The California State University is committed to fostering a vibrant community of diverse students, faculty, staff, and administrators, all focused on one thing: student success.
CSU students are more successful than ever. Completion rates have reached an all-time high and the university continues to invest in strategies to reach degree completion targets and
close the equity gap for underserved and low-income students.
The CSU community—faculty, staff, administrators, and students themselves—seeks to achieve
success for
all students through a
quality education matched with
opportunity.
This is the heart of inclusive excellence.
The Path to Inclusive Excellence
In his January 2016 "State of the CSU" address, Chancellor Timothy P. White described three objectives that require collaboration from the CSU and the people of California in order to achieve inclusive excellence for every one of our 478,000-plus students and the many more still to come:
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Create a continuous pipeline from preschool to a bachelor's degree, including state support for high-quality growth at all levels. For example, the "How to Get to Cal State" site highlights CSU programs and resources to engage students well before they graduate from high school.
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Improve the ways in which we prepare high school graduates and transfer students for the rigors of a university education. For example, the
College Scheduler—designed by a Chico State alumnus—is in use at 21 CSU campuses and is one of many
e-advising strategies used by the CSU to help place students in classes that fit both their academic needs and schedules.
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Offer readily available resources to current and future students of the CSU, including timely interventions for those struggling to succeed. Every campus runs an
Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) that offers counseling, advising, tutoring and other services to low-income and economically disadvantaged students, including foster youth. Several CSU programs, such as
community partnerships and the
Center for Community Engagement, aim to strengthen and serve surrounding communities.
Inclusive Excellence at Work in the CSU
Here are just a few of the ways the California State University is working to give more of California's students access to a high-quality education and help them succeed while at the CSU and beyond:
- Since 2009, the CSU has raised overall six-year
graduation rates for first-time freshmen by 11 percent, achieving a 57 percent rate. The time to degree for first-time, full-time freshmen now averages 4.7 years. The CSU has committed to pushing completion rates even higher.
- The
Metro Academies College Success Program at San Francisco State University was developed to support the next generation of leaders in urban communities. The program provides personalized support and helps students build a solid foundation of college success in a variety of fields.
- A high-impact practice called supplemental instruction is common on CSU campuses. At Fresno State this approach, which uses peer-assisted study sessions, has been found to significantly reduce the equity gap.
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Summer bridge programs at CSU campuses, including Dominguez Hills, San Bernardino and San Jose, provide educational preparation to incoming students before fall classes even begin.
- In 2015, the CSU hired 742
new tenure-track faculty—the most of any year since the recent recession. Additionally, the new hires help bring the number of full-time faculty who are professors of color to 32.5 percent, the highest number in CSU history, making educators in the system more reflective of the student populations they serve.