May 2014
Help Make CSUN Shine Brighter Topic 2 Update:
Enhancing CSUN Pride, Spirit and Reputation
Capitalizing on President Harrison’s leadership and strong support across the entire university, significant progress has been made to elevate CSUN’s reputation, visibility, spirit and pride. This progress clearly crystalized the need for a more unified and strategic approach to boost CSUN’s reputation and visibility internally and with key external audiences. The central effort that stemmed from this topic, as well as the work of the Task Force on Engagement, is the current Reputation and Visibility Enhancement Initiative that launched this spring.
To a considerable extent, the input received on this topic was a confirmation of projects planned or underway. The feedback is also clearly reflected in the document CSUN Shines for the Future, which lays out CSUN's planning priorities to guide university efforts at all levels. While this update focuses on priority 4, visibility and reputation of the university, the topic touched on all priorities and originates with the first priority, student success.
Support for our students and the teaching, research and service of faculty are the primary motives for the launch of the Reputation and Visibility Enhancement Initiative. A reputation that lives up to the reality of the quality of our students, faculty and entire university will increase our graduates’ competitiveness in the job market, attract philanthropic and other types of support, increase demand for a CSUN education, attract partners for programs across campus, and attract and retain talented faculty and staff. Telling our stories of success and quality consistently, strategically, and in compelling ways will increase our reputation’s value. As a result, the resources and other benefits for our students and educational programs will be substantially higher than they would without this initiative.
The use of CSUN Shine has built a solid foundation to increase CSUN’s position with our external audiences and raise pride and spirit with our internal campus community. Across the entire university, departments and individuals are working to advance CSUN. The following provides an overview of the overarching Reputation and Visibility Enhancement Initiative and the numerous other activities that relate to this topic.
Reputation and Visibility Enhancement Initiative
Enhancing the reputation and visibility of CSUN is a key institutional priority. Opportunities for students, employees and funding are raised by the positive visibility and reputation of the university. The university's capacity to engage both internal and external constituents — students and potential students, parents, faculty and staff, elected officials, alumni, donors and potential donors, community partners, and the community at large — is enhanced by growing the visibility and positive reputation of the university. While every year the university, individual colleges, Student Affairs, Alumni Relations, Athletics and virtually every other unit on campus spend considerable time and resources communicating with various internal and external stakeholders, we need to make sure that these resources are well spent and elevate our visibility and reputation. Before moving forward with increased efforts to reach these stakeholders, we need to ensure we are not missing any key components of the university's areas of excellence and distinction that should be part of the stories that we have to tell.
With this in mind, with President Harrison and the Extended Cabinet's support, Vice President for University Advancement Rob Gunsalus recently announced that CSUN is partnering with the creative agency 160over90 to help us advance CSUN. We selected 160over90 after pursuing a nationwide search that was assisted by faculty and students in related disciplines. 160over90 is truly the leader in the field, bringing a wealth of higher education and consumer marketing experience. With offices in the Los Angeles area, their team is well acquainted with our primary service area.
This initiative will follow best practices that begin with input and guidance from a broad representation of our internal and external stakeholders, who form the steering and advisory committees for the project. Understanding CSUN's story from the diverse and varied perspectives of our community and understanding our position in the region are critical steps in allowing 160over90 to develop and deliver quality outcomes.
A consistent and strategic positioning initiative will have important benefits across campus, including increasing the following:
• Value of a CSUN degree in the minds of potential employers;
• Philanthropic support from non-alumni;
• Philanthropic support from alumni; and
• Corporate involvement and sponsorship.
These are not the only benefits of an enhanced reputation and increased visibility. We also expect to see a positive impact on other areas, such as:
• Demand for a CSUN education;
• Graduate program enrollment;
• Grants and contracts;
• Attracting and retaining talented faculty and staff; and
• Attendance at CSUN athletic and cultural events.
While we recognize the university continues to face difficult fiscal challenges, this effort will allow us to more efficient and effective with the investment we make each year in marketing and communications at all levels. All colleges and departments will continue to have a voice in how their programs and services are presented.
The process kicked off with a broad discovery phase that allows 160over90 to learn about CSUN as an institution, taking in the university's mission, key goals and objectives, and the ways CSUN is currently reaching our audiences. Their discovery process will lead to the development of the strategy, creative concept and media/communications plan to launch an external visibility and reputation campaign in fall 2014. This process, managed by the university's Marketing and Communications Office, will continue to include faculty and students from related disciplines.
There will be multiple benefits to this initiative, outlined above, but the core goal is to advance CSUN’s reputation and visibility in the minds of key influencers in the Los Angeles region — those who are hiring our graduates and those who have the ability to support CSUN. The process to reach this goal, including strong measures of success, is outlined below. Initial research and discovery work began in spring 2014 with an expected launch in fall 2014 centered on an external visibility and reputation advertising campaign.
Click here to read the entire report on this initiative, Raising CSUN’s Reputation and Visibility.
(http://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/RaisingVisibilityReputation-050114.pdf)
Campuswide Efforts
Outside of the overarching Reputation and Visibility Enhancement Initiative, specific projects and efforts are also taking place to increase CSUN’s reputation, spirit and pride. The following reflect those activities.
Academics:
CSUN's planning document, CSUN Shines for the Future: Planning Priorities states: “an unrelenting focus on student success will be the university’s enduring principle priority. Academic excellence and student engagement for retention, persistence, and graduation are paramount… .”
Some suggestions from the campus community focused on academic quality and maintaining high academic standards; Academic Affairs is focused on these areas. Student success remains the highest priority in Academic Affairs, which means improving retention and graduation rates.
The Early Start program helps students reduce or eliminate remedial mathematics or writing requirements in the summer before their enrollment as first-time freshmen. The program will be expanded in summer 2014. Preliminary data suggest that the program contributed to an increase in the one-year retention rate from 74 percent to 78 percent from 2011-12 to 2012-13.
The average unit load for all students has remained above 12 for the last three semesters, indicating that students are able to enroll in required classes to progress in their program. The new enrollment procedure that limits enrollment to 13 units during registration by appointment and opens it up to 16 units during the open registration period has led to a more equitable allocation of classes. Exceptions are made for students in cohorted programs and graduating seniors. The Office of Undergraduate Studies monitors demand for classes and is ready to add additional sections of high-demand courses.
Advisers are making heavy use of four-year and five-year graduation plans to keep students on track to a timely graduation. Online tools such as My Plan to Graduate further support that goal. Academic Affairs is participating in the Student Success Collaborative with the Education Advisory Board. A new online advising tool, currently in a pilot phase, will be rolled out to the campus in fall 2014.
The relocated Learning Resource Center in the Oviatt Library has seen a significant increase in students who use its services.
Comments also focused on the growth of international students at CSUN. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the university is number one in the nation in number of international students served by a master’s institution. With additional staffing and increased campus coordination, the International and Exchange Student Center (IESC) has undertaken specific efforts to increase exchange student programs, publicize opportunities and increase the number of students applying for the Fulbright Scholars Program, raise on and off-campus awareness of international students and the cultures of their home countries, and increase coordination with international students arriving through the Tseng College. IESC continues to sponsor its Friday international coffee hour event. The spring 2014 issue of Northridge magazine highlights CSUN’s strong commitment to internationalism.
CSUN Shine
The CSUN Shine graphic (http://www.csun.edu/graphic-standards/csun-shine.html) is being widely adopted and integrated into print and digital communications. CSUN Shine has graced billboards for VPAC, electronic newsletters distributed to tens of thousands, and featured in numerous other marketing vehicles. A widely distributed CSUN Shine brochure (http://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/csunshine-brochure-02-2014.pdf) features the current points of pride and excellence that we share with external stakeholders. All employees received a CSUN Shine pin at the end of 2013 to show their CSUN pride on and off campus.
Faculty:
The report suggested that the university do a better job publicizing the cutting-edge research of its faculty. To help facilitate this reporting, individual faculty members are asked to share information about their work with their department chairs, deans, and with CSUN’s Marketing and Communications Office, to share with our media outlets and for inclusion in university print and digital publications including Northridge magazine, CSUN Shine Weekly (link to http://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/csun-shine-weekly-archives/), CSUN Today and the CSUN website.
Marketing and Communications staff met with dozens of faculty members and every dean to uncover stories of faculty research and excellence. These interviews resulted in media releases and content for CSUN-owned properties.
Emphasizing faculty research is reflected in university priority #5 — increase research activity and sponsored programs, #2 — focus on employees for success, and #3 — visibility and reputation of the university.
CSUN Shine Weekly
In October 2013, the CSUN Shine Weekly e-newsletter launched for faculty/staff and alumni/community. Delivered during the academic year, CSUN Shine Weekly highlights news and information about CSUN’s diverse academic programs; faculty, staff, and student achievements; available services; and a calendar of events that enrich campus life. With custom content for internal and external audiences, the publication reaches more than 100,000 external subscribers and all employees each week.
Campus Life/Employee, Student and Community Engagement:
CSUN built employee spirit and pride by launching an all-employee holiday party in the Valley Performing Arts Center. More than 600 employees attended the event. In addition to sharing time out of the office with colleagues across campus, CSUN employees also supported the local nonprofit, San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, with more than 300 unwrapped toys for local children.
Planning for the next holiday party is beginning and plans are well underway for an employee appreciation event for summer 2014. Results of an employee survey showed strong support for a summer event. Numerous opportunities exist for employees to actively participate in these and future activities.
From Student Affairs, Associated Students’ Summer Movie Series is being expanded by one week this year and will run from June 5 through August 28. As usual, food trucks will be present for moviegoers to purchase dinner and snacks. Also, Associated Students’ Monthly Movie Series will feature a trio of films with a related theme. A six-hour screening of classic television shows related to the theme will also be aired in the PUB Sports Grill the day prior to the movie screenings.
At the Student Recreation Center, a DJ will perform at the SRC pool on several Wednesdays this spring. Intramural Sports Program hosted the National Intramural Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA) Championship Series Regional At-Large Basketball Tournament at the SRC. Intramural Sports brought back the All University (All-U) Competition. Students compete to earn points toward the All-U standing and the top men’s and women’s teams will receive an All-U trophy with their team name engraved on it.
Athletics:
Matador Athletics pursued several key areas based on the suggested priorities from the campus:
- • Promotion of athletic events
- • Improving facilities
- • More pep rallies
- • Encouraging students, faculty and staff to wear Matador colors/Matatude Tuesday
These ideas are supportive of university priority #7 — using athletics as a tool for engagement — included in CSUN Shines for the Next Decade.
Matador Athletics has worked to promote home contests through both traditional and new media including print, digital, social media and grassroots marketing. In addition the increasing performance of the Matadors, marketing and promotional efforts resulted in increased attendance in women’s volleyball by 17 percent and men’s soccer by 19 percent. Attendance at men’s basketball increased by 40 percent, and season ticket sales doubled.
Facility upgrades have been completed to the soccer stadium and Matadome. The men’s basketball locker room was renovated, and graphics have been added to the wall surrounding Matador Aquatics and the Matador Walk leading up to the Matadome.
Matador Athletics added a number of special events and pep rallies to the 2013-2014 promotions schedule, including Soccer Fan Fest, Matador Book Store Pep Rally, the AD 3v3 Student Basketball Tournament, Matador Madness, NCAA Selection Show Men’s Soccer Viewing Party, NCAA Selection Show Women’s Basketball Viewing Party and NCAA Women’s Basketball Round 1 Tournament Viewing Party.
Athletics has fully embraced its role as a resource for engagement internally and externally. For the 2013-2014 seasons Matador Athletics has focused its engagement efforts on the campus community. As we move into the 2014-2015 season, efforts will extend to the local off-campus community.
Athletics participated in New Student Orientation providing Matador T-shirts to all new students attending orientation. Matador Athletics coaches presented at New Student Orientation. Student-Athletes volunteered at the 2013 Big Show. A Halloween costume party was hosted for CSUN students at a women’s volleyball game. Red Rally games increased to 10-15 events per year. Athletics worked with Unified We Serve to host Zumbathon 2013 in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, with more than 300 CSUN students, faculty and staff in attendance. Throughout the year, Athletics also worked with Housing Resident Assistants and Community Development to increase on-campus student attendance at sporting events.
A major event this year was Faculty Appreciation Night.In appreciation of the CSUN faculty, the #58 Jersey was retired and dedicated to the CSUN Faculty. More than 70 faculty members attended the pre-game reception, the basketball game and were honored at halftime for their dedication and commitment to CSUN.
For community outreach, Athletics hostedYouth Day at the Dome.One hundred youth and their families received tickets to the UC Riverside basketball game and attended a pre-game meet and greet with the Matador Student-Athletes. Interactive games included basketball, soccer, volleyball, face painting with Matador Cheer, and a sign-making station. Each child received a free hot dog and drink courtesy of Matador Concessions. In February 2013, Matador Athletics hosted 65 Matador Football Alumni during the Matador Football Reunion. For some of the former student-athletes, it was their first time back to campus in more than 20 years. They were welcomed to the Matador basketball game vs. Long Beach, invited to pre-game hospitality, and recognized at halftime during the game.
The University Corporation (TUC) has partnered with Athletics throughout the year, hiring a program and marketing manager whose main programmatic focus is supporting Athletics’ initiatives, coordinating pep rallies and other athletic-oriented events, distributing athletic scheduling through CSUN Dining, and generally driving participation and attendance at games.
In addition, the Marketing and Communications Office continued its own strong support of Athletics, featuring and promoting athletics via print, online and social media channels. Athletics was featured in every CSUN Shine Weekly, regularly on the university homepage and frequently on CSUN’s CSU-leading Facebook page.
CSUN Apparel, Gifts and Discounts:
The CSUN Community is regularly sporting their Matador colors and spirit wear. Matatude Tuesdays continue to grow in popularity among faculty, staff and students wearing Matador red each Tuesday.
There was also a clear call to help make it possible for more students to wear CSUN and Matador gear through discounts or giveaways tied to campuswide activities, spirit rallies and philanthropic efforts. In addition, there is a desire to see more support of CSUN from area businesses. Athletics’ new partnership with Sport Chalet means that CSUN apparel will be available at select Sport Chalet locations across the San Fernando Valley.
The University Corporation has made significant progress toward this of goal, selling spirit wear at men’s and women’s soccer and basketball games throughout the year. TUC also participated in numerous special events, including the fall 2013 Fan Fest, the Matador Madness Pep Rally, the Matador Madness Basketball Game and other events. Another high-profile undertaking is the kiosk at the Northridge Fashion Center, which sells CSUN gear during the December holiday season in 2012 and 2013.
Student Affairs has also strongly supported CSUN and Matador spirit wear. Associated Students planned a “swap out” event with the Matador Bookstore to identify selected merchandise students can swap for an old high school or other university logo shirt. The “swapped” clothing was donated to a local organization that serves the homeless. Matadors shirts and CSUN Water Bottles are given out at the A.S. Fair and throughout the year, in addition to various useful school tools (pens, flash drives, notebooks, school packs, etc.) with “CSUN” imprinted on them. A.S. Planners and Folders with “CSUN” printed on the cover are distributed primarily at New Student Orientation. This year, participants of “Explore CSUN” received a battery-operated, personalized fan with the CSUN Shine graphic and digital messaging about the campus. The Student Recreation Center’s programs included CSUN T-shirts and other gear for participants. Pom-poms, air fresheners, license plate holders and a University Student Union/Red Rally branded tent were added to the Red Rally inventory to further promote Matador Spirit.
Campus Environment:
The significance of the campus environment was reflected in suggestions that focused on sustainability and environmental responsibility, technology and modern workspaces.
The Institute for Sustainability (http://www.csun.edu/sustainability/), Associated Students (http://www.csun.edu/as/sustainability), Physical Plant Management and other departments are leading significant efforts relating to sustainability. The campus sustainability plan was finalized in May 2013, and the new position of sustainability manager was created. The Matador Exchange was launched to reduce waste and encourage re-use. The campus can carpool via the CSUN rideshare program and access a ZipCar, reducing the need to drive to campus. Sustainability was the spring 2014 Help Make CSUN Shine Brighter topic (http://www.csun.edu/MakeCSUNShineBrighter/).
Increasingly classrooms and labs such as the mathematics lab in Live Oak Hall are being equipped with flexible furniture that supports modern learning modes. Benches and electronic outlets were added in hallways in Sierra Hall and other buildings for student use. Most significantly, the new Leaning Commons in the Oviatt Library has changed the way students use the facility. The open floor plan, the furnishings, the tech support desk, the wireless capabilities, and the group study rooms and areas offer students multiple ways to study and collaborate. The Freudian Sip in the Oviatt Lobby provides the sustenance to keep up the good work.
Suggestions were also made toward becoming a non-smoking campus. The question of becoming a non-smoking campus was the fall 2013 topic for Help Make CSUN Shine Brighter. President Harrison appointed a task force to consider this issue; the task force will present recommendations in spring 2014.
Healthy Campus:
There were requests to promote a healthier campus and provide more food options for those with allergies, celiac disease and other dietary restrictions. The University Corporation — the division responsible for campus dining — embraces the following goals: 1) increase campus food sources that are sustainable; and 2) increase the availability of fresh, healthy vegetarian/vegan options on campus. Since 2013, TUC and CSUN’s Institute for Sustainability have partnered to divert consumer food waste to the campus garden for composting. In 12 months, more than 10,000 pounds of raw waste was diverted for composting. CSUN Dining’s menu management system provides complete nutritional analysis of recipes created in campus kitchens and identifies allergens in ingredients. Residential Dining provides gluten-free menus and is working to identify dedicated preparation area/s to accommodate those who are highly sensitive. The Klotz Health Center and TUC work together to assist students on specialized diets. The Marketplace, Arbor Grill, PUB Sports Grill, Geronimo’s, and The Orange Grove Bistro have full production kitchens where fresh, raw ingredients are used in a “made-from-scratch” cooking environment. There are salad bars at the Marketplace, Geronimo’s and The Orange Grove Bistro. Local farmers’ produce, some organic, and cage-free eggs are used to help reduce our carbon footprint. All dining locations offer vegetarian or vegan options, and selections are continuously added.