Provost's Message - March 22, 2019

 Message From Provost Jersky

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Provost Brian Jersky

Dear Campus Community,

Early in March I had the privilege of speaking at President Conoley’s Women’s Research Colloquium. This event highlighted women on our campus who make a difference for others and was a perfect introduction to celebrate March’s Women’s History Month.

At our university, I repeatedly see women who support other women’s goals, dreams and achievements. This inclusive environment starts from the top down with our President. She comes alongside other female students, staff and faculty and encourages them to pursue their passions.

All month long, our campus is supporting and sponsoring events that celebrate the next generation of female scientists, engineers, educators and leaders. On the cover photo of this message, College of Engineering hosted a Google-sponsored workshop that exposed female computer science students throughout Southern California to in-depth research. These students represent this  industry’s future hope, and I could not be more encouraged.

Student Profile - Vivian Hernandez 

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Vivian Hernandez
One of my greatest joys in working in higher education is witnessing students’ lives transformed by education. I get a front-row center stage to this transformation when I serve on one of my many shared governance committees that include students.

One I am proud to serve on is the Inclusive Excellence committee whose primary goal is to identify, illuminate and create solutions to remove barriers that our students might be experiencing on campus. A key member has been a very recent Sociology graduate, Vivian Hernandez. She has been a wise voice in helping our campus identify barriers our students face daily on campus.

While working towards her degree, Hernandez became an active volunteer working on programs that address food insecurity on campus. She fostered a relationship with the owner Great Dane Baking Company to bring any donations to the Beach Pantry and the CalFresh program.  She assisted in Homecoming and a Martin Luther King Service event. She has remained passionate about helping other students while working part-time and finishing her degree.

Hernandez’s degree is impressive all on its our merit, but her journey along the way is what makes this goal truly remarkable. Since she had her own fair share of struggles on campus, she was impassioned to pave a smoother path for students in similar situations like hers. 

During her time on campus, she struggled with the demands of being a full-time college student. Coming on a campus this size can shake the confidence of most students. When this happens, an outside support system can play a key factor in student success. Hernandez understood this and knew she didn’t have it. Early on her family was not supportive of her educational pursuits and the benefits of her receiving a degree.

“I have always felt this barrier with my parents and siblings in truly understanding what I'm pursuing here at Long Beach State” adds Hernandez. “I had a sense of guilt for having a passion for academia. It was hard to reconcile my family’s feelings alongside a more secure, stable future for myself.”

She also didn’t know how to navigate the demands of her education. Being a first-generation Latina college student with limited family resources she was often forced to skip meals. This led her down a path of self-destruction and left her wondering if she should stay in school.

“The hardest part of being a CSULB student has been trying to find the balance between self care,” adds Hernandez. “I found myself too many times submerging myself in the workload of being a working student, that I would skip my meals because of time.”

Determined to finish her goal she knew she had to find a better way.  Fortunately, her trajectory radically changed when someone saw her leadership potential and invested in her. Student Affairs sponsored her to attend the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), Undergraduate Fellowship Program. This conference takes students from underrepresented backgrounds and mentors them about the possible careers in higher education and Student Affairs.

Here she experienced many firsts; she flew on a plane, went outside California, met other students with similar stories, and saw her potential for the first time. She learned that her future passion is to mentor other students who are first gen, and to bring understanding to the narrative society has towards underrepresented students.

“As a first-generation Latina female, I saw barriers reflected in the literature and theories I was learning about,” comments Hernandez.  “Some narratives on students of color centered on negative assumptions that these groups need ‘saving.’  I learned that I needed to listen and understand this perspective, but I knew I needed to challenge the limited view and offer alternatives to allow mutual learning to happen.”

Understanding issues that students face has encouraged Hernandez to continue her educational pursuits with a Student Development in Higher Education Master’s Program. Her hope is to be that support system for other students by working in a university setting. She also wants to be a role model for not only her family but any student needing encouragement to pursue higher education.

Hernandez’s final words are ones she hopes will encourage others. “Let your passion be your fuel for confidence,” says Hernandez. “Focus on what you are good at and master that craft. Understand that you are enough and not defined by your disfranchised identities, they are assets to your place in this society.”

These are all words we can live by.

GO BEACH!

Brian Jersky
Provost and Senior Vice President


 News

Academic Affairs News

Grants

Megan Kline Crockett. Arts Education Exposure. California Arts Council. COTA. Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Total Award: $15,300. (June 2018 - June 2019)

Praveen Shankarr. AEROSEED: Payload Stabilization and pointing for an all-rotating aerial vehicle. Aerospace Corporation. COE. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Total Award: $25,000. (July 2018 - January 2019)

Richard Marcus. California Subject Matter Project (CSMP)-Every student succeeds act 2018 (ESSA18). University of California. CLA. International Studies Program. Total Award: $41,000. (July 2018 - June 2019)

Matthew Becker. Research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) groundwater characterization and cleanup planning efforts at Santa Susana Field. Department of Toxic Substances Control. CNSM. Geological Sciences. Total Award: $40,000. (July 2018 - August 2019)

Christine Costa. Telehealth Training for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners. OSHPD. CHHS. Nursing. Total Award: $1,000,000. (February 2019 - June 2020)

Gwen Schaffer. How mobile privacy violations contribute to digital inequalities for disadvantaged individuals. University of Pennsylvania. CLA. Journalism. Total Award: $3,000. (January 2019 - June 2019)

Lora Stevens. CSU LSAMP 2018-2023. University Enterprises Inc. via CSU Chancellor's Office. CNSM. Geological Sciences. Total Award: $25,000. (September 2018 - August 2019)

Lora Stevens. CSU LSAMP 2018-2023. University Enterprises Inc. via National Science Foundation. CNSM. Geological Sciences. Total Award: $15,000. (September 2018 - August 2019)

Mimi Kim. Strengthening Social Network Responses to Domestic Violence. Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance dba Family Justice Center. CHHS. Social Work. Total Award: $33,708. (Jaunary 2019 - December 2019)

Douglas Pace. Deining the role of of Calcium-building Proteins in the Human Parasite Taxoplasma Gondii. NIH NIGMS. CNSM. Biological Sciences. Total Award: $110,625. (February 2017 - Juanuary 2021)

Sudha Krishnan. The CSU 5+ VITA Initiative. The University Corporation Northridge. CBA. Accountancy. Total Award: $52,668. (November 2018 - June 2019)

Forouzan Golshani. Boeing Projects 2019. Boeing. COE. COE Administration. Total Award: $165,331. (January 2019 - December 2019)

Laura D'Anna. Building Healthy Communities, Long Beach Learning and Evaluation Project. Community Partners. CHHS. Center for Health Equity Research. Total Award: $68,250. (July 2018 - June 2019)

Paul Buonora & Judy Brusslan. CSULB Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement 2015-2020. NIH. CNSM. Chemistry & Biochemistry. Total Award: $1,104,735 (February 2015 - January 2020)


The next Provost’s Message will be published on Wednesday, April 17th. Items for the upcoming message should be submitted by Friday, April 12th, to aa-communication@csulb.edu.