Faculty and Staff Resources
This section of our website is designed to provide information to staff, faculty, students, and the community on how they can advocate and support undocumented students.
FAQ's for Staff and Faculty
Staff and faculty play a critical role in the support of undocumented students on campus. With an increasing number of students on campus, we hope that you take the time to get to know just how these students are affected by their immigration status and how you can best support them.
An undocumented student is a student who lives in the United States but who does not have official legal immigration status. Many students will naturally feel uncomfortable sharing their legal status among their peers, staff, and faculty. If a student shares this information with you, they have placed great trust in you and expect you to hold this information confidential unless otherwise stated. Please do not share a student's legal status, as this can potentially cause great harm.
Undocumented students are affected by their status in various ways and frequently do not have access to many things that other students do. Here are just a few of the ways that legal status impacts undocumented students:
- No access to federal financial aid including grants, loans, and work-study
- Not eligible for federally funded research, internship, or fellowship opportunities
- For those without Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, they are unable to apply to anything that requires a Social Security Number
- Very limited access to health care
- Fear of being separated from family members, who may or may not have a DACA status
We encourage staff and faculty to refer students to the Dream Success Center by providing the student with our information and/or by reaching out to us.
Staff, faculty, and administration are encouraged to attend an UndocuAlly training to learn more about the laws and policies that affect undocumented students and promising practices for supporting these students. We also encourage you to request a UndocuAlly training to be delivered to your very own group, office, department, division, etc.
UndocuAlly Training
UndocuAlly trainings at CSULB are an effective tool to provide administrators, faculty, staff, and students tools to support our undocumented students. With the changing needs of students, the uncertainty of the future of DACA and TPS under this current administration, and any opportunity for path to legalization, this training provides the CSULB community tools on how to best support our students, and what services and resources are available to our students. This training allows us to provide real-life, real-time information for our allies to better prepare allies to help in addressing the cognitive, social, and institutional factors that affect undocumented students’ success.
Program Goals:
- Provide promising practice to administrators, faculty, staff, and students on how to best help in addressing the cognitive, social, and institutional factors that affect undocumented students’ success.
- Create a welcoming and supportive campus environment for undocumented immigrant students, thus assisting their integration into campus life.
- Educate faculty and staff about relevant immigration laws impacting students and related student issues and challenges.
The Dream Success Center offers a 2-Part Hybrid Training including asynchronous BeachBoard modules and one synchronous virtual discussion covering:
- History, laws, and policies affecting undocumented youth
- Provide data on undocumented students at CSULB
- Share the needs, concerns, and challenges of immigrant students and their families
- Campus and community resources to support undocumented student success
- Discuss what it means to become an ally to undocumented students
For more information on the next offering or to request a UndocuAlly training to be delivered to your very own group, office, department, division, etc, contact us.
