Educators from California State University, Northridge joined CHIME Institute officials in June to break ground on two new buildings at the institute’s Woodland Hills public charter school site, which will provide CSUN researchers greater opportunities to study the institute’s acclaimed inclusive learning environment.

The new buildings will replace 10 temporary brown and blue portable classroom bungalows that now serve the some of CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School’s 730 students.

“The new buildings are a continuation of our efforts to provide a high-quality learning environment for all children,” said Erin Studer, CHIME’s executive director of charter school programs. “We’ve had the temporary bungalows since 2010, and it’s time to get rid of them. The buildings will make a long-term difference in the education of all our students.”

When finished, the new buildings — located near the south side of the K-8 campus at 19722 Collier St. — will include 16 new classrooms, including two science laboratories, and a new library. The $10 million project, funded by state Prop. 55 and Los Angeles Unified School District bonds, is expected to be completed in June 2015.

The new buildings, each two stories tall, are “universally designed” to be fully accessible to ensure that all the students at the school can get where they need to go without a problem. The school is hailed as a national leader in inclusive education, where children who develop typically, children with special needs and children who are gifted learn side by side. Access to the second floors will be via ramps “so students are not separated from their friends while changing classrooms or going to recess or lunch,” Studer said.

Classrooms in the new buildings also will include one-way observation windows to ensure that CSUN researchers, who often use the school as a teaching-demonstration and professional-development site, do not disturb the learning process.

“The new observation areas are continuing a collaboration that CSUN has had with CHIME from the beginning,” said Annie Cox, executive director of CHIME’s early education programs. “It’s something we’ve been doing for years — providing a space for CSUN researchers to study and learn what we do — in the infant/toddler and preschool program. We’ll now have greater opportunity to provide the same opportunities at the K-8 school.”

Michael Spagna, dean of CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education, said the partnership between the university and the institute is invaluable.

“CHIME continues to be a shining light for our partnership with local schools,” Spagna said. “It’s a model that everyone can learn from in the community. Any expansion that takes place there is for the benefit of the community. The additional space can only add to the quality education that takes place on that campus. It allows the institute to extend its their already established margin of excellence.”

Established in 1990, the CHIME Institute is a national leader in developing and implementing model programs and dynamic research and training environments to disseminate best practices in inclusive education. The institute’s research and training center is housed in the Eisner College of Education.

The institute began with an early childhood education program based on the CSUN campus. The success of that program, coupled with needs of the community and sound research, prompted a group of parents and CSUN faculty to develop a public charter elementary school in 2001 and a public charter middle school in 2003. The two schools merged into a K-8 school located in Woodland Hills in 2010.

Inclusive education at CHIME means that children who reflect the demographics of the surrounding regions learn side by side. CHIME’s model allows for the individual needs of each child to be addressed in a manner that enhances each child’s strength while also providing educational progress.

CHIME also serves as a model for educators through its partnerships with the Eisner College and the Los Angeles Unified School District. It facilitates research opportunities and regularly hosts visitors from around the United States and the world who are interested in replicating its successes in their own schools. The institute has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a model for full inclusion of students with disabilities and for providing a blueprint for local schools across the country.

Erica Rood

Erica Rood, a third grade teacher at CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School and a graduate student at California State University, Northridge, has been nominated by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson for the 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Rood is one of six California elementary school teachers Torlakson nominated for the honor. He nominated two in math and four in science. Rood was nominated in the science category, which also included a fifth grade teacher from Ninety-Third Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, a first/second grade combination class teacher in Fresno and a fifth grade teacher in Pacific Grove. The math nominees included a first grade teacher in Mather and a first grade teacher in Oakland.

“The subjects these outstanding educators teach so well are part of STEM education, an area that is critically important to the success of our students and our state,” Torlakson said. “From these early grades, and with such engaged and inspired instructors, we will be able to encourage more students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the building blocks of learning.”

Rood has taught at CHIME for the past six years and is currently enrolled in CSUN’s master’s program in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis in STEM education that includes working with officials from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She said she was thrilled to receive the nomination.

“I am really excited to have people recognize science and math teachers,”
she said. “Everybody has a hard time liking science and math, and it’s an honor to have what we do as teachers recognized.”

Rood is one of CHIME’s Odyssey of the Mind coordinators. Odyssey of the Mind is a critical-thinking and problem-solving competition that involves students from across the country and around the world. She also is a teacher-consultant for the Writing Project, a statewide effort to improve student writing and learning by improving the teaching of writing, and a participant of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Elevation and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching initiative.

Michael Spagna, dean of CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education, said university officials were very proud of Rood’s nomination.

“One of the things we here in the Eisner College are dedicated to are six core principles, one of which is that we prepare ethical and caring professionals,” Spagna said. “Erica is an example of an ethical and caring professional who is obviously a very, very good teacher. We hold her up as an example for others.

“Erica really embodies both the CHIME philosophy and the connections we have here at the College of Education with CHIME,” he continued. “She represents a caring adult who is knowledgeable about child development and takes on as a personal responsibility the welfare of all children.”

Erin Studer, CHIME’s executive director of charter school programs, said he was “so pleased and proud” that Rood was nominated for the national honor.

“Her dedication and commitment to her students and educating all children in her classes at CHIME is inspiring,” he said. “Her efforts to bring to life the STEM fields of study for her students through new and innovative teaching approaches is such an amazing thing to witness; it is a model for our teachers—and truly teachers everywhere. She is doing vitally important work in exciting her students to learn about science, technology, engineering and math, and we are so fortunate to have her as one of our teachers at CHIME.”

The CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School is an independent school that provides free public education for children in kindergarten through eighth grade through affiliation with the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school serves as a demonstration and teacher-training site for CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education.

The school is part of the CHIME Institute, a national leader in developing and implementing model educational programs and dynamic research and training environments to disseminate best practices in inclusive education. The institute’s research and training center is housed in the Eisner College of Education. The CHIME Institute also offers an infant/toddler program and preschool/kindergarten program that is located at CSUN. CHIME has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a national model for full inclusion of students with disabilities and for providing a blueprint for local schools across the country.

The National Science Foundation administers the PAEMST on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. PAEMST was enacted by Congress in 1983 and authorizes the President each year to bestow up to 108 awards. PAEMST honors primary and secondary teachers in alternate years. Awards are given to mathematics and science teachers from each of the 50 states and four U.S. territories. Since the program’s inception, 86 California teachers have been named PAEMST recipients.

Pastor James Thomas, one of the directors of the Culturally Based Algebra Camp, instructs students during the program. Photo by Nestor Garcia.

African people were the first in the world to use counting to keep track of their things: Egyptians used hieroglyphs to write large numbers and geometry to build the pyramids, and a North African mathematician developed the modern way of writing fractions.

These and other facts are just some of the cultural history taught in the Culturally Based Algebra Camp, co-sponsored by California State University, Northridge and the Department of Africana Studies. These and other nuggets of information are intertwined into the curriculum of the six-week summer program as part of its “culturally responsive pedagogy.” Culturally responsive teaching is an approach that uses students’ cultural knowledge as a conduit to facilitate the teaching-learning process.

“Our goal is to help cultivate black academic excellence, one student at a time,” said Pastor James Thomas, one of the program’s founders and its cultural teacher. “Students are motivated to learn when they discover that their ancestors were more than just slaves.

Campers learn algebraic equations using dance and music. Photo by Victor Kamont.

The program is primarily geared toward African-American students in grades one through 12 who reside in the San Fernando Valley. It offers a range of math courses and a culturally based curriculum designed to enhance student skills and success, at no cost to the participant. In addition to studying math and algebra, the students participate in workshops such as college preparedness, advocacy/conflict resolution and dance in math, which uses popular music and dance moves to help students memorize algebraic operations.

Thomas said the goal of the program is to offer a math curriculum that will foster high academic achievement and improve college readiness among African-American students.

The program is being held at CSUN for the third year in conjunction with Living Word Church, which conceived the program and provides the instructional curriculum and credentialed instructors. It is partially funded by a grant from the CSU Summer Algebra Institute and has received university support through the divisions of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, as well as the CSUN Black Alumni Association.

“The Culturally Based Algebra Camp is unique from similar efforts by other CSU campuses in that the program is conducted on our campus versus at a local church, thereby providing students with an introduction to a college campus,” said William Watkins ’74 (Urban Studies), CSUN’s vice president of student affairs and dean of students. “The camp holds great promise as a model for how the university can effectively partner with community organizations, to improve the educational prospects of traditionally underserved students.”

The future is now. People may disagree because of the lack of flying cars, but the future promised in so much of popular culture over the past 50 years is here. Mass-produced flat-screen TVs, real-time video conferencing from your hand-held phone, the phone itself that can do everything that used to take up Saturday afternoons — these are all a reality thanks to giant leaps in science and technology.

And while the earth’s population enjoys the iPhones and Priuses of today, there is a question about the way the United States is tracking in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) training for the future. The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 52nd in the quality of mathematics and science education, and 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science or engineering. California State University, Northridge is looking to boost that outlook by teaming up with NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to teach future educators the best way to hook young learners into the world of STEM.

For two days in June and five days in July, the three institutions hosted the JPL-NASA CSUN Pre-Service Teacher Institute, or PSTI, an intensive experience where 25 students — future teachers from CSUs across the Los Angeles area, including Northridge, Fullerton and Los Angeles — were exposed to problem-based learning, mathematics, science, technology and engineering-enrichment activities.

The event had a simple goal, said CSUN education professor and STEM Innovations Team Leader Susan Belgrad: create scientifically literate citizens by preparing more teachers who have deep pedagogical content knowledge in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.

“For more than a decade, science has had minimal attention as a subject area in the elementary school years,” Belgrad said. “For many students, science curriculum has not begun in earnest until the fourth grade. Similarly, many of the teachers we prepare do not have ample time to lead well-developed science lessons in which they exercise their own scientific literacy. … The focus needs to be on preparing highly effective, engaged teachers from kindergarten through high school.”

“The PSTI at JPL was so eye opening,” said CSUN senior Holliston Coleman, who’s majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. “I had heard about the Mars Rovers Spirit, Opportunity and now Curiosity but it’s a completely different experience to get to go to building after building and see the process of how rovers are actually put together, where they are put together, from beginning to end by the actual engineers who worked on it! This experience made me fall in love with engineering and our immense universe!”

The urgent need to seed the next generation inspired NASA’s participation, not only with the venue, but with a $100,000 grant to kick off the program. On June 26 and 27, the group of future STEM educators gathered at CSUN for orientation, development of their own websites, an hour-long Bianchi Planetarium presentation from professor Jan Dobias and a project-based learning lesson led by JPL’s Ota Lutz and Belgrad. Along with Lutz and Belgrad, CSUN education professor Norm Herr, education lecturer Steve Holle and JPL Lab Educational Office deputy manager David Seidel helped guide the group.

From July 23-25, the group headed to Pasadena for some onsite learning at JPL on the campus of the California Institute of Technology. There, they focused on cooperative learning strategies, project-based learning frameworks, formative assessment and online data analysis strategies using Google Apps. They also worked to collaboratively design STEM-integrated lessons with peers in their PSTI cohort. The lessons can be used during future student-teaching assignments, including working with Lego MindStorms Robots purchased with the grants to help them appeal to K-8 students.

“These students will essentially become trailblazers,” Belgrad said. “They will understand how robotics activities and the engineering design process on which this is based requires the exercise of mental math strategies, collaboration, communication and problem solving. … This will inspire and energize faculty in the K-12 schools to which they are assigned to see the promise of such activities.”

This summer, the California State University, Northridge campus buzzed with energetic students of all ages and backgrounds eager to learn, play and make memories. The students got a chance to grow academically and still have fun participating in hands-on activities. The summer camps gave participants of all ages the chance to learn like a CSUN student and play like a Matador.

Sunny Days Camp offered kids in grades K-7 enjoy 10 weeks of fun on CSUN’s campus. Kids frolicked around campus and played at the Student Recreation Center and in the University Student Union games room. They enjoyed arts and crafts, talent shows and field trips to the El Capitan Theater and the California Science Center.

The Summer Academic Program for Elementary School Students, open to students in grades K-5 and the Summer Academic Enrichment Program (SAEP), which serves students in grades 6 through 12, offered an assortment of enrichment classes, including computer skills, foreign languages and visual performing arts. Credentialed teachers incorporated fun activities into the summer curriculum, so there is never a dull moment in the classroom. This year, SAEP added a robotics class for middle school students and an SAT Prep class for high school students who wanted to sharpen their verbal and math skills before taking their 
college entrance exams.

Students who wanted to enhance their math skills and cultural awareness participated in the Culturally Based Algebra Camp, which offers a range of math courses and culturally based curriculum designed to enhance student skills and success at no cost to the participant.

Participants of all ages got active at the various sports camps offered by the Department of Athletics. Soccer, tennis, softball, basketball, volleyball and baseball were among this summer’s Matador-run camps.

The Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW) entered it 57th season this summer and hosted two large productions – “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr.,” and “Cirque des Pirates.” Students showcased their acting talents and young playwrights watched their words come to life on stage over six weeks. Students received training in the areas of acting, dance, voice, playwriting and technical theater arts such as costume design, stagecraft, lighting and sound.

The USU’s East Conference Center opens this month with a variety of new amenities that enhance the California State University, Northridge community. Photo by Lee Choo.

A lactation room and prayer/meditation/reflection room are among the new amenities now available to the California State University, Northridge community.

The East Conference Center’s new lactation room. Photo by Nestor Garcia.

These rooms are among the new additions to the university’s East Conference Center in the University Student Union. The 16,000-square-foot, two-story building was approved for renovation after the Fitness Center was relocated to the Student Recreation Center in 2012. The facility is open for use by CSUN students, faculty, staff and the community. Rental rates vary.

The University Student Union will host an open house on Tuesday, Aug. 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All CSUN students, faculty and staff are invited to tour the newly renovated space.

“We’re very excited about the East Conference Center,” said Debra Hammond, executive director of the University Student Union. “It’s a real upgrade in our ability to host and provide support for conferences and meetings.

The remodeled restrooms include foot-washing stations for religious denominations that require cleansing before prayer. Photo by Nestor Garcia.

“As a student-driven organization, we’re also happy to provide new amenities to further support our students and the campus community.”

The renovated space includes five meeting rooms with new tables and chairs, two small conference rooms with a dividable wall and a lounge space that seats up to 32. The restrooms have been remodeled and will include foot-washing stations for religious denominations that require cleansing before prayer. There is also a game room in the basement of the building.

The meeting rooms will be equipped with state-of-the-art Crestron touch-panel control systems. These systems alleviate the need for multiple remote controls in the room and provide the user with a tech-friendly interface.

To RSVP for the open house, please contact Kristie.godfrey@csun.edu by Aug. 8. For bookings and more information, contact USU reservations and special events at (818) 677-3644.

Professor Johnie Scott (left), chair of the newly renamed Department of Africana Studies and other faculty, present awards to outstanding students during an end of the year event. Photo provided by the Department of Africana Studies.

Starting this fall, California State University, Northridge’s Department of Pan African Studies officially will be renamed the Department of Africana Studies.

The 45-year-old department, one of the oldest state-supported black studies departments in the nation, will take on the new name to bring consistency with the name of the department and the degree earned and provide the department an opportunity to “rebrand” itself.

“Students historically have always wanted their degrees to match the name of the department,” said Johnie Scott, chair of the department. “This moves us into the next century.”

CSUN joins a trend among black studies departments within the CSU and at other universities in changing their names to Africana studies. Officials with those departments say the name change brings more consistency to the discipline.

“It’s reflective of the disciplines trend,” said Charles E. Jones, former president of National Council for Black Studies and professor of Africana studies at the University of Cincinnati. “It better captures the state of the contemporary field.”

Students can earn a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies at CSUN. Scott said the name change will be reflected on degrees earned for the 2014-15 academic year. The Africana studies (AFRS) major is a multidisciplinary academic major (45 units) designed for students who wish to gain an understanding of the history, psychology, sociology, literature, culture and education of African-Americans and other Africans in the diaspora and the continent. The three specific options within the major enable students to concentrate their efforts on certain aspects: African and African-American Social Sciences; African and African-American Humanities and Cultural Studies; and African-American Urban Education. Students can also declare a minor in Africana studies.

The department also has launched a new website

that includes links to current and past events; clubs and organizations that support the department’s mission; and graduate programs where students can earn a master’s degree or doctorate in a related discipline.

“We envision our new branding campaign as an opportunity to promote our revised curriculum, to have more timely communications with prospective and current students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the campus community,” said Theresa White, a professor in the Department of Africana Studies and the website creative designer. “We’re also endeavoring to crystalize the importance and significance of pursuing an Africana studies major or minor.”

In the male-dominated world of science and mathematics, California State University, Northridge is seeing an increase in the number of women in math and science fields. At the 2014 College of Science and Mathematics commencement ceremony, the dean personally noted that 80 percent of degree recipients in the college’s honors program were female.

Home to more than 18,400 female undergraduate students — about 55 percent of the student body — university officials are encouraging women to make strides in fields they may not have considered. For CSUN’s 2014 Wolfson Scholar — the second woman from the sciences in the last decade to receive the award — the road to biochemistry was paved with professorial guidance.

With no one offering guidance while she was in community college nor from family as she is a first-generation college student, finding the path to science was one that started with a spark for McKinzie Garrison, who graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in biochemistry earlier this year. Garrison took a chemistry course at random and found that she “had never felt so in tune with a particular subject.”

Her passion for the field led her to become a Wolfson Scholar, the highest honor granted to a CSUN graduate annually.

“Most of my support came from my professors at CSUN,” Garrison said. “They were incredibly encouraging. Dr. (Karin) Crowhurst, Dr. (Daniel) Curtis and Dr. (Paula) Fischhaber — just to name a few — were excellent to talk to regarding the field. CSUN is lucky to have such excellent professors in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.”

The College of Science and Mathematics is recruiting women heavily to relieve the “gap” of women that is present in the industry.

“Personally, I’m aware of the big gap [in science] — it is male-dominated,” said Jerry Stinner, dean of the college. “This isn’t good for science. We need that balance. We need different perspectives. And there is a growing awareness among faculty.”

As of the fall 2013 semester, more than half the students enrolled in CSUN’s College of Science and Mathematics — 55.9 percent — were female, according to the university’s Office of Institutional Research.

Of the college’s departments, physics and astronomy and mathematics have seen the most growth at the graduate level. The chemistry and biochemistry and biology departments — with a 61.4 percent female population — have seen more than 5 percent growth combined in the past decade. Additionally, the graduate biology program is comprised mostly of female students, which has been the trend for the past several years, according to department chair Larry Allen. In fall 2013, 70 percent of first-time freshman in the department were female.

CSUN professors regularly encourage women to continue their education and careers in science and mathematics through a variety of programs, such as the one Donna Sheng heads in the physics and astronomy department.

“To help female majors feel more at ease or more welcome, I lead a women’s physics major support group where all the women majors are encouraged to meet every Friday,” she said. “It is an opportunity for our female students to socialize with each other and to study together. We really get to know each other and support each other.

“At CSUN, professors are all trying to provide hands-on research experiences for female students, as well as all students in general,” Sheng said.

Two programs in the geology department also are making headway for women entering Earth sciences. Research Opportunities for CSUN students (ROCs), organized by professor Joshua Schwartz, encourages geology undergraduate women and minority students to pursue research projects with faculty mentors in the department, broadening members’ understanding of career and graduate school opportunities in the field. Schwartz is currently working with three female students and one male student on presentation posters to be displayed at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in October.

The second program, Geological Experience for Minority Students (GEMS) works to recruit students, particularly women and minority students, who show an interest in geology to the department.

“[Students] are given support and guidance for tutoring info to get through the most difficult classes of chemistry and math,” said Dayanthie Weeraratne, a geology professor and the GEMS faculty coordinator. “The research support and scholarships we offer…seek to encourage and support minority students in Earth sciences.”

Science is not the only area of study where female students are receiving strong mentorship. The Association for Women in Mathematics, for which CSUN mathematics professor Magnhild Lien serves as executive director and faculty coordinator for the university’s student chapter, encourages women and girls to study the mathematical sciences, achieve success in careers in the field and promote equal opportunity and treatment of females in the mathematical sciences.

“Much of our work is concentrated on supporting graduate students and early career women through… successful programs, [including] 1) workshops held at the annual meeting of the American Mathematical Society, [the] Mathematical Association of America and the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2) travel grant program and 3) mentoring grant program,” said Lien in an email to Stinner.

CSUN is mirroring the national trend of a rapid increase in women receiving degrees in science and engineering. According to a January report from the publication “Campus Technology,” the physical sciences are seeing growth by nearly two-thirds in female doctorate recipients.

Female students are also getting a boost from an increasing number of potential female mentors in the College of Science and Mathematics. According to Stinner, the number of women on the faculty of several departments has doubled in some areas and continues to grow in others. In geological sciences, there are more women than men in the department — which the dean believes to be an occurrence unique to CSUN. The number of female chemistry professors has grown from one to four since 2005. In the biology department, women make up 40 percent of the faculty.

“Most of the sciences are moving to be 50/50 — very different from when I started out,” Allen said. The department is leading the increased rate at which women are hired in math and science fields. “Over half of new hires in the last 5 to 10 years are women who are highly qualified, dedicated educators and researchers.” 

According to Allen, CSUN women are also prominent in science societies as officers of note and gaining recognition as renowned academic and career researchers.

“I think our culture has shifted toward a more gender-neutral view of women in science, which has encouraged the accomplishments of women in the field,” Garrison said. “It also helps to see women accomplish things once believed to be positions for men. For example, in 2009, Ada Yonath received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work on the structure of the ribosome [a molecular mechanism within all living cells]. Attitudes have changed, and women’s personal perspectives of themselves have helped drive them toward the pursuit of scientific discoveries and knowledge.”

CSUN’s College of Science and Mathematics is home to several nationally recognized programs where students gain valuable experience through hands-on work using the latest technologies and equipment. Students also have an opportunity to co-author publications with faculty members and present their research results at national and international meetings. In addition to ensuring that the region and the nation has a pool of talented scientists capable of assuming leadership roles in a knowledge-based, multicultural society, the college also prepares a number of students to attend medical, dental and pharmacy schools.

“Enrollment in the college just keeps growing,” Stinner said . “We’ve grown 50 percent in the last five years and we are predicted to be 373 [students] over target. When I ask students, ‘why all the interest?’ [some have] told me technology and science are everywhere around us and it seems to be the future. They want to be a part of it. … Students [also] want to get a degree where they can get a job — it’s economics. I’m delighted to see such an interest in [science and math].

“There is a real genuine deep-seated commitment to diversity on this campus and in my college. I think there is a real commitment to students. I think that that carried over into different groups.”

Serving more than 38,000 students each year, CSUN is one of the largest universities in the United States. CSUN ranks 10th in the country in awarding bachelor’s degrees to underrepresented minority students, fifth nationally in awarding master’s degrees to Hispanic students and enrolls the largest number of deaf and hard-of-hearing students of any U.S. state university. CSUN’s 171 academic programs and engaged centers enjoy international recognition for excellence. CSUN currently partners with more than 100 institutions of higher education in 22 countries around the globe and attracts the largest international student population of any U.S. master’s level institution. Situated on a 356-acre park-like setting in the heart of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the campus features modern educational buildings and world-class LEED Gold-certified performing arts and recreational facilities recognized as among the best in the country. CSUN is a welcoming university that champions accessibility, academic excellence and student success.

“We’ve got great programs here and I don’t think people are disappointed,” Stinner said. “They get a tremendous amount of mentoring, which they would not get at an R-1. … Once they’re here, I think they’re pleasantly surprised. …I think it’s a good place to get a great education.”

CSUN students processing in during last year’s Freshman Convocation. Photo by Lee Choo.

California State University, Northridge incoming freshmen will explore a dystopian future — written in the form of a blog — in “The Postmortal: A Novel.” 

The book is this year’s Freshman Common Reading Program choice. The campus community is invited to read the book and join CSUN’s incoming freshmen at the annual Freshman Convocation at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4, on the Oviatt Lawn.

The keynote speaker will be the book’s author, Drew Magary. CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison, faculty and staff colleagues, continuing students and other members of the CSUN community will celebrate the start of the academic year with the newest Matadors.

“Freshman Convocation is a celebration of learning at CSUN,” said English professor Cheryl Spector, director of CSUN’s Academic First Year Experiences program. “It is very important to me as a faculty member because it combines the academic world of serious intellectual endeavor with the excitement of starting college. Of course, both of those things are worth celebrating.”

The annual convocation welcomes new students to the campus community and inspires excitement for learning at the beginning of their CSUN academic career. It provides a powerful message of encouragement for the success of each student.

Magary also will meet and greet faculty and staff at 4 p.m. in the Oviatt Library’s Ferman Presentation Room. Faculty and staff who wish to march in with the freshman class will assemble in Matador Square at 5:30 p.m. Other faculty and staff may assemble on the Sierra Quad near the Sierra Tower building prior to 6 p.m., and take their seats after the freshman processional is completed.

A processional of associate deans, faculty and student leaders will escort the freshmen along Matador Walk to the Oviatt Lawn. President Harrison and campus leadership will await the students at the top of the Oviatt Library steps.

“It’s important for the campus community to celebrate publicly the arrival of our newest students,” Spector said. “Freshman Convocation lets us welcome these students with open arms, in a public ceremony culminating with their symbolic ascension of the Oviatt Library’s grand staircase. It’s no accident that food and library both await at the top of the steps. We’re offering mental and physical sustenance, food for mind and body.”

Highlighting that California State University, Northridge’s reputation has reached “new heights,” President Dianne F. Harrison said her vision for the university’s future includes building on CSUN’s strong foundation to produce leaders and innovators that are world leaders.

“We can educate not only California’s future leaders right here, but the country’s future leaders, right here,” said Harrison to a packed audience of mostly faculty and staff at CSUN’s Valley Performing Arts Center. “I would like for CSUN to be known for providing an outstanding education, evidenced by our graduation rates, by our career and graduate school placement and other external validations.

“My vision of CSUN is a campus of inclusive excellence that produces leaders and innovators and the highest percentage of successful graduates in an environment of caring, civility, mutual respect and celebrating each other’s successes.”

Harrison spoke on Aug. 21 at her third convocation address to faculty, staff and students. She was introduced by Faculty Senate President Shane Frehlich and joined on the stage by Associated Students President Tiffany Zaich, who also addressed the audience. Harrison started her presentation by offering a special salute to the 41 new tenure-track faculty members, 84 faculty members who were tenured or promoted, 230 permanent full-time staff who have joined CSUN in the past year or have taken on new roles, and faculty honored at the Honored Faculty Reception and staff who received Presidential and Merit Awards at June’s Staff Service Awards ceremony.

“When I came to Northridge, I talked about a second floor, or building the next level of excellence with the campus community, building on the great foundation that I was fortunate enough to inherit,” Harrison said. “As you have seen this morning, the signs of construction and excitement are everywhere.

“People in this the region, people in this nation and yes, even around the globe are recognizing CSUN.”

President Harrison said she will continue to focus on the seven priorities established in 2012:

· To continue an unrelenting focus on student success as CSUN’s number one priority. This will continue through programs like CSUN’s newly established CSUN Dreamers Scholarship, available for the university’s undocumented students. Harrison also said the campus will focus attention on traditionally underserved and academically at-risk students and study “high impact” practices that improve graduation rates. All students can now pay for tuition and other fees through CSUN’s mobile app.

· To continue to focus on employees for success with the goal of making CSUN a “destination workplace.” This will be supported by programs like the Help Make CSUN Shine Bright program; CSUN Shine from Within Program; campuswide celebrations like the first-ever campuswide holiday party and summer picnic; and an expansion of the university’s professional development programs; and she said employee compensation remains a top priority.

· To continue to grow campus visibility and reputation. The campus has already made great strides toward this goal with the CSUN Shine campaign, CSUN Shine Weekly e-newsletter and CSUN’s social media activity. In the coming year, the university will launch an external positioning campaign focused on the CSUN service area, and the campus will continue to explore the feasibility of a Multipurpose Event Center.

· To continue to plan for a future less dependent on state funding. The improved performance of CSUN auxiliaries will allow for a more than 30 percent increase in surplus they will contribute to CSUN next year; increased CSUN self-support degree and certificate programs provide new sources of revenue to reinvest in university capacities for instruction and support services; partnership agreements with companies like Providence Health Systems have increased corporate sponsorship revenues. The president said this has been a very successful year in philanthropy for CSUN with the campus exceeding its goal of raising 10 percent of CSUN’s state budget in philanthropic dollars. New gift commitments increased from $11.4 million in fiscal year 2011-12, to $14.8 million in 2012-13, to $20 million (projected) in 2013-14, a 75 percent increase in two years.

· To continue to increase research activity and sponsored programs with efforts like the agreement between CSUN and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). Harrison said this agreement will have a positive impact on the economic growth of the region through “invention, experimentation and creativity.” In addition, the campus has partnered in the establishment of the “CSU5.” This is a consortium that pools the talents and resources of the five L.A. County CSU campuses: CSUN, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona, to bring the collective strength and resources of the CSU for the purpose of networking and working collaboratively with community and industry partners to increase innovation in industry and job creation in L.A. and to work with K–12 and community college partners.

· To continue efforts to support sustainability by “educating future generations of global citizens and to model sustainable practices.” Harrison said it is CSUN’s goal to teach students to be leaders and innovators. The campus has made progress by supporting alternative transportation through programs like the A.S. Zipcar, which allows drivers to leave their cars at home and rent cars on campus if needed. This fall, the university will open the Matasphere, a new living-learning community in student housing with sustainability and conservation as the focus.

· To continue to use athletics as a tool for engagement both internally and externally. She said it is important to CSUN that athletes are successful both on the field and in the classroom. Harrison noted that this spring, CSUN inducted 45 new members in the Varsity N’ Honor Society, which recognizes student athletes for academic achievement. The university will continue to increase the visibility of CSUN athletics through campaigns like “Rise of the Matadors.” This year, the department introduced sand volleyball as a new varsity sport, and an on-campus court will be built for the Spring 2015 season.

Visit the president’s website to view the convocation address or read the speech in full.

Since their senior year together, California State University, Northridge alumni Stephanie Hopkinson ’94 (Child Development) and Senta Amos-Greene ’94, ’96 (B.A., Child Development; M.A., Early Childhood Special Education) have remained supportive of each other as friends, students and colleagues. 

Hopkinson and Amos-Greene met in their senior seminar at CSUN. Their bond began with late-night studies and endured through developing separate master’s theses. It continued into their professional lives and led them on international journeys to support all children.

“‘Look to the left of you, look to the right of you — these are the people you will be collaborating and working with after graduation,’” Hopkinson recalled her mentor, child development professor Carrie Rothstein-Fisch, saying the first day of her senior seminar. Flash forward 20 years: Hopkinson is working with Greene, a fellow student in that seminar.

The spark between them developed quickly, as chats turned into hours-long discussions.

“There was an evening in our semester together when Stephanie came to my house for guidance on going into preschool teaching,” Amos-Greene said. “I had brought out a bunch of children’s books for us to skim through, and when we finally realized the time after our discussion, it had been six hours! It was in that moment of realizing that both of us had a passion for working with children that we became friends.”

“We were looking at Being with You this Way, a children’s book, and there was just a spark for collaboration,” Hopkinson said, echoing her friend’s sentiments. “The book was about connections of friends, and Senta and I clearly had that connection.”

However, their path was rather unexpected post-graduation. As each continued their respective educations — Hopkinson moved her studies to Pacific Oaks College — they remained close. They made appointments to sit in a quiet place side-by-side, writing, then swapping seats and editing each other’s thesis.

Later, Hopkinson became a child life specialist with various hospitals, working with families and children facing life-threatening situations. Amos-Greene dove into the world of education as an early childhood special education trainer with various organizations, including CSUN, leading to the start of Full Circle Consulting Systems, Inc. 

Still friends, it took the realization of Greene’s dream of a consulting firm to push the duo to collaborate as colleagues, as they had in their school days.  

“I was on the 405 freeway heading home from San Diego from an intense meeting for work, and knew I had to make a greater impact with more capacity and creativity,” Amos-Greene said of the evolution of Full Circle. 

The organization was born in October 2003. A phone call to Hopkinson, who was living across the country, made the journey easier. 

“When Senta asked me to be a part of Full Circle, to help make a profound impact in the lives of children and families, the decision was easy: yes,” Hopkinson said.

Hopkinson began her work abroad after graduate school. As a child life specialist in grad school, she encountered many opportunities to meet volunteers from around the world. When she learned about Operation Smile, she responded, “I so need to do that!”

“I waited to gain experience, and when I applied, I was told I should be doing the training because of my background,” Hopkinson said, laughing. “I know children in developing countries lack access to the health care we have [in America], and I have been compelled to use my knowledge to help patients and their families cope with the surgery process.”

She has served on three missions in Kenya, the Philippines and Malawi to prepare children to go into surgery for cleft lip and cleft palate, as well as to help the children and their families — primarily mothers — cope with recovery. Hopkinson noted that her work helps relieve patients of the overwhelming emotions associated with the life change. She said she hopes to expand her work in health care to the Middle East.

Amos-Greene’s interests also have taken her overseas. In 2007, Christine Ebanks, the mother of a son with cerebral palsy in Jamaica, visited the U.S. seeking medical treatment for her son, Nathan. Ebanks requested help from U.S. education specialists to achieve equal education in her home nation. She was directed to Amos-Greene by CSUN special education professor Deborah Chen. Shortly thereafter, the Nathan Ebanks Foundation was established as a Jamaican nonprofit working toward inclusion, participation, empowerment and equal opportunities for children and youths with disabilities.

Amos-Greene’s work has allowed her to “transcend boundaries by bringing [clients’] best ideas to life, cultivating their potential and actualizing a greater world for the good of others in whatever they undertake.

“The opportunity to open the doors for children with disabilities that were once closed — it does what Full Circle is meant to do,” she said. “Our firm’s motto is, ‘To touch the heart of a child is to touch the soul of a nation.’ Nathan’s story shows the ability to do just that — open doors for children and inspire nations.”

Amos-Greene continues to design, deliver and evaluate training for teachers, legislators and administrators on the needs of inclusive education for children in all grades, including preschool, for the foundation. Her work led her to invite Hopkinson on a trip in March to the island nation, to provide additional training to 35 of Jamaica’s top leaders in the Ministry of Education.

“We had a real, true, authentic presence and [unique] dynamic in our presentation,” Amos-Greene said. “We weren’t just sharing technical language. Our interactions [beyond Full Circle] helped create a pathway through our teamwork and profound respect for one another. It symbolized the importance of our work through our connection to the content of our work.”

The duo also has given several keynote addresses, including a 2008 invitation to the International Federation of Educative Communities congress from CSUN mentor Carol Kelly, a professor emeritus for child and adolescent development and the U.S. delegate to the congress. 

“It was clear that both [Amos-Greene and Hopkinson] would make significant contributions to their chosen profession because they followed their passion, used their expertise and were always learning and growing as professionals as they balanced other realms of their lives,” Kelly said. “Their significant professional contributions at the local through international levels are a superb model and bring pride to CSUN.”

Amos-Greene has been recognized for her endeavors by Sonoma State University (1997), the San Fernando Valley Business Journal (2004) and her alma mater as a Notable Alumni (1996). She also has been recognized for her contributions to CSUN as an alumni-turned-professor in the child and adolescent development department with the Distinguished Teaching Award (2005) and testifying before the United States Congress.

“Senta is phenomenal,” Hopkinson said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to walk along with someone who is an incredible leader. … Just like we did back in the very beginning, we sit and have conversations, think out loud and support each other. Sharing a mutual goal to make a significant impact, it’s really important to have somebody walking beside you.”

Hopkinson, who earned an honorable mention for the Humanism Award twice (2002 and 2004) and employee awards with Kaiser Permanente (2005 and 2013), was nominated by Amos-Greene for the Mary Barkey Clinical Excellence Award from the Child Life Council. Amos-Greene presented Hopkinson with the award at a conference in 2013.

“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Stephanie in action for close to 20 years, and her ability to work so effectively with children in life-threatening situations is astounding,” Greene said. “Not just anyone can do that work. I’m amazed personally and professionally by the way she is able to do that. Her dedication meant she deserved to be acknowledged.”

Their friendship and mutual respect reflects the goals of their work, particularly with Full Circle. Amos-Greene’s firm aims to create understanding of and equality between all people. Her inspiration: CSUN’s CHIME Institute. The institute is a national leader in developing and implementing model educational programs, dynamic research and training environments, to disseminate best practices in inclusive education.

“CHIME was the genesis of my work,” she reflected. “I was mentored and nurtured there. As far as being an advocate, that is where some of the greatest and best minds helped me, and I’ve carried that throughout my travels.”

Hopkinson and Amos-Greene never truly left campus after graduation. Their relationships with former professors grew into friendships, and their work became sources of pride for their mentors. 

Kim Roth, executive director of Strength United, stands in the future children’s play area in the lobby of the new Family Justice Center, under construction in Van Nuys.

California State University, Northridge’s Strength United gave the community and its supporters a sneak peek last week at the new Family Justice Center, the first multidisciplinary violence response facility of its kind in Los Angeles County. The open house on Aug. 21 included tours of the brand-new facility, which is under construction on Oxford Boulevard in Van Nuys.

Operating through CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education, Strength United (formerly the Valley Trauma Center) provides counseling, victim advocacy and prevention education programs to individuals and families affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, child maltreatment and other crimes. It is also the lead agency of the Family Justice Center, the only multidisciplinary violence response system in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Committed to ending abuse, empowering families and developing leaders, Strength United trains and supervises hundreds of CSUN students each year in volunteer and internship roles, where they interact with mental health, social service, medical and law enforcement professionals.

“The most amazing part of the center is the students,” said Kim Roth, ’02, ’05 (B.A, M.A., Marriage and Family Therapy), Strength United’s executive director. “They give so much back to the community. They’re willing to wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning to answer the phone for someone in crisis.”

The organization was founded 26 years ago by Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling faculty, including CSUN Professor Charles Hanson. He continues to lead the center as executive administrator and principal investigator. Ninety percent of its staff are CSUN alumni. The agency serves more than 2,800 children and adults annually in three locations.

The new Family Justice Center, which is scheduled to open this fall, will boast offices for the Los Angeles Police Department’s major assault crimes detectives, medical exam rooms, forensic interview rooms with digital recording capability, a children’s play area, therapy offices, training rooms — even a room where clients can spend a night before going to a shelter or new housing. It’s a collaboration between CSUN, Dignity Health Northridge Hospital’s Center for Assault Treatment Services, LAPD, L.A. city and county attorneys, Neighborhood Legal Services and Jewish Family Services Family Violence Project.

Currently, victims have to visit up to seven facilities for the services that will be available in one location at the new center. The shared space will help law enforcement professionals connect clients immediately with social services, Roth said.

“It’s often less complicated to stay with the abuse that you know than to seek help,” she said. “The Family Justice Center is meant to alleviate that. How can we make it safe for you to leave?”

For more information, visit www.strengthunited.org.

At an open house Aug. 21, supporters and community members visit Strength United’s new Family Justice Center, under construction in Van Nuys.

Hundreds of California State University, Northridge freshman students attended the Freshman Convocation, an annual event that formally welcomes first-year students to CSUN.

The event, which was held on Sept. 4 on the Oviatt Library Lawn, included a welcome from President Dianne F. Harrison and an address by Drew Magary, author of The Postmortal: A Novel, this year’s pick for the Freshman Common Reading Program. The book is required reading for freshmen enrolled in UNIV 100 and others are encouraged to read the book as a way to stimulate a campus-wide dialogue.

“You are our future,” Harrison said. “You will innovate, you will do the research, and I hope you will help solve the problems of the world.”

Magary, a correspondent with GQ magazine and a columnist for Deadspin, served as the keynote speaker. He encouraged the students to become “self-aware.”

“You’re all very young,” said Magary to the crowd of students, faculty and staff gathered on the lawn. “Your mortality seems far off in the distance. … It seems you have all the time in the world to be superficial.

“I implore you to become more self-aware now.”

Magary’s speech was based on his book, which follows the journey of protagonist John Farrell. In the year 2019, a newly discovered “cure” to aging is given to him causing his body to stop maturing at 29 years old. Social change and issues arise as the cure gains popularity across the globe, leading to much political and moral debate.

Students were also welcomed to campus by one of CSUN’s 2014 outstanding graduating seniors. Harmanpreet Panesar ’14 (Cell and Molecular Biology) encouraged students to stay focused and believe in themselves.

“There is no outside force that can stop you from achieving your dreams,” Panesar said.

President Harrison also presented the 2014 Dianne F. Harrison Leadership Award to Thelmari Raubenheimer, a sophomore majoring in biotechnology with a 3.79 GPA.

President Harrison encouraged students to remain positive and to seek support from the university’s faculty, staff and administrators.

“I know you will succeed because you are now part of the CSUN family,” Harrison said. “But to succeed and achieve excellence, you will need to plan well for the journey — and we’re here to help you.”

Students participate in the EOP Summer Bridge program, which helps bridge the gap between high school and CSUN.

The Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) have served the California State University, Northridge community since 1969, and this month its leaders are pausing to reflect on the program’s history — and inviting the campus community to celebrate 45 years of changed lives.

The celebration is scheduled to take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, on the Matador Bookstore lawn and will include games such as a giant, inflatable obstacle course, free popcorn and drawings for goods and services such as free oil changes. Student groups involved with EOP, such as MEChA and The Black Male Initiative, also will participate.

Event organizers hope to raise awareness among CSUN students, faculty and staff about EOP’s history and the resources available to students, said Leslie De Leon Tzic ’08 (Graphic Design), multimedia coordinator for EOP and celebration co-chair.

“We’re hoping to inform the student body about what we do here on campus today,” she said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 45 years. It’s a big milestone for us.”

Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Harry Hellenbrand, whose academic affairs division incorporates EOP, will speak at approximately noon during the celebration, De Leon Tzic said. EOP Director Jose Luis Vargas will give opening remarks.

“The program is evolving,” De Leon Tzic said. “We’ve grown beyond academic support services. We also provide mentoring — anything to ensure the student will have a successful college experience. We try to make sure students are aware of the resources available to them.”

Twenty-two CSU campuses currently support EOP programs. CSUN, then San Fernando Valley State College, launched its own in 1969 to deliver access and retention services to students. EOP serves historically low-income, educationally disadvantaged, first-generation college students — assisting about 500 to 600 Matadors each year.

EOP transitional programs help bridge the gap between high school and CSUN, as well as assisting transfer students making the move from community college. This summer, the university’s Summer Bridge program for high school students celebrated its 30th cohort. A new program connects EOP staff with parents and guardians, providing guidance on how to better support their college students.

De Leon Tzic said there is a great deal to celebrate this month as EOP leaders and participants reflect on the thousands of CSUN students served over four-plus decades.

“There’s a culture of learning, support and mentoring,” she said. “That’s why the program is successful.”

The EOP 45th anniversary celebration is open to the CSUN community. For more information, visit csun.edu/eop/celebration.

In addition to the anniversary festivities, EOP also will host its annual Free Speech event for the campus community, celebrating the right of free speech through art, music, spoken word and other performances. The Free Speech event is scheduled to take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in Matador Square. For more information, visit csun.edu/eop/freespeechevent.

On one end of Monterey Hall, preschoolers play a word game and sing together as they march around colorful carpet squares. On the other end of the building, silver-haired stroke survivors socialize quietly around a table, sipping coffee and playing a trivia game as they name Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart and other famous figures in history. It’s all part of a typical morning at the busy Language, Speech and Hearing Center at California State University, Northridge.

The center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013, serves 500 to 600 clients from throughout the community each semester. Its clinics operate year-round and exist primarily — just as they did in the 1960s — to provide graduate students in speech language pathology with their first practicum and clinical experience. The CSUN students are working toward their master of science degree and credential in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences.

“The patients are contributing to the students’ education, and the students are contributing to patients’ quality of life,” said Janice Woolsey ’89, M.S. ’91 (Communication Disorders and Sciences), clinic coordinator and instructor for the center. “It goes both ways.”

The preschool-age children participate in the center’s Early Intervention Program, a government-funded service for kids up to age 3. The tots take part in a circuit of activities on the playground and in colorful classrooms, equipped with microphones, video cameras and observation mirrors. Graduate students must complete 25 hours of observation before they may interact directly with clients.

The center’s general clinic serves patients from age 3 into adulthood.

“We see whoever walks in the door,” Woolsey said. “It gives our students the opportunity to experience what a private practice would be like.”

The center does very little advertising, relying on word of mouth and referrals from schools, hospitals, pediatricians and former patients, she said.

The general clinic provides audiology services to the community, such as hearing aids, audiology testing and cochlear implant programming. The center also offers specialties such as a stuttering clinic for children and adults, and a voice clinic for professional singers and other performers coping with injuries and challenges.

Stroke survivors and patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries come to the center for its neuro clinic, which offers one-on-one and group speech therapy. Over the years, the group has included retired attorneys, a museum docent — even a retired airline pilot. The groups stay together for years, working weekly on word retrieval and long-term memory in the clinic, but also developing fast friendships and supporting one another outside the clinic, said group supervisor Sarah Cathcart M.S. ’06  (Communication Disorders and Sciences).

In recent years, the center’s staff and students have added tools such as iPads to incorporate assistive technology into their education — preparing students for 21st century careers in speech language pathology. Seventy-five percent of graduates go on to work in schools, while a quarter will work in medical settings and private practices.

The center is part of the larger Center for Community Health and Wellbeing at CSUN, a clearinghouse that serves as a one-stop shop for community members seeking resources and expertise at the university.

“My hope is that people view CSUN in a very positive light because of their experience here,” Woolsey said. “I want people to automatically think, speech [equals] CSUN.”

The Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge will throw the spotlight on banned books with a reading of books some people would like to see taken off library shelves.

A read-out and pizza party will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in observance of national Banned Book Week, which has been held annually since 1982 as a celebration of the freedom to read.

During the Sept. 24 event, CSUN students read from previously banned or challenged books. In addition, Craig A. Williams, author of “Mom Have You See My Leather Pants?” will read an excerpt from his novel.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

According to the American Library Association, “Books have been and continue to be banned, but part of the Banned Books Week celebration is that regardless of whether or not the books have been banned, they have still remained available. This is only possible with the combined efforts of librarians, teachers, students and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.”

The read-out will be held in the Oviatt Library’s Automated Storage and Retrieval System viewing room on the first floor of the library’s east wing. This event is free and open to students, faculty, staff and the public.

The Oviatt Library is located at the center of the California State University, Northidge Campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. Parking is $6 and daily permits may be purchased at kiosks, information booths or in advance online at The Permit Store. For more information about all library events please visit the Exhibitions and Events page or call (818) 677-2638. The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley.

The Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) celebrated 45 years of dedicated service to students at California State University, Northridge on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Hundreds of CSUN community members participated in the event, which included food, games and prizes.

The EOP has much to be proud of as one of the leading programs in the CSU system, according to Director Jose Luis Vargas ’74 (Sociology).

“It occurs to me that what we do in EOP and higher education is incredibly important and continues to be the only thing that can sustain California as one of the better states in the country,” Vargas said.

With an average of 2,600 students each year, CSUN’s EOP has expanded dramatically since its beginnings in 1969 with just 90 students — one of whom was Vargas. The program has stayed true to its mission to assist students from low-income and immigrant backgrounds, Vargas said.

“Historically, it has done everything it can to preserve the original intentions of the program … EOP at CSUN is visionary, accommodating and resilient,” Vargas said.

A current member of EOP is finance major Edwin Lopez, who said that without the program, he would not have been successful in college.

“I was denied by the school and EOP gave me a second chance,” said Lopez, who started at CSUN in 2011 with a 2.1 GPA. He attributes his current GPA, which is over 3.5, to assistance from EOP.

“They prepared me for the fall. It’s a privilege,” he said, reflecting on his participation in the summer Residential Bridge program. “[EOP] helped me mature as an individual. They helped me achieve my goals.”

Marvin Villanueva ’05 (Child Development), director of the EOP in the College of Humanities and a former EOP student, said the mission of the program is true to assisting students who are in a position he once held.

“I love my job. I feel blessed,” Villanueva said. “I get up every morning looking forward to work.”

Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Harry Hellenbrand reflected on the program’s work during a speech at Tuesday’s celebration.

“EOP has done wonderful things for the last 45 years,” he said. “You always have to hope and pray for a better day. Remain hopeful about changing the future.”