The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education just awarded CSUDH a Gold rating in its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). Sustainability Manager Ellie Perry credits CSUDH’s success in this area to the university’s commitment to social justice. “If we care about people, we should care about the planet we all live on,” Perry says.

We’re not just doing it for the awards, though. Sustainability is a core feature of the university’s Strategic Plan, which recognizes that communities of color are inordinately burdened by the effects of climate change. The university’s Climate Action Plan commits CSUDH to carbon neutrality by 2045.

Perry has also kick-started a campus-wide food recovery program and sustainable food production at the Campus Urban Farm. With the help of student volunteers and interns, the farm produces hundreds of pounds of fresh produce each year, which is distributed free of charge to students experiencing food insecurity.

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Best in the country. It’s just that simple.

The dancers scored their big victory last April, taking home the trophy in the newly created Spirit Rally category at the Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. That win put a capstone on the team’s rise from campus club to national powerhouse who you can see at any number of games where Toro athletes compete.

It also came as a validation for Head Coach Cilecia Foster, who founded the dance team after graduating from CSUDH in 2006 and has led it ever since. “We’ve been competing nationally for a long time, and we could never quite break the top 10,” Foster said.

Anika Vega, an elementary education major and the Dance Team’s gameday captain, teaches dance in her spare time and hopes one day to audition for a spot on the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading team. She noted that the category they won showcases the team’s regular, game day routines—a point of pride, especially with the increasing attention on CSUDH’s successful athletics programs. “I think it shows that the way we represent our university every day is the same way we compete,” she says.

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Toro students looking for academic advising or other support now have a new place to go on campus—five places, in fact. CSUDH advising options that used to be centered in the University Advisement Center are now divided up among the five colleges, with Student Success Centers opening their doors during the Fall 2023 semester.

“These new centers are meant to be extremely collaborative, and have a focus on holistic student support,” said Andrew Drummond, associate vice president for academic advising and career development. “Our new model recognizes that it takes the whole campus to support the whole student. We’ve created centers that bring multiple different offices together to support Toros throughout their college careers.”

Senior Associate Vice President of Student Life Matt Smith added, “We looked at data around student success and experiences, and realized that the way we did advising was a little bit confusing and disorienting for students. We wanted to leverage those recommendations with the student experience to figure out the best set-up and model for CSUDH.”

The Student Success Centers don’t just offer academic advising—they are meant to offer support to students throughout their college careers. To that end, the centers are staffed with retention specialists, graduation specialists, and faculty advisors from the specific college they serve. Students can do everything from plan their course loads to research career opportunities.

“With our new advising structure, you’ll have faculty, staff, and administrators working together closely to support student success,” said Smith. “All of those different types of expertise and experiences come together to work as one for our students. We can do so much more when we come together to advance those efforts instead of working in silos.”

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CSUDH’s Child Development Center joined a rarefied group this school year, when it earned an accreditation that less than 10 percent of preschools and early childhood learning programs across the country have achieved.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) granted that status to the center after a year-long process, in which Program Director Candace Manansala and center staff demonstrated excellence across 10 criteria, ranging from curriculum and qualified teaching staff to nutrition and nurturing positive relationships.

Completing the rigorous review necessary to obtain NAEYC accreditation was worth it, Manansala said, to show the center engages in the best kind of developmentally appropriate practices. “The staff was so hungry to do this and prove that we are providing the highest quality of care.”

The accreditation was only the latest milestone for the center, now in its 50th year. It recently merged with the Infant Toddler Development Center, a separate facility on campus, and began the difficult work of bringing its enrollment back up after the COVID-19 pandemic. About three-fourths of its 65 children are being raised by current CSUDH students; the others are the kids of faculty, staff, and community members.

Manansala plans to grow the center, including developing more partnerships both on and off campus. The center already partners with the LA Galaxy for physical development and the Carson Library for reading, as well as CSUDH departments like music and occupational therapy.

“We have so many opportunities and talent right here on campus,” Manansala says. “I want the center to be a child development magnet, so that we can build these kids up to be future leaders.”

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