conduit for many of them to achieve ultimate success, and we’re just happy to be a part of it.”

Aimee Kachingwe, a physical therapy faculty member who has seen this scholarship develop throughout the past two decades, said diversity in her field is invaluable.

“Physical therapy has been traditionally homogenous — white women have always been, and still are, in the ‘majority,'” Kachingwe said. “But, as patients, if your physical therapist reflects who you are, it allows the patient to change so much more. That person speaks their language. Culturally, they have that same relationship. They understand what they’re going through.”

Four students showcase the diversity of CSUN’s DPT program.

Seungeun Woo was born and raised in South Korea. At 20, she moved to the United States, learning a different language and immersing herself in a different culture. She is a third year in CSUN’s DPT program, and said that her experience has been more enriching than she ever could have imagined.

With English as her second language, Woo said she needed to dedicate more time and effort to studying the material, so she was thrilled to find out her hard work had paid off.

“I was so happy when I found out I got the scholarship,” Woo said. “My parents are actually living in Korea now, [so when I called to let them know] my mom was crying because of how happy she was. Receiving the Roy Campanella/Dodgers Scholarship is a tremendous honor for me and my family, and it will provide significant financial support.”

Nelly Geronimo applied for the scholarship twice before receiving it during her third year of the DPT program. As the first member of her family to pursue an advanced degree, Geronimo realized that graduate school funding opportunities are few and far between.

“Receiving this scholarship honestly means a lot,” Geronimo said. “As graduate students, we don’t get many scholarships or other financial aid, so when we do receive it, it’s a huge deal. It validates the work you do as a student and all the extracurricular activities that we do.”

Geronimo is of Guamanian descent and said that she “fits right in” to the celebration of diversity of the Campanella/Dodgers Scholarship group.

“I represent the Asian community and also consider myself a Pacific Islander because I’m from Guam,” she said. “I grew up in the island life and I don’t know anyone else from Guam on campus, so in terms of diversity, I do represent a population that’s a minority.”

Antonio Hanlin Feng is the only international student currently in enrolled in the DPT program. As a student from China, Feng said that “studying and living in another country has been challenging culturally and financially” because he’s far away from from family and paying a higher tuition.

Feng has been very involved in extracurricular activities such as volunteering for visiting Japanese students from Jikei University in Tokyo and working with the Exercise Community Living in Prosthetics and Supporting Everyone (ECLIPSE) symposium, a group whose aim is to bring clinicians and people with limb loss together for education and support. Receiving this scholarship was more than just financial help for Feng.

“This scholarship really encourages me to continue my education here in the U.S.,” Feng said. “It’s just incredible that I can be honored by receiving this recognition. This program is doing a lot to help me to be able to study here, and that’s a very unique experience for my education.”

Nataly Ochoa is in her second semester of the DPT program. A first-generation San Fernando Valley native, she realized that few people in her community of Sun Valley knew what physical therapy was, and even fewer had access to it.

“A lot of my classmates had parents who were also immigrants or they were immigrants themselves,” Ochoa said. “So they didn’t have the insurance or resources necessary to get physical therapy. When I found out about physical therapy, I realized that was something I wanted to go into because there is such a huge need in the Hispanic population for physical therapists.”

Ochoa’s goal is to eradicate barriers that Latino communities face when seeking physical therapy. As a Spanish-speaking physical therapist, she’d be able to overcome the cultural and language barriers.

“It would be a great honor to be able to help that population,” Ochoa said.

Throughout the world, bee colonies have been devastated by a parasite called the Varroa mite. These mites – which are visible to the naked eye – leach on to bees, and have devastated honeybees since the late 1980s. The treatments for this parasite vary; however, recent studies have shown the Varroa Mite have built up a resistance to the treatments.

Rachel Mackelprang, professor of biology at California State University, Northridge who conducts studies on microbial communities, has been working to figure out if these treatments are affecting the symbiotic bacteria in the bees’ guts, which may negatively impact their health.

Mackelprang stressed the importance of understanding the current treatment and human intervention.

“Bees pollinate many of our foods crops,” she said. “They’re important pollinators of flowering plants.”

“We are in the preliminary stages of this study,” she said, of the research which began in May 2017. “There’s a never-ending list of things we can do and learn from this study.

“I am interested in whether human interventions, and/or environmental factors impact the beneficial bacteria that colonize the bee gut,” she explained. “Examples [of potential factors] include mite treatment, supplemental feeding with sugar water, changes in seasons, and increasingly dry and hot weather patterns.”

Walking past the Botanic Garden or the Orange Grove to get to class, students may not have noticed the beehives Mackelprang has placed on campus. There are five hives at the heart of Mackelprang’s research. The hives are made up of Italian honeybees, ​which are know for being docile. The hives are surrounded by fences for extra protection ​​​– posing no threat to students, faculty or staff.

Since 1879, backyard beekeeping was banned in Los Angeles, inspired by inaccurate research that said bees damaged fruit crops and put people in danger. The measure proved to have the opposite effect. It was not until October 2015 that this legislation changed

Eight years ago, Mackelprang visited her father in Spokane, Wash., and helped him with his  bee hives. That experience inspired her study.

“My dad kept bees in his backyard, and I enjoyed it,” she said. “I thought it would be interesting to combine this enjoyment and my expertise in microbiology into a research project.”

Mackelprang’s is personally funding part of the study by harvesting the bees’ honey ­­— with help from CSUN biology students. She plans to sell the product in collaboration with CSUN’s Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics.

Mackelprang and her students’ suit up in white bee suits, veils and gloves to work and harvest the honey. “We’re harvesting the honey and bottling it,” she said. “It will enter the market soon.”

The importance of protecting bees in the ecosystem is crucial, said Mackelprang. She hopes to spread the word to members of the community that if they see a bee colony, they should not try to kill the bees.

“Call a beekeeper rather than an exterminator,” she said. “They will remove the hive and re-home the bees.”

Mackelprang noted that it’s important to support an environment that’s friendly to bees, including avoiding the use of pesticides, and planting flowers and shrubs that attract pollinators.

“Select bee-friendly plants like lavender, sage, rosemary, sunflowers, California poppy or California buckwheat,” she said. “These plants will attract honeybees and other important pollinators.”

More than 300 students, primarily African-American, from 13 different high schools across the Los Angeles area and six schools from Oxnard gathered at California State University, Northridge on Feb. 23 for the 13th annual Harambee High School Conference.

The term “Harambee” — Swahili for “pull together” and the official motto of Kenya — encapsulates the Harambee Student Association’s mission: to promote higher education through culture, pride, awareness and action. The association’s goal is to increase the number of African-American students attending CSUN. This year, the theme of the conference was Tell Your Story.

In his opening remarks, Dwayne Cantrell, associate vice president for student access and support services, welcomed students and encouraged them to take full advantage of the conference.

“We put together a program just for you, because we want to have an impact on you,” Cantrell said. “We want you to reflect on who you are. All of you have a story to tell — we want you to tell that story.”

This marked the first time schools from Oxnard participated.

Following the introductory session, students were sorted into groups, and CSUN student leaders guided the teenagers to separate rooms for a number of different activities.

At the University Student Union’s Northridge Center, Birmingham Charter High School students gathered with Van Nuys High School students for a student success activity, where they discussed four aspects about success in college: success, strategies for achieving it, barriers and how their CSUN student leader found success.

The workshop, hosted by communication studies student Ryan Jones, prompted the teens to recognize time management as a vital resource. He also associated  good grades with success. In terms of barriers to success, the high school students — mostly low-income youth who would be first-generation college students — said cost was the top barrier to college success.

Jones shared his story with the group and discussed how he found success in college.

“Some things that helped me find success were being involved on campus, being a member of [CSUN’s Educational Opportunity Programs], as well as forming study groups and building connections,” Jones told the high school students. “Building connections is what helped introduce me to some very rewarding opportunities, enabling me to get where I am today.”

Zainab Jimoh, a student at Van Nuys High School, said she learned a lot from the conference — particularly one most memorable aspect of the event.

“I really like how they got college students to come talk to us about their own experiences,” Jimoh said. “Usually other people are like, ‘Yeah, you can do this. It’s so easy,’ but to see someone talk about their struggles and talk about how they’re persevering — that will always stick with me.”

Two hours before actress and equal rights advocate Laverne Cox took the stage for the Big Lecture at California State University, Northridge, De’zha Boynton and her friends were first in line, sitting right outside the doors of the University Student Union’s Northridge Center. Boyton, a second-year journalism student, was eager to hear Cox’s lecture.

“Laverne’s fabulousness and graciousness brought me here,” Boynton said, smiling. “I expect a great lecture and to be in awe of her. I’m excited to learn about her journey as a trans woman.”

Boyton was not the only student eager to see the sold-out lecture. Hundreds of Matadors stood in line in chilly weather to see the actress and producer. Five minutes before doors opened, the line went through the USU, past the Student Recreation Center and extended to the G3 parking structure.

Cox walked on stage after an introduction from Associated Students President Jonathan Goldenberg and Vice President Zahraa Khuraibet. Best known for her role as Sophia Burset on Netflix’s critically acclaimed Orange is the New Black, the crowd of about 800 greeted the actress with loud applause and a standing ovation.

After a quick hello, Cox kicked off her lecture with a simple declaration.

“I am a proud, African-American, trans woman,” Cox said.

Later, she quoted famous words of abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.

“I believe it is important to claim the multiple intersections of our personalities with pride and in public because I haven’t been always able to do so,” Cox said. “It is my belief that the greatest obstacles facing the transgender community are points of view which disavow our identities … points of view that suggest no matter what I do, I’ll never be a woman.

“Yet, ain’t I a woman?”

The first years of her transition were very difficult for her, Cox said. After finally accepting that she was a woman and taking the steps to live authentically, the world wasn’t reflecting her true image.

“It was incredibly painful and I often had moments where I asked myself, ‘What am I doing wrong? Why aren’t they seeing that I’m a woman?’” she said. “It took me many, many years to internalize that if someone can look at me and realize that I’m transgender, that’s not only okay, that’s beautiful. Trans is beautiful.”

During her hour-long lecture, Cox also talked about her identical twin brother, her mother and growing up in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

“My mother worked three jobs to take care of my brother and me, but she eventually became a teacher, so education was really important in our household,” Cox said. “My mother was keen on making sure that my brother and I were aware of the rich history of racial oppression we were born into, but she also made sure that we were aware of the rich history of resistance to that racial oppression.”

The Alabama native also shared childhood experiences, including how she was bullied as a kid. In grade school, Cox would often be chased home by four or five boys who wanted to beat her up. From the second the school bus pulled over, she would run home as fast as she could to avoid them, she said.

As a teenager, Cox got a scholarship to study creative writing (she planned to switch to ballet two years later) at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. Then, in the early 1990s, she earned a dance scholarship to Indiana University.

Two years later, she transferred to Marymount Manhattan College in New York, where she studied dance. Cox said New York City was the first place where her gender non-conformity was looked at as something special. Her “real education” came from the New York nightclub scene, Cox said. There, she met people who inspired her to be herself, most notably a woman named Tina Sparkles.

“Over the years that I knew Tina Sparkles, I watched her transform,” Cox said. “I watched her transition from a statuesque queen to a beautiful, elegant, sophisticated woman. And I was like, ‘If Tina can do this, what can I do?’”

Cox said meeting and getting to know these incredible women erased the misconceptions she had internalized about trans people.

“I associated being transgender with being destitute and not being successful,” Cox said. “Then I met real-life trans people. I got to know them as people and eventually, all the misconceptions that I had about who transgender people were melted away. And I believe that can be the journey for each and every one of us.”

A brief question-and-answer forum followed Cox’s lecture. One student stood up in the back row, phone in hand, and walked toward the stage to ask Cox a question.

“I have a friend in Washington, D.C. His name is Shane. He’s transgender and is still going through transition at the moment. He wants to ask about dysphoria and how you dealt with it,” the student said. Dysphoria is the distress a person feels when their sex and gender do not match their gender identity.

“That’s gotten better [for me],” Cox said. “In the early years of my transition, it was really rough. I wanted to be ‘there’ already and kept asking, ‘Why aren’t I there yet?’ But what I’ve learned is to try and love myself the way I am right now.”

In a warm reflection of the Big Lecture, Cox shared a video on Facebook on March 2, with a caption that read, “Thank you to the #CSUN community for showing up and showing out last night. You gave me so much love and reminded me of what’s important … You make me want to live up to the hope and possibility I saw in your eyes last night.”

California State University, Northridge student musicians rehearse with the CSUN Symphony. Photo by Lee Choo.

In an era when pop, hip-hop and technology dominate the music world, California State University, Northridge is holding fast to its classical roots. At nearly 60 years old, its venerable Department of Music has graduated thousands of classical musicians, and CSUN alumni are playing in orchestras, holding faculty positions and teaching music in private practice all over the world.

The music department has diversified and branched out in recent decades, adding Music Industry Studies, Media Composition and other popular disciplines, but the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in piano performance, strings, winds, guitar, percussion, opera and other vocal studies remain extremely popular. Students are drawn to CSUN’s music program for the same reasons that attracted their predecessors in the 1960s, ’70s and beyond: the high caliber of faculty — and the relative accessibility of those faculty mentors to all students.

“The department is really transitioning, and it’s like a dual training ground,” said Ron Borczon, chair of the Department of Music, a classical guitarist who has taught at CSUN since 1984. “Decades ago, this place was like a conservatory, churning out composers and performers. There were no degrees back then in commercial media composition or music industry — those types of degrees did not exist. The fame of the department was built on the conservatory style. However, now the fame of the department also includes these newer degrees.”

Faculty Stars, Down to Earth

CSUN music faculty, for all their accomplishments, are not on the road touring and unavailable most of the year. They’re in Cypress Hall on campus, working closely with students.

“In every faculty area, we have a star — in piano, clarinet, voice, guitar, strings, in every area,” said Borczon, who also heads the department’s Music Therapy Program. “When you have stars in every area, students are going to come for them.”

Clarinetist Julia Heinen, pianist Dmitry Rachmanov, violinist Lorenz Gamma and guitarist Steve Thachuk are just four examples of faculty who perform nationally and internationally.

“One of the great things about our music program is that we have a star factor, but the stars are not gone, missing tons of lessons,” Borczon continued. “Here, all our teachers are dedicated to giving the students all their lessons. We are so student-oriented, and so focused on student success.”

Students Make Their Mark

California State University, Northridge student musicians rehearse with the CSUN Symphony. Photo by Lee Choo.

In their first two years at CSUN, all music undergraduates must take core classes such as music theory and piano skills. Then, in their junior year, students focus on an area of specialization such as vocal arts or orchestral strings performance for the Bachelor of Music, or music education and music therapy for the Bachelor of Arts. The department also offers a Master of Arts and a Master of Music in a number of disciplines.

“We have vocalists who are winning Met auditions. We have violinists who are winning major competitions, and so many of our students are going on to major graduate schools, doctoral programs and performing in orchestras,” Borczon said. “The traditional core music program is still succeeding.”

In mid-February, the CSUN student chapter of the National Association for Music Education was named the Collegiate Student Chapter of the Year at a gala awards banquet as part of the California All-State Music Education Conference. The accolade marked the fourth time CSUN has received the award, an unprecedented achievement in California.

This semester, the CSUN Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform in Hawaii. The Women’s Chorale has toured and performed in China. And the acclaimed Jazz Studies Program regularly wins honors and invitations to prestigious festivals, including recent invitations for the CSUN Jazz Combo, Kairos, to compete at the Monterey “Next Generation” Jazz Festival, and a win at the Angel City Jazz Festival Young Artist Competition. Later this spring, the CSUN Jazz Band is invited to record student compositions at Capitol Records recording studio in Hollywood, said music professor Matt Harris, head of the Jazz Studies Program.

In fall 2017, violin seniors Madeleine Hogue and Sophia Schuldt joined the American Youth Symphony after winning its most recent audition. The pair of violinists are two perfect examples of the legacy of thousands of CSUN students and alumni who have become active members of the Los Angeles area music community.

“We have a lot of diversity in our student population — and whenever you have diversity, you have learning,” Borczon said. “Music is a solo activity that needs companionship in ensembles. Think about what it’s like if you’re a flute player [in an ensemble], and the flute player next to you is from Korea. And the flute players next to them are from Japan, the Middle East and Mexico — and here because of DACA.”

Flute performance graduate student Anna Martone ’17 (Music) said she chose to study music at CSUN due to its proximity to her hometown of Thousand Oaks, as well as encouragement from her older brother, alumnus and classical percussionist Joe Martone ’12 (Music). As a high school student, she visited the Department of Music and took a lesson with flute professor Sandra Kipp Iles, with whom she immediately bonded, Martone said.

“I have really appreciated the music department. It’s competitive and you have to work hard, but there are so many nice people here,” Martone said. “The faculty are so helpful — that’s one of the biggest reasons I decided to stay to get my master’s degree here. They’re very accessible. I feel so at home here, and I enjoy how it feels like a family.

“CSUN is also a great school because you’re not put in one box,” she said. “I’m a classical flute player, but I’ve also gotten to play with the jazz band and in composers’ recitals. You can dip your feet in different pools.”

Professional Guidance

Many alumni return to teach as CSUN faculty, including Kipp Iles ’90 (Music), M.M. ’94 (Music); professor Gary Pratt ’80 (Music), a professional jazz musician who has taught in the department for more than 30 years; and beloved piano professor Edward Francis ’77 (Music), M.A. ’79 (Music), who passed away in 2017.

“One of the strengths of this department has always been the fact that students study with a full-time professor,” said emeritus professor William Toutant, whose tenure at CSUN stretched from 1975 until he retired in 2013. In addition to teaching theory, composition and musical analysis, Toutant served as dean and associate dean of what is now the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

“If you’re studying composition, in many other places, your first harmony course would be taught by a graduate assistant,” Toutant said. “Here, you study with a full-time professor. By the time you get to studying counterpoint, you might have as your teacher [professor emeritus] Aurelio de la Vega, who is probably the foremost Latin American composer in the world. Here you are, an undergraduate studying with someone of that stature!”

The department was small but well regarded by the late 1960s. It experienced its greatest growth — in faculty numbers and student population — starting in 1970, said emeritus professor Daniel Kessner, who taught and headed the composition program from 1970 until he retired in 2005. From the 1970s, Kessner said, the department built on its reputation and garnered wide-spread acclaim as its graduates performed around the globe and taught students of their own.

Emerita professor Françoise Régnat, who taught piano at CSUN from 1972-2010, emphasized the importance of continuing to nurture a vibrant classical music core in the department — including a strong orchestra, piano, strings, vocalists and winds.

“You have to have strong classical music in the department,” Régnat said. “Classical music should be the main area, and music must be performed.”

Kessner remains close with his CSUN music colleagues and former students, and he said he’s proud of the stellar reputation the Department of Music has built over nearly 60 years, graduating thousands of musicians. “Every time one of our students succeeds and goes on to do something great, we all feel wonderful,” he said.

“For me,” he added, “it was the joy of performing and bringing up the next generation of students.”

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., March 12, 2018) — California State University, Northridge biology professor Steven Oppenheimer is celebrating 22 years of collaboration with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teachers to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research done by K-12 students in volume number 22 of “The New Journal of Student Research Abstracts.”

A symposium, scheduled for March 18 at 1:30 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union, will feature nearly 200 posters from the participating LAUSD students.

The annual symposium — where CSUN faculty and staff meet students, their parents, and teachers to celebrate the science projects they worked on — is one of Oppenheimer’s favorite parts about the journal program.

“When the kids hear their names for a medal, the place is in an uproar,” Oppenheimer said. “It’s better than any sports game. That, I think, is one of the greatest things to see.”

The journal was first published in 1995 as an offshoot of lectures and workshops that CSUN was holding for science teachers for several years prior. The workshops, now known as the journal program, were designed to empower educators and help them come up with creative research materials and ideas for their classrooms to engage students in academic research.

“It began to be apparent that a student journal would be the perfect way for teachers to take what they were learning and incorporate it into their students’ learning,” Oppenheimer said. “The biggest challenges that teachers face in getting students excited about science is that they are inundated with so much work, forms and tests. It really takes a true pioneer to do extra work in getting the students excited about science.”

This year, the journal won the Oviatt Library Open Access Award presented by library dean Mark Stover. Oppenheimer noted that all 22 volumes of the journal are available online, due to the effort of the library staff.

Oppenheimer said he believes the project will eventually have a global impact.

“Just in the last couple of years, this journal has been on the Web, along with every issue that we have ever published,” Oppenheimer said. “Now, anyone in the world can read it to get ideas for research, and people can also submit abstracts to the journal. So, I envision the journal getting much larger coverage as people around the world begin to read it and contribute.”

The project was recognized at the White House STEM conference and by CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White.

Members of Comision Femenil of the San Fernando Valley at the 2015 Annual Adelante Mujer Latina Career Conference.

More than 500 Latina high school students will learn about leadership development, cultural empowerment and pathways to college, at the 25th annual Adelante Mujer Latina Career Conference (AMLCC) on Saturday, March 17, at California State University, Northridge.

The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the University Student Union’s Northridge Center, located at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The conference is organized by the Comisión Femenil of the San Fernando Valley (CFSFV) — a nonprofit volunteer-service organization dedicated to improving Latinas through education, leadership development and community involvement. The conference is supported by the Los Angeles Unified School District and CSUN.

“[Comisión Femenil of the San Fernando Valley] tries to put together a diverse group of professional Latina leaders to engage students,” said Francesca Vega, CSUN director of government and community relations. “There are limited opportunities for young women from traditionally underserved communities. They do not always have this kind of experience at a college campus, with a day that includes exposure to college culture, career opportunities and leadership development.

“Whether the speakers are engineers, attorneys or deans, many of the students are seeing Latinas in these positions for the first time,” continued Vega. “There is no better place to have this gathering than at one of the largest and most diverse universities in the state.”

A campus welcome from Vega will kick off the conference. Keynote speaker Dr. Alma Lopez from Kaiser Permanente will share her adolescent AMLCC experience and how it inspired her to pursue medicine.

Lopez, a recipient of the Dr. Karin Duran Memorial Youth Scholarship, serves as a role model for the impact that the conference can have on young Latinas in the community, said Blanca Eliopulso, Adelante Mujer Latina co-chair.

During the conference, students will have the opportunity to attend 14 workshops and a career fair led by Latina professionals in various industries, including broadcast journalism, dental, education, engineering, law, entertainment, law enforcement, graphic design and technology, medicine, nursing, psychology and  social work, as well as workshops on financial aid and pathways to college.

Participating high schools include: Panorama High School, Sun Valley Magnet School, Social Justice Humanitas Academy, James Monroe High School, Grant High School, Technology Preparatory Academy, North Hollywood High School, Verdugo Hills High School, Academy of Scientific Exploration, Birmingham Community Charter High School, Sylmar Charter High School, Vaughn International Studies Academy High School, Reseda High School, San Fernando High School, Canoga Park High School, Sun Valley High School, Arleta High School, Sylmar Biotech Health Academy, Van Nuys High School, John F. Kennedy High School, John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, Alliance Ouchi High School and Robert Fulton High School.

For more information on how to register, visit https://goo.gl/forms/lSZ3oGVaHZYVa3rt2.

California State University, Northridge has been named an Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Photo by Lee Choo.

Recognizing California State University, Northridge’s strong commitment to regional economic development, CSUN has been named an Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).

Institutions that earn the designation are recognized for their efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, excellence in technology transfer, leadership in talent and workforce development, establishing strong government-university-industry partnerships, and fostering community and “place” development through public service, engagement and outreach, according to the APLU.

“This IEP designation by the APLU is a great recognition of our wide-ranging engagement with the Los Angeles area and our strong commitment to student and faculty innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development and working with diverse community partners through a range of impactful activities and programs,” said Megha Patel, CSUN’s assistant vice president for research and economic development.

APLU is a research, policy and advocacy group that represents more than 230 public universities across North America. The designation awarded to CSUN, Innovation and Economic Prosperity University, comes from APLU’s Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity, which was created to help member universities assess and communicate their economic development work. APLU defines economic development in higher education as “proactive institutional engagement, with partners and stakeholders, in sustainable growth of the competitive capacities that contribute to the advancement of society through the realization of individual, firm, community and regional-to-global economic and societal potential.”

CSUN began the application process for the Innovation and Economic Prosperity University designation more than a year ago, with the creation of a working group that included Patel; Julia Potter, director of strategic partnerships and special initiatives; marketing professor Deborah Cours, then director of community engagement; manufacturing systems engineering and management professor S. Jimmy Gandhi, director of the Ernie Schaffer Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Ryan Holbrook, director of the entrepreneurship program in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.

The working group set out to assess CSUN’s strengths and weaknesses in economic development and a survey of campus stakeholders, including community partners. The application was submitted in December.

The working group found that CSUN’s economic impact on the region was nearly $2 billion last year and was responsible for the creation of more than 11,700 jobs. Citing a 2015 Economic and Social Impact Study by Beacon Economics, the working group reported that CSUN students go on to graduate at higher rates and earn more as alumni than those at peer institutions.

The application noted several factors as key to the campus’ engagement with the Los Angeles area, including finalizing plans for a five-story, 150-room business-class Hyatt Hotel on campus; the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, CSUN’s 1,700-seat performing arts center that has been cited by the Los Angeles Times as “a hub for live music, dance, drama and culture”; spearheading the creation of the California State University system’s first multi-campus institute; and creating an on-campus business incubator in partnership with the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator.

“We’ve engaged Los Angeles with continuous innovations, resources and opportunities,” the application said. “From the people we graduate to the economic initiatives we spearhead and sponsor, our impact on the region is clear.”

To celebrate the significance of pi, an infinite mathematical constant also known as 3.14 and π, the Delmar T. Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge, once again hosted its annual Pi Day celebration.

Scientists, engineers, and educators met with students and faculty to share valuable insights into their careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Bonita J. Campbell Endowment for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) cosponsored the event.

This year’s event took place one day prior to Pi Day, on March 13, and aimed to improve knowledge and appreciation for π and mathematics as a whole.

“Math affects all of us, but most of us don’t know the incredible power of 3.14,” said Oviatt Library Dean Mark Stover. “The WISE Pi Day celebration … is a great way for CSUN students – and students from local schools – to learn about Pi while at the same time enjoy delicious refreshments provided by the Marilyn Magaram Center and the Orange Grove Bistro.”

Chandra Subramaniam is the new dean of CSUN’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics. He comes to CSUN from the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was interim dean of the business college. Photo by Lee Choo.

Chandra Subramaniam spent his first week as the new dean of California State University, Northridge’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics in meeting after meeting, learning about the job and the people he’ll be working with.

What Subramaniam learned, he said, confirmed that he made the right decision to leave the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was interim dean of the business college, for CSUN.

“This is a place where the faculty, and the administrators truly care about the students and ensure that they succeed, not just in the classroom, but in their professional careers,” Subramaniam said. “There is a connection that alumni have with this university and the community it serves. They want to make a positive impact and are willing to give of themselves to make that happen.

“I see my job as building on that,” he said. “Bringing all the pieces together, from the various programs in the college to tapping into our amazing alumni and members of the community, and moving us forward to a place where not only are we graduating amazing business professionals, but we are increasing the positive impact we have on the region and its businesses.”

Subramaniam assumed his new post on March 1. He replaced Kenneth Lord, who stepped down as dean of the Nazarian College last spring to help oversee the reaccreditation process for the college, among other projects. CSUN marketing professor Deborah Cours served as dean during the interim.

“I, myself, am an immigrant and can relate to the experiences of many of CSUN’s students,” said Subramaniam, who is a native of Malaysia.

He was working as an engineer for National Semiconductor in Malaysia when he decided to get a business degree in the United States. He was accepted at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

He arrived at the Duluth airport, bleary-eyed and exhausted from his 20-hour international flight. He knew no one in Duluth when the taxi dropped him off at the Buena Vista Hotel, and he collapsed on the bed. It was a different story when he woke up.

He got a call from the hotel’s owner, who offered to show him around town, and even drove him to the university’s international students office.

“Needless to say, my first impression of the United States was that it was very welcoming,” he said.

Subramaniam was an assistant professor of accounting at Texas Christian University before joining the University of Texas at Arlington in 2003. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, and a second baccalaureate degree in accounting from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He also holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and a doctorate in accounting from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

He has taught at multiple universities, including the University of Minnesota at Duluth and Twin Cities, Tongji University in Shanghai and University of Science and Technology, Beijing.

While at the University of Texas at Arlington, Subramaniam was an accounting professor before being named chair of the Department of Accounting in 2008. He held that post for six years. From 2014 to 2016, he served as associate dean of Arlington’s business college, and he was named interim dean of the college in 2016. He held that title until coming to CSUN.

In addition to his work with National Semiconductor, Subramaniam’s non-academic career includes working as director of the Small Business Development Center and Small Business Institute in north eastern Minnesota.

It was a job, he said, where he often “stood out as a 28- and 29-year-old kid from Malaysia” as he traveled to small towns in northern Minnesota working with small-business owners.

His research has largely focused on management incentives, executive compensation and corporate governance. He has been published primarily in finance and accounting journals, including the Journal of Finance; Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance; Journal of Business Finance and Accounting and Accounting Horizons, among others.

He has held board memberships in the Ft. Worth Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs and Financial Executives International. He was awarded the 2015 Meritorious Service in Accounting Career Education by the Texas Society of CPAs, and was honored by Dallas CEO Magazine as one of 2018 “Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Ft. Worth.”

When K. Greg Murray ’77 (Biology), M.S. ’79 (Biology) started his education at California State University, Northridge in fall 1972, he had no idea how profound an impact the school would have on his life.

“There is no possible way that I could overstate how important CSUN was for me — in several ways,” Murray said. 

CSUN prepared Murray to pursue a doctorate in zoology from the University of Florida, establish a career as professor of biology and pursue research in the cloud forest of Costa Rica — and not to mention, CSUN was where he met his wife.

In July 2017, Murray was appointed to a 10-year term as the T. Elliot Weier Professor of Plant Science at Hope College in Holland, Mich. “I’m very greatly honored to be chosen for this position and to be associated with Professor Weier,” he said.

T. Elliot Weier was a Hope alumnus and internationally recognized for his research on photosynthesis. Murray first came across Weier during his time at CSUN, reading the textbook Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology, by Weier, C. Ralph Stocking and Michael G. Barbour, for a plant biology class in 1974. More than 40 years later, Murray still has the same copy of the textbook on his bookshelf. “Now I’ve been endowed to this professorship named after the person whose textbook I used as an undergraduate,” he said.

CSUN also impacted Murray’s personal life. He met his future wife, Kathy Winnett-Murray ’79 (M.S., Biology), during his graduate studies. The pair worked together on a research project about seabirds on Santa Barbara Island. Their careers and lives have been intertwined ever since.

“After graduating from CSUN, we applied for Ph.D. programs together,” Greg Murray said. The couple married in 1979, and they started doctorate programs in Florida the same year.

In 1986, Murray and Winnett-Murray started teaching at Hope College. Murray teaches courses in ecology, introductory biology, conservation biology, marine biology and biophysics, and mathematical biology.

His research focuses on plant-animal interactions. Murray wrote his dissertation about the dispersal of plant seeds by fruit-eating birds, and studied hummingbird feeding ecology and pollination ecology in Costa Rica.

In 1981, Murray and his wife moved to Costa Rica for about two years to conduct tropical ecology studies in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. In 1990, the couple built a house just outside the reserve and has spent summers there ever since, along with their two sons.

Murray continues his research in Costa Rica, studying the demography of pioneer plants — plants that are the first ones to settle and start natural regeneration processes in damaged areas — and forest dynamics, which examines how much of a forest is damaged by physical disturbance and how quickly it regenerates. Some of his research includes long-term projects that have been operating since 1981.

“Studies like these are very important to ecology, because there are certain questions you can’t answer in a short amount of time,” he said.

Murray noted that he feels a strong connection to the community and cloud forest in Costa Rica.

“It’s just a wonderful place,” he said. “It’s a place where I love being, and where I feel at home the most.”

Ten years after becoming the first catcher of color in Major League Baseball, Roy Campanella — Brooklyn Dodger and future Hall of Famer — was injured in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Roxie Doles (later Campanella) served as his nurse and was his best friend and wife for the three decades. Roxie encouraged the Dodger great to seek physical therapy to help him with his motor skills, and this treatment proved to be monumental for Roy.

The tremendous impact physical therapy had on the the only Dodger to win three National League Most Valuable Player Awards and his family led the Roy and Roxie Campanella Foundation to provide scholarships for California State University, Northridge’s Department of Physical Therapy students, for the renowned Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.

In 2009, the Campanella Foundation joined forces with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation so the scholarships could serve more students. Each year, the scholarship cohort has grown, expanding to 25 scholars during the 2017-18 academic year.

The 25 scholarship recipients were honored on the field at Dodger Stadium on April 24, before the Dodgers took on the Marlins. Nelly Geronimo, a third-year DPT student, said the scholarship validated all of her hard work.

“Receiving this scholarship means a lot to me,” Geronimo said. “We don’t get a lot of [financial aid] opportunities, so I’m really thankful to be here.”

Antonio Hanlin Feng, a first-year student and the only international student currently enrolled in the DPT program, shared Geronimo’s excitement during his first visit to Dodger Stadium.

“This is my first time here, so I’m very, very excited and I feel so special,” Feng said. “It’s really not just about the money — it’s about this honor that’s once per lifetime, to be able to be here with my classmates and the faculty. I’m very proud.”

For more information about the Campanella/Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Scholarship, please visit https://www.csun.edu/health-human-development/physical-therapy/campanelladodger-dream-foundation-scholarships.

The winners of California State University, Northridge’s first-ever artificial intelligence (AI) student venture competition — dubbed AI-Jam — were chosen in April at an event that took place at CSUN’s Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room in the Delmar T. Oviatt Library.

Each team participated in a showcase and were scored on their project’s use of artificial intelligence, or “AI-ness,” feasibility and quality.

The AI-Jam competition, created by CSUN’s Department of Information Technology, included two tracks: research and innovation.

KLab’s Butterflies, an artificial intelligence project that uses a robot to mimic a child with a behavioral or learning challenge, was awarded first place in the research track. The goal of KLab’s Butterflies is to more effectively train students on how to work with children who express similar reactions as the robot.

The KLab’s Butterflies team is made up of CSUN students Vahe Esmaeili, Ryan Moradpour, Victory Ramirez and Christina Saez. After winning AI-Jam, Saez said that the group plans “on utilizing artificial intelligence to create realistic simulations for practical, individualized training.”

Anyone interested in joining or collaborating with KLab’s Butterflies can visit their website, https://klab-csun.weebly.com.

AI-Adventurers won second place in research at the inaugural AI-Jam competition. The team’s project takes an approach to healthy eating using AI and image recognition to aid in portion control.

Third place in the research track went to Helia Nutrition and Health. The project aims to increase the accuracy of individual food logs by using AI and image recognition to track an individual’s daily food intake.

The innovation track had nine participating teams, including Agora, Fetch Bot, AI-Amigos, Deaf Connect and AI-Caramba.

The first-place winners in the innovation track were AI-Amigos, whose project goal was to help students excel in their careers by using a chatbot on Facebook to ask the CSUN Career Center questions that students have about the center’s services.

CSUN students and Career Center student assistants Diego Cobian, Marilyn Hightower, Natalia Moscoso, Lorena Roque and Jemma Tiongson joined forces to make up AI-Amigos. They said that winning first place was a surprise and an honor.

“We were super excited and happy, of course!” Tiongson said. “We’re glad we all work at a place like the Career Center, where we are supervised by Ana Penaranda. She really pushes us to achieve new personal heights in technology.”

Second and third place in innovation went to Deaf Connect and AI-Caramba, respectively. Deaf Connect is a project that uses machine learning, natural language processing and artificial intelligence to help the Deaf community access more resources, such as speech-to-text translation.

AI-Caramba uses natural language processing to recognize voice commands through Alexa by Amazon, to help students find information about the Career Center in a more intuitive and friendly manner.

For more information on AI-Jam, please visit https://www.csun.edu/it/ai-jam#.