Black Student Success Initiative

This initiative includes several concurrent components:

• Listening, Dialogue, and Community-Building Sessions designed to gather and analyze insights on the lived experiences of CSUN students, staff, administrators, faculty, and alumni.

• A Comprehensive, Culturally Relevant Review of key university policies, programs, and initiatives.

• BSSI Institutes and Forums designed to inform and educate the campus about the progress of the initiative while creating opportunities for community-building and discussions on Black student success and academic achievement.

• Strategic Benchmarking Research, including a general review of the institution’s DEI infrastructure, analyzing trends in academic achievement data, and identifying examples of best practices contributing to Black student academic achievement taking place at CSUN and at other institutions.

• Developing a CSUN Black Student Success Insight-to-Action Strategic Roadmap with monitoring criteria, scheduled for implementation in 2024 and informed by these data and information-gathering efforts.

To design, lead, and implement this nine-month project (starting in the Summer of 2023), CSUN retained a neutral third party, the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation (CSDLSI), based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Founded in 2009 by Dr. Damon A. Williams, CSDLSI’s mission is to empower leaders with the strategies, tools, and resources required to advance the shared and ongoing work of creating more inclusive environments and communities. CSDLSI’s Inclusive Excellence approach focuses on leading institution-wide DEI change efforts.

CSDLSI specializes in:

• Social Climate and Culture Research and Evaluation, such as organizational climate and culture research; campus climate studies with mass survey instrument development and administration; comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis; and formal written evaluations with detailed recommendations.

• Organizational Change Management and Strategic Planning, including leading organizational redesign and change management efforts; designing vertical and lateral diversity organizational structures; developing diversity planning and accountability strategies; and establishing strategic faculty and staff hiring and retention programs.

• Professional Development and Training (both in person and online) designed to focus on capability building, strategic diversity leadership development, and current DEI research and best practices.

To learn more about Dr. Williams and the work of CSDLSI, please visit DrDamonAWilliams.com.

CSUN is seeking to better understand campus efforts on Black student success and academic achievement. This includes gathering information on the lived experiences of students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni. The campus has been invited to provide feedback in various ways, including asking the community to participate in engagements sessions and completing the Insight to Action survey that was administered in Fall 2023.

The BSSI consultant team's approach to conducting this in-depth assessment is inclusive and aligns to leading best practices of creating identity-affirming, psychologically safe environments in which to facilitate conversations around complex topics such as antiracism, belonging, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Initial Campus participation efforts (COMPLETED):

• On-Campus Kick-Off Meeting (October 5, 2023)
• Faculty/Staff/Administrator Listening Sessions
  • On-Campus Listening Session (October 5, 2023)
  • Virtual Listening Sessions (October 10th – 18th)
• Student Listening Sessions
  • On-Campus Listening Session (October 5, 2023)
  • Virtual Listening Sessions (October 10th – 18th)
• Alumni Listening sessions (October 18th)

Follow-up Engagement Sessions (COMPLETED):

• Faculty/Staff/Administrator Virtual Engagement Sessions (April 18 & 20, 2024)
• Alumni Engagement Session April 18, 2024
• Student Engagement Session April 20, 2024

Campus Follow-up and Debrief (ACTIVE):

• Wednesday, May 1, 2024 from 10 am – 12 pm (USU Grand Salon): BSSI strategic partners, led by Dr. Damon A. Williams, will share insights, a theory of change on CSUN Black Student Success, recommendations, and how collectively can contribute towards the development of an inaugural Black Student Success Insight-to-Action Strategic Roadmap. RSVP to Join On-Campus Session.

1. Dr. William Watkins, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students (BSSI Work Team Chair)

2. Dr. Melanie Bocanegra, Associate Vice President, Student Success

3. Debra L. Hammond, Executive Director University Student Union, BSSC Co-Chair

4. Dr. Kandace Harris, Associate Dean, Mike Curb College, Arts, Media and Communication

5. Dr. Meera Komarraju, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

6. Dr. Paul Lazarony, Associate Vice President, Undergraduate Affairs

7. Dr. Ryan Mason, Senior Coordinator, Black House/Black Resource Center

8. Dr. Amanda Quintero, Senior Advisor to the President for Inclusive Excellence; Equity Innovation Officer for the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub

9. Dr. Freddie Sánchez, Interim Assistant Vice President for Students Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion

10. Ashley Talley, Alumnus and Graduate Student

11. Dr. April Taylor, Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development

12. Dr. Holli Tonyan, Associate Director of Academic Analytics, Institutional Research

13. Dr. Theresa White, Faculty Africana Studies, BSSC Co-Chair

14. Michael Clemens, Executive Assistant, Student Affairs

Upon reviewing these materials, if you have questions, please reach out to Black Student Success Initiative Work Team (bssi@csun.edu)