Connections

Cal State LA recognized with AASCU award for excellence and innovation

Cal State LA has been selected as a recipient of one of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Excellence and Innovation Awards for its Prison Graduation Initiative, the first in-person bachelor’s degree completion program for incarcerated students in California and one of only five such programs in the CSU. The Excellence and Innovation Awards provide a means to celebrate and share successes, best practices, and innovations at AASCU institutions. Cal State LA was honored for winning the We the People Award: Excellence in Civic Learning and Community Engagement during the 2024 AASCU Summer Meeting for Academic and Student Affairs Leaders in July. Read more about the AASCU award.

Cal State LA receives grant to create program to support AANHPI students

Cal State LA has received a $370,000 state grant to develop a new program focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) student achievement efforts. The award is part of a $8 million appropriation directed by Assembly Bill 190 to the California State University to enhance culturally responsive support for underserved students, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations across the CSU campuses. Cal State LA’s new Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Student Achievement Program addresses the support that AANHPI transfer students need to achieve two-year graduation outcomes. This program also aims to improve retention rates for first-year first-time AANHPI students during their first two years at the university, slow and reverse the trend of declining enrollment, and increase outreach and recruitment. Read more about the new program.

New report ranks Cal State LA number one in the nation for economic mobility

Cal State LA ranks number one in the nation for economic mobility, according to a new report by public policy think tank Third Way. The Economic Mobility Index report analyzed which schools enroll the highest proportion of students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds and provide them with a strong return on their educational investment. The study rates the nation’s four-year colleges based on calculations that consider the proportion of students receiving Pell Grants, the cost of attendance, and students’ expected earnings after graduation. Read the Economic Mobility Index report.

Cal State LA awarded prestigious NSF PREM grant in collaboration with UC Irvine

Cal State LA, in partnership with the UC Irvine, has been awarded a prestigious Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance research and education in the field of materials science. This three-year, $1 million grant will launch a groundbreaking collaboration between Cal State LA and UC Irvine’s NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. This grant will help establish the NSF PREM Center for Bioinspired and Architectured Materials at Cal State LA to leverage the unique strengths of both institutions to drive scientific discovery and technological innovation in materials science and engineering, as well as offer advanced research training to engage, recruit, and retain students from diverse backgrounds. Read more about the NSF PREM grant.

Cal State LA partners with Tuskegee to launch a collaborative project on character building

The Honors College at Cal State LA will partner with Tuskegee University to enhance the understanding, integration, and education of character within both institutions’ undergraduate curricula and programs. The partnership will be established through a $195,161 Institutional Impact Grant from the Educating Character Initiative, as part of Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character and with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. Cal State LA is one of 24 projects among 29 colleges and universities to receive this three-year grant that will develop a vision of character and leadership education. Read more about the character-building project.

Cal State LA receives NASA grant to support student success in STEM fields

Cal State LA has received a $300,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to assist students from underprivileged communities in the greater Los Angeles area to succeed in their pursuit of careers as NASA scientists and researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Through the two-year grant, Cal State LA will partner with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on a project to strengthen the research capacity of its faculty and students in the field of remote sensing. Remote sensing is technology used to obtain and study data about the Earth’s surface through aerial photographs or satellite images. Read more about the NASA grant.

Cal State LA continues to rank among nation’s top universities in college guide

Washington Monthly magazine has again ranked Cal State LA among the top universities in the nation in its recently released annual rankings. The magazine’s 2024 College Guide and Rankings listed Cal State LA at number three in the “Best Master’s Universities” category. Cal State LA is ranked number two in the West in the “Best Bang for the Buck” category, which includes colleges and universities that offer students the opportunity to obtain marketable degrees at affordable prices. Washington Monthly ranks universities and colleges based on their contribution to the public good, considering factors that include social mobility, research, and promoting public service. Read more about the Washington Monthly rankings.

Cal State LA student journalists from the University Times and UT Community News received awards from the Los Angeles Press Club at the 66th SoCal Journalism Awards on June 23. The awards recognize excellence in journalism in Southern California among professional and student media. Braylin Collins won first place in the “Best Sports Writing” category for the University Times article on “Golden Eagles fight to the finish in final home series opener.” Sasha Funes won first place in the “Best Personality Profile, Off-Campus” category for the UT Community News story on “Her love for her family and community fueled her bakery.” Anne To, Erik Adams, Anthony Aguilar, Oscar Beltran, and Trevor Megginson won first place in the “Best Radio or Podcast Reporting” category for the UT Community News story, “Hurt but Hopeful.” Xavier Zamora was a finalist in the “Best News Photo” category for a photo accompanying a University Times article on “Mourners grieve Monterey Park mass shooting,” while graduating student Xennia Hamilton was recognized as a 2024 Foot in the Door Fellow. Additionally, two Cal State LA journalism graduates, Alyssa Hall and Anne To, were selected for the two-year California Local News Fellowship. Graduates Victoria Ivie, Erik Adams, and Ricky Rodas were chosen last year and have started their second year this fall.

Cal State LA faculty research on child welfare workforce featured in publication

Research by Dr. William C. Wong, a lecturer in the School of Social Work in the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services at Cal State LA, was featured in the recently-published fifth volume of Child and Family-Service Systems: Compendium of Policy and Practice. His research chapter is titled “Critical Praxis Using A Foundational Model: An Ecological Synthesis of Research of Organizational Factors on Public Child Welfare Workforce Retention and Turnover.” The article addresses public child welfare workforce retention and pervasive problems that diminish service quality, compromise child safety, and increase recidivism. Volume 5 is published by the Child Welfare League of America. A Cal State LA alumnus, Dr. Wong is a veteran social worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He is also the long-time coordinator of KTTV-Los Angeles’ Emmy Award-winning Wednesday’s Child adoption news segment advocating to find permanent connections for foster youth.

Cal State LA begins accepting applications for fall 2025 on Oct. 1

Cal State LA will begin to accept applications for admission for fall semester 2025 on Oct. 1. Freshmen and transfer students interested in attending Cal State LA can apply online using the Cal State Apply application portal. The priority application deadline is Dec. 2. 

Cal State LA continues to lead #CaliforniansForAll College Corps regional consortium

Cal State LA has received a #CaliforniansForAll College Corps award of $6.9 million for the implementation of the East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Regional Consortium for 2024-2026. Through the leadership of Regional Director Lilia Arreola, Cal State LA will continue to serve as the consortium lead for our college partners, which include Cal Poly Pomona, Rio Hondo College, and East Los Angeles College. The #CaliforniansForAll College Corps service program is administered by California Volunteers, Office of the Governor, in partnership with California colleges and universities. In its first year, more than 3,000 College Corps Fellows served over 1.15 million hours in their communities tutoring and mentoring students, addressing hunger and taking climate action, while learning new skills and earning money to help pay for college. This new round of funding will support eligible college students, including AB540 eligible CA Dream Act students, to serve their communities. Starting this fall, students from the third cohort will receive up to $10,000 for completing up to 450 hours of community service during the academic year. Read more about the College Corps.

Cal State LA hosts IMPACT Day 2024

Cal State LA hosted Impact Day this past spring, where attendees learned about Cal State LA’s role in fortifying the regional healthcare and education workforce through the university’s ADN-BSN Collaborative Program and Visual Impairment/Orientation and Mobility Program. Following presentations by the respective programs, attendees were given a tour of the university’s Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing Simulation Center. They also participated in immersive visual impairment/orientation and mobility experiences. Attendees included representatives from Alhambra Unified School District, AltaMed, City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, L.A. County Department of Economic Opportunity, Office of Asm. Lisa Calderon, Office of Asm. Miguel Santiago, Office of Asm. Mike Fong, and Office of Sen. María Elena Durazo. View photos from Impact Day 2024.

Golden Eagles claim inaugural CCAA Presidents’ Cup

Cal State LA has been named the winner of the inaugural CCAA Presidents’ Cup for the 2023-24 academic year, the conference announced on July 24. The award was created to honor the CCAA institution that had the most success on the national level. This includes qualifying for NCAA tournaments, winning NCAA tournament contests, NCAA regional championships, and victories at NCAA Championships. The results are based on the 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings. Cal State LA claimed the title after collecting 444.5 points to finish 27th in NCAA Division II, its best finish since 2006-07 and the second-best since the Directors’ Cup standings began for Division II in 1995-96. The Golden Eagles had a program-record nine teams compete in NCAA postseason competition and finished first among CCAA programs in the national Directors’ Cup standings for the first time ever. Read more about the Presidents’ Cup.

Cal State LA volleyball national champions recognized at White House ceremony

The Cal State LA Golden Eagle volleyball team was welcomed to the White House on July 22, alongside other national champions from the past academic year, to celebrate their accomplishments as part of NCAA Sports Day. The festivities, which took place on the South Lawn, recognized the student-athletes and coaches from national championship teams across the NCAA’s three divisions. Joined on stage by more than 40 student-athlete representatives, Vice President Kamala Harris and NCAA Senior Vice President of Championships Lynda Tealer heralded the teams’ collective success while celebrating their dedication and grit. Read more about the White House visit.

Cal State LA named first endowed directorship for its nursing school

Cal State LA has recently established its first endowed directorship in the Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing. The Luce and Ernst Nursing Directorship is the only named directorship for a department or school of nursing in the California State University system. The position is funded by a $1.3 million gift from the late Nina Ernst Luce and her husband, David Luce. Nina, who passed away at age 81 on Dec. 14, 2023, was a member of the first graduating nursing class at Cal State LA. She graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and later returned to Cal State LA, receiving a master’s degree in health science and safety in 1970. Read more about the endowed directorship.

Cal State LA alumnus reelected to CSU Board of Trustees

Larry L. Adamson, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal State LA, was reelected to the CSU Board of Trustees in March 2024 by the CSU Alumni Council to serve his third full term as alumni trustee. The alumni trustee position is unique in that it is the only elected position and only serves a two-year term—all other trustees are appointed by the state governor and serve eight-year terms. In addition to his service to the board as the alumni trustee, Adamson is past president of Cal State LA’s Alumni Association and the CSU Alumni Council, and he currently sits on the board of the Cal State LA Foundation. Read more on the CSU trustee spotlight.