President & Provost Initiative: Faculty Research Awards in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
President-Provost 2022 - 2023 Initiative Focus: Racial Equity
Background & Scope of Funding:
The University seeks proposals for Faculty Research Awards to promote Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (FRA-EDI) for AY 2022-23. Through this program, we encourage and accept proposals which aim to investigate issues of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion on the CSU Long Beach campus and/or our immediate geographical region that support student access and success.
For the purpose of this program, we are using the following definition of Equity adopted by the CSULB President’s Equity and Change Commission (PECC):
Crafting solutions that meet the needs of different groups based on their histories and access to resources -outcomes oriented (different than equality or sameness; equity deals with specificity). Equity is unfair- deliberately and intentionally so to lead to the outcome of fairness by considering different starting places. (USC, Equity Now! Fall 2020; Adopted by the CSULB PECC)
The goals of the inaugural issue of the new FRA-EDI program feature reliance upon our significant Beach intellectual capital to interrogate campus processes, programming, practices, policies, and norms through a racial EDI lens. The new program supports opportunities to examine the broader scholarship of racial EDI in all disciplines, which can prove valuable in many ways, such as how the campus approaches faculty, staff and student recruitment, retention and success; valuation of teaching, scholarship and service; and knowledge contributed by the Beach to broader national conversations around racial EDI in higher education. Finally, the new program provides a process to explore ways for the Beach academic community to engage in strategic partnerships within the greater Long Beach Community as mutual partners for public good. Results of the research should ultimately help stimulate evidence-based directions toward achieving our campus racial equity goals. Following the inaugural 2021-22 FRA-EDI, other/additional scopes of focus can be considered.
Proposals with merit will be considered from across 4 themes. Preference points should be considered for proposals submitted promote and accelerate discovery with potential for direct campus racial EDI impact and/or demonstrate alignment with and potential to advance targeted Beach 2030 Action Plan(s).
- EDI Campus Programming - describe development and evaluation of programming with high scalable potential to advance campus goals toward equity, anti-racism and social justice within the Beach community
- EDI Campus Information - use institutional data or collect new data to unpack issues of inequity around student enrollment; persistence; engagement; course and degree completion patterns; Beach faculty, student and employee experiences, or gaps in institutional inclusiveness
- EDI Scholarship Across Disciplines – engage in unique scholarship that examines racial EDI processes, norms, practices across disciplines
- EDI Partnerships – describe exploration, development and evaluation of high promise partnership concepts with LBC and surrounding community entities toward promoting shared investment in various educational and entrepreneurial racial equity opportunities between CSULB and the community
Ten (10) awards of maximum $15,000 will be funded. Participants in this grant program must be a CSULB tenured or tenure-track faculty member. Allowable expenses include faculty assigned time up to 6 WTUs; materials and supplies; data services; publication costs; allowable travel. The award period is for one academic year, renewable to a maximum of 2 years through no-cost extension.
Each academic college will develop and administer the proposal review process for FRA-EDI. One FRA-EDI award will be granted to Business, Education, Engineering, Health and Human Services, Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the Arts and the University Library. An additional FRA-EDI award will be provided to Liberal Arts and Health and Human Services as they are larger colleges in terms of FTEF.
It is strongly recommended that each college review committee consists of a diverse group of faculty with representation of professorial rank, race and ethnicity, and gender. They must be committed to advancing the campus EDI goals.
College awards committees could receive applications up to October 21st. The submitted proposals can be reviewed up to October 31st , with announcement of awardees by President Conoley and Provost Scissum Gunn to go out the first week of November.
Proposals will be limited to five (5) narrative pages with the following proposal components:
- Project Title
- FRA-EDI Theme # (1 – 4)
- Introduction/Background
- Significance - Please describe the problem that your project is seeking to address. Feel free to include support information such as data, evidence-based practices that demonstrate the need for the project.
- Project goal/s and outcome/s - Please present measurable goal/s and objective/s for the proposed project.
- Methodology - Please provide a brief overview of the project plan, including proposed approach and/or activities.
- Addressing Equity issues - Please provide a brief narrative on the anticipated impact that the project’s outcome/s are expected to impact/advance the FRA-EDI theme selected for the proposal.
- Sustainability After Project Period
- Potential for external funding - 1) Briefly describe the potential for project outcomes to serve as preliminary data or other foundation within external funding initiatives or 2) not applicable.
- Potential institutional scalability - 1) Briefly describe the potential for scaled campus implementation, including resources, personnel, infrastructure etc. to support success or 2) not applicable.
- Budget and budget justification
Final Report is due on October 30 the following year, to be submitted to Academic Affairs, Attn: Provost Scissum-Gunn. There is no required format or template.
2022 - 2023 FRA - EDI Award Recipients
Faculty Member: Lindsay Pérez Huber, Professor, Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling; Oscar Navarro, Assistant Professor, Liberal Studies & Teacher Education
Project Title: Examining Racial Microaggressions and Racial Microaffirmations Among Faculty, Staff, and Students of Color Amid Institutional Moves Toward Inclusive Excellence
Project Theme #3 – EDI Scholarship Across Disciplines
Abstract: This study addresses the theme of “EDI Campus Information” by collecting new qualitative data on the experiences of faculty, staff, and students of color with everyday racism at CSULB with a particular focus on the College of Education. The study seeks to uncover the illusive and often undetected way that racism, specifically, racial microaggressions occur throughout CSULB and at the College of Education. It also examines the ways faculty, staff, and students of color encounter moments of everyday forms of racial affirmations; those moments where their identities and respective work are validated and recognized. Relatedly, this study will also address the theme of “EDI Scholarship Across Disciplines,” as it will explicitly examine specific “processes, norms, practices” that may be contributing toward experiences of everyday racism, as well as those that may be providing opportunities for moments of racial affirmations to occur. While much work has been done at CSULB to address equity, diversity and inclusion, there is a need to identify and root out the way systemic racism is planted within the university. This study is an effort to locate the nuanced way that racism, sexism, and other intersecting oppressions occur and impact faculty, staff, and students of color. A secondary goal is to detect the way that antiracism, specifically, racial microaffirmations transpire at the College of Education and within CSULB. Throughout the study, the researchers seek to highlight the way that faculty, staff, and students of color are experiencing racial microaffirmations to shed light on how the university can affirm and validate historically marginalized populations. The study provides implications for the College of Education and for institutional scalability at CSULB. The research is meant to spread throughout the university to inform racial and social justice. The goal is for CSULB equity-oriented colleagues to expand this work in their respective roles, colleges, and beyond.
Faculty Member: Ming Chen, Professor, Management; Jasmine Yur-Austin, Professor, Finance
Project Title: Examine Student Course Load, Completion, and Performance Data to Identify Roadblocks and Hurdles and Close Equity Gaps in College of Business
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: In this study, we plan to examine student demographic information and academic records for College of Business to identify areas where there exhibits the greatest equity gap. This will allow the college to allocate critical resources in the most cost-effective way to increase our chance of success in closing these gaps. More specifically, we plan to pinpoint the set of courses with the largest equity gap and hence offer programs such as summer boot camp to increase students’ level of preparedness for these courses. We plan to develop a prediction model which will allow the college to proactively reach out and advise students who are potentially at-risk to take advantage of campus-wide or college-specific support, and resources to increase their chances of success. Finally, we intend to explore some data mining techniques to further examine the relationship between course completion and factors such as varying course load issues and course sequence.
Faculty Member: Stephen Mezyk, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Project Title: Re-inventing STEM Scholarship Through EDI Campus Information
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: The primary goal of this project is to identify, quantify and then address the specific difficulties of students who are underrepresented enrolled in California State University, Long Beach Chemistry (CSULB) courses. The focus is particularly on General Chemistry, which is a combined two-semester, 10-unit, gateway course that covers pre-requisite materials necessary for almost all upper division courses in Chemistry and Biology. While student matriculation rates have remained relatively high for the first semester CHEM111A component course, student success in the 5-unit CHEM111B course is significantly lower, particularly for students who are underrepresented. Moreover, while students achieving a “C” grade in CHEM111B allows them progression to higher-level STEM classes, at this level of mastery their fundamental knowledge is severely compromised, which continues to impact their overall GPA throughout their CSULB education experience.
Faculty Member: Sharri Hefner, Assistant Professor; Katherine Guerra, Assistant Professor; Ben Huff, Assistant Professor; and Tasha Hunter, Lecturer, Film & Electronic Arts
Project Title: IAAM: Creating Equity, Anti-Racism & Social Justice Through Training & Positive Action
Project Theme #1 - EDI Campus Programming
Abstract: The Film and Electronic Arts IAAM (Inclusivity Across All Media) Committee — will ‘train the trainers’, as an evergreen approach to maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our campus communities. Committed to working toward lasting systemic change, our efforts to educate the next generation of entertainment industry artists and leaders will prepare students to work in and create diverse environments. We want students to be equipped with tools to address implicit bias, micro-aggressions, racism, and misogyny. In addition, we want our ability to respond to be evergreen, built into the fiber of our committee. We believe that we must support, challenge, and push boundaries. Therefore, our committee’s training in an eCornell Diversity, Equity and Inclusion certificate course; as well as opportunities for course release will ensure our department is continually able to provide DEI training to students and faculty alike, both in our department and within other populations on campus.
Faculty Member: Alaine Ocampo, Assistant Professor, Speech-Language Pathology
Project Title: Student Enrollment and Persistence Through an EDI Lens: Intersections of Race, Gender, and Sense of Belonging
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: This project will focus on the intersections of race and gender with students and their sense of belonging in relation to enrollment and persistence in their respective majors.
The construct of “sense of belonging” has been well documented in the literature as being associated with academic achievement, retention, and persistence in college and these impacts are frequently more pronounced for students from marginalized groups. Fear of confirming negative stereotypes of a group one belongs to (i.e., gender, race) can undermine performance and contribute to a lack of sense of belonging as well. This can give rise to feelings that people like them do not belong there. Additionally, external cues, such as a low representation of one’s group, can influence a sense of belonging.
The term “belonging” may be less familiar than “equity” “diversity” or “inclusion,” but deserves recognition in terms of accessibility, student success, recruitment, and retention. When examining enrollment and persistence, we should continuously ask: “Does everyone on campus feel valued, connected, and able to be their authentic self?” In many ways, belonging is the emotional counterpart to inclusion (“Have everyone’s ideas been heard, respected, and understood?”). It is the feeling of having a personal involvement in an environment. This project takes an assertive approach in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data through an equitable, diverse, and inclusive (EDI) lens with built-in “equity audits” for accountability that include “belonging.”
Faculty Member: Susan Nakaoka, Assistant Professor, Social Work
Project Title: Critical Race Pedagogy – Promising Practices to Recruit and Retain Students of Color
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: During the fall of 2021, the School of Social Work adopted a critical race theory and critical pedagogy statement to guide their curriculum's focus on anti-racist social work praxis. Part of this vision includes a commitment to students who are underrepresented from Black, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander populations. This project will develop critical race pedagogy by analyzing existing data on students who are underrepresented in the BSW and MSW program, interviewing current BSW and MSW students to determine their experiences and advice, and collaborating with two other CSU campuses to hold "summits" that will identify promising practices that address racial disparities in social work education. The co-applicants of this proposal are all Assistant Professors of Color who are committed to anti-racism in the school and across the CSULB campus.
Faculty Member: Beth Manke, Professor, Human Development & LBCIP Program Director; Jake Wilson, Professor, Sociology & LBCIP Internship Course Instructor/ Coordinator
Project Title: Long Beach Community Internship Program: Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Project Theme #1 – EDI Campus Programming
Abstract: The Long Beach Community Internship Program (LBCIP) is a high impact internship program for CSULB students who graduated from Long Beach area high schools. The primary goal of LBCIP is to curate paid internships for students with local nonprofits, creating a bridge for low-income students of color back to their own communities to work and live. LBCIP aims to close the racial equity gap of paid internships and the loop of the Long Beach College Promise while ensuring students have opportunities to do meaningful work, hone professional skills, build high quality job networks, and explore local career options in local nonprofits. LBCIP intentionally partners with organizations that are not profit driven, many of which promote racial and social justice. In order to scale LBCIP, it is crucial that we gather data on students’ internship experiences so that we can develop additional program components that explicitly center anti-racism, equity, and social justice (i.e. community site trainings and workshops for students). For this project, we will utilize a multi-method evaluation of LBCIP where we gather information about racialized experiences and impact data from both students and community host partners. This will be the first effort on campus to evaluate internship programming through an EDI lens. Our research goals are as follows: (1) to better understand LBCIP student intern experiences especially those related to racism and classism; and (2) to better understand LBCIP site supervisors’ experiences mentoring and supervising student interns. Evaluation data will help LBCIP secure external funding while also improving LBCIP student internship experiences by developing anti-racism trainings for LBCIP site supervisors and EDI workshops for students.
Faculty Member: Kimberly Kelly, Associate Professor, Human Development
Project Title: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in High-Impact Practices at The Beach: Student Experiences and Perceptions of Internships, Undergraduate Research, and Service Learning
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: Approximately one in three CSULB undergraduates participates in an internship, research experience, or service-learning class during their time at The Beach. These High-Impact Practices (HIPs), among others, are widely considered essential experiences for undergraduate students that lead to greater academic achievement, learning outcomes, and personal and social development. However, most existing HIPs research is limited by its focus on HIPs at predominantly white institutions, often obscuring the experiences of historically marginalized students. To investigate whether all students have equal access to and equitable experiences in HIPs, research is urgently needed at Minority-Serving Institutions to amplify the experiences of students of color, as well as students who are first-generation and from lower-income backgrounds; in internships; research; and service learning. The current project uses a mixed-methods design to analyze institutional student demographic data and survey data on CSULB student experiences in internships, undergraduate research, and service learning. Quantitative analyses will test whether the degree of participation, quality of experiences, and perceived learning gains vary by race, first-generation status, and Pell eligibility. Qualitative analyses of open-ended survey responses will identify what, if any, barriers to HIPs participation and inequities in experiences exist for CSULB students. The results center the experiences of historically marginalized students in HIPs, unpack inequities in program implementation, and reveal barriers to participation. The findings can be used to develop empirically based and actionable recommendations to increase equity in HIPs implementation and access to HIPs programming at The Beach.
Faculty Member: Sara Moghtadernejad, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering II; Mehrdad Aliasgari, Associate Professor, Computer Engineering and Computer Science
Project Title: Closing Equity Gaps in Engineering Courses: Interventions and Best Practices for Culturally Responsive Teaching in Engineering
Project Theme #2 – EDI Campus Information
Abstract: There are persistent equity gaps in engineering courses indicate that students who are underrepresented receive disproportionately higher rates of D, F, or W grades (i.e., DFW rates). Moreover, there are GPA gaps between UR and non-UR students in Engineering courses. In this project, we aim to utilize existing campus data to identify such courses in the College of Engineering at CSULB. We will then identify culturally responsive practices of effective teaching in such topics. We will subsequently work with engineering departments and faculty who teach these topics on how to incorporate interventions and best practices for inclusive teaching. Our aim is to close the opportunity and equity gaps in the College of Engineering by identifying and eliminating any barriers in our course offerings.
Faculty Member: Nicollette Brant; Michelle DeMars; Norah DeBellis; and Alexis Pavenick, Librarians
Project Title: Equity-Centered Learning: Information Literacy Canvas Modules for CSULB 1st Years and Transfer Students
Project Theme #1 – EDI Campus Programming
Abstract: University Librarians will develop highly scalable Canvas modules that teach information literacy, which includes techniques of resource access and research evaluation. The modules will provide an equitable introductory information pathway for CSULB students. Diverse student needs include 24/7 accessibility, and simple, straightforward explanations about information access, evaluation, and use. Our development will be aimed at incoming First-Year and Transfer students and focused on filling equity gaps in information literacy instruction, while also addressing digital equity.
