The funding is half of a $900,000 grant that the county was awarded from Health Career Connection (HCC), a national nonprofit working to expand opportunities for students of diverse backgrounds and inspire a new generation of health leaders. The grant is designed to facilitate collaboration between the county’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and partner organizations including CSUSM and San Diego State, which received the other $450,000.

The new HCC grant funds will support the Live Well Center for Innovation and Leadership, a county academic-practice partnership with SDSU and its expansion to include CSUSM. It also complements existing HHSA initiatives to drive meaningful progress in workforce development across the region. 

CSUSM and the College of Education, Health and Human Services (CEHHS) will utilize the money to achieve three primary outcomes:

• the creation of the CSUSM Center for Health Workforce Solutions;
• under that center, the creation of a Live Well San Diego/CSUSM Academic Health Department;
• continued collaborations in North County around the behavioral and mental health workforce, including an annual symposium and associated strategic action groups.

“This grant will be transformative for our students and the region in addressing behavioral and mental health workforce shortages,” said Jennifer Ostergren, dean of CEHHS. “It reflects our ongoing commitment to collaborate with community partners to support the needs of the region.”

The grant-funded initiative will work in tandem with CSUSM’s new Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track (SWIFT) Health Programs, an accelerated, three-year bachelor’s program for students interested in preparing for mental and behavioral health professional opportunities. SWIFT was created from a historic $10 million grant to CSUSM from Price Philanthropies Foundation last year.

San Diego County faces a worsening health and human services workforce shortage due to workers getting older and retiring or leaving for other jobs. According to a 2022 San Diego Workforce Partnership report, the region needs to double its behavioral health workforce by 2027. Beyond behavioral health, there is a persistent demand for other licensed professionals, including nurses, therapists and social workers. 

A national model in academic-practice partnership, the Live Well Center for Innovation and Leadership was the first of its kind in California when it launched in 2022.  

Long before he was an assistant professor of history at Cal State San Marcos, Amador was a doctoral student at New York’s Stony Brook University who was doing field work for his dissertation in Mexico. Hoping to comb through the historical archive of the people of Temacapulin, a small town northeast of Guadalajara, he was surprised to learn that they didn’t have one. What they had was thousands of documents piled haphazardly into boxes, all too vulnerable to environmental damage in the event of, say, a flood.

Helping to organize the town’s historical record wasn’t part of Amador’s dissertation, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to return to New York with the papers in such disarray. So he gave himself a crash course in archival studies – which traditionally is more the domain of librarians – and, with the aid of some volunteers from the community, he led an effort in 2022 to whip the archive into shape.

During the three months that Amador was in Temacapulin, word of his project spread to neighboring towns. It just so happened that the Indigenous community of San Juan de la Laguna (La Laguna for short) was in the midst of an effort to organize its own historical documents. The people behind it invited Amador to town, and he discovered that this project involved almost twice as many documents (nearly 20,000), stretching back more than a century earlier, to the late 1600s.

“When I saw that this project was a different beast compared to the first one,” Amador said, “I knew we needed more resources and more help.”

After a hiatus of a few years – during which he finished his dissertation, earned his Ph.D. from Stony Brook and was hired by CSUSM – Amador finally found himself in position to revisit the La Laguna archive. Last spring, he received a $15,000 grant from the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library, the largest library in the world and the home of such storied pieces as the original Magna Carta.

Over the summer, Amador spent two weeks in La Laguna, and the funding not only paid for his trip, but allowed him to purchase laptops and hire and train five members of the community as full-time workers on the 10-week project.

“I never imagined I’d end up in this field, but it truly offers incredible opportunities,” he said. “I get to meet new people and develop skills in an area where, surprisingly, historians often know nothing about – archives. You’d think that’s odd, like chemists not learning about the equipment in their own labs. Now that I’m doing this work, I realize just how striking that gap is between what historians do and the archival side of their profession.”

Amador streamlined and accelerated a process that had progressed in fits and starts since his initial visit to La Laguna three years earlier. In helping gather the materials, he found that many of them were stored in unfavorable conditions, such as sacks, cardboard boxes and bound together with string. Many also were marked with water stains.

As the group surveyed and created an inventory of the documents, they encountered samples both mundane (countless tax receipts) and captivating. One example was a paper record of a legal battle in the early 20^th century between a town resident and an immigrant from Lebanon.

“How did a man from Lebanon end up in this little town?” Amador said. “That whole story sounds fascinating. Discovering history through these documents is, in a way, truly thrilling.”

Beyond just the work itself, the biggest challenge that Amador faced was gaining the trust of an Indigenous community that traditionally has had a fraught relationship with the local government and the outside world at large.

“With me coming from the United States, people wondered, ‘What are his priorities? Why is he here helping us? What’s in it for him?’ ” he said. “It really came down to open communication – reassuring them that I’m doing this because I love the work and involving them in the process as much as possible.”

As the grant-funded initiative wraps up this fall, Amador is considering a return to La Laguna in January to review the finished product in person. And as the domino effect continues, the second project might lead to a third one.

Another nearby Indigenous community heard about the work Amador led in La Laguna and requested his support for its archival project, which features more digitized material instead of old, yellowing papers. For that one, which remains in the preliminary stages, he is coordinating with classically trained archivists, namely Sean Visintainer and Jennifer Ho of the CSUSM University Library. He’s also talking with Visintainer and Ho about the possibility of introducing and teaching a history course in archival studies.

“I really did stumble into this type of work. I still am even hesitant to call myself an archivist,” Amador said. “I'm learning so much, and there's still so much for me to learn. But it does seem like this is where my career is headed – bringing archival studies and history together in some way.”

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Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The grant funding will build on the early success of the Aspiring Scholars program, which was launched in 2023 by CSUSM education professor Rebecca Brooks. Now in its third year, the program has grown from four students to 19, offering them an opportunity to learn and grow in the CSUSM community while earning a certificate in higher education academic and career studies.

The largest of the grants is $2.44 million over five years from the Transition and Post-Secondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) in the U.S. Department of Education. Brooks is the principal investigator, with psychology professor Allison Jobin as the co-PI.

The pair also secured grants of $75,000 from the California Center for Inclusive College and $50,000 from the CSU Commission on Professional and Continuing Education.

“Seeing my dream for this program, and for our students, come to life through the collaborative efforts of our incredible CSUSM community has meant the world to me,” Brooks said.

The new funding will enable Aspiring Scholars to hire its first full-time staff members, secure dedicated campus space, increase its support and training to peer mentors and professors, enhance student support, and obtain essential materials for daily operations, program orientations and events.

The program is built on four core pillars:

• Academics: College courses aligned with students’ interests and career goals
• Internships: Career development and employment readiness
• Life skills: Fostering independence and self-advocacy
• Campus life and student engagement: Supporting full participation in campus life

This semester, Aspiring Scholars welcomed its third cohort of 10 students, raising the total to 19. The program has collaborated with nearly 70 faculty members, and the number of peer mentors (CSUSM students who provide essential one-on-one support) has increased from a dozen in 2023 to an average of 60 per semester.

The program recently launched on-campus internships for students. Among the internship sites are the Kellogg Library, Cougar Pantry, Center for Children and Families, Campus Recreation, Innovation Hub, and Office of Recruitment & Outreach.

Additionally, Aspiring Scholars has been recognized as a Comprehensive Transition Postsecondary (CTP) Program, allowing participants to apply for federal student aid.

“Our ultimate goal is to build a sustainable, long-term program that continues to evolve and thrive,” Brooks said.  

The application period for the fall 2026 cohort opened Oct. 1 and will close Nov. 30. The first class will graduate in May 2027.

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Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
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For the 2025-26 academic year, the MSW program has secured or is finalizing six major grants totaling more than $3.5 million. The funding will provide 125 full tuition and fee scholarships or training stipends, covering 60% of the program’s 210 students. Many recipients will receive additional financial support for living expenses, making graduate education more accessible than ever.

“This support is about more than just lowering financial barriers – it’s about assisting students to graduate without the heavy burden of debt, so they can build their lives and careers in the very communities they’re dedicated to serving,” said Blake Beecher, chair of the social work department.

In addition to the grant-funded scholarships and stipends, the MSW program also entered a new partnership with the San Diego Pay It Forward Loan Program this fall. This program offers zero-interest, no-fee loans to CSUSM MSW students, with loan forgiveness after five years of service in public behavioral health settings. Graduates who remain in these roles also earn retention-based loan credits, further incentivizing long-term community impact.

Another area in which the MSW program is supporting students is through employment-based internships. Due to a change in the most recent social work accreditation standards, the MSW program has developed a process in which select students can complete their required internships in qualifying employment settings. This year, 33 MSW students have been approved to participate in the employment-based internship program.

"This is a game-changer for social mobility," said Jennifer Ostergren, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services. "Our MSW students are not only gaining access to graduate education, but they’re also being positioned to thrive in the workforce and make lasting contributions to the health and well-being of our region."

The MSW program also continues to deepen its community engagement. Students complete 16 to 20 hours per week in field internships across San Diego and Riverside counties, with expansion underway in Orange, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. These placements allow students to work with diverse populations and provide essential services in real-world settings.

During the 2024-25 academic year, MSW students contributed more than 70,000 hours of pro bono social work services to local organizations and agencies serving at-risk populations.

"Our students are embedded in the community in meaningful ways," Beecher said. "They’re not just learning - they’re leading, advocating, and making a difference in people’s lives."

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Project R.I.S.E. will focus on multiple priorities, from building pathways into teaching through future educator summits to hosting workshops that will connect high school, community college and university students interested in education. The project also will support the Emerging Leaders Academy, which will prepare teachers for equity-based leadership roles in partnership with local districts and remove financial barriers by expanding a  fund that helps credential candidates cover essential costs like testing and certification fees.

Cassiopeia Guthrie, a member of the Distinguished Teachers in Residence program in the School of Education, is leading the project activities as the Project R.I.S.E. faculty fellow. She will coordinate programming and planning, helping to create sustained outreach and support across partner districts. That role also will lay the groundwork for a future Project R.I.S.E. center, envisioned as a hub to strengthen regional recruitment and pipeline development for aspiring educators.

Moses Ochanji, director of the School of Education, said the initiative is rooted in opportunity and equity.

“By opening doors early, supporting students along the way and removing financial barriers, we are ensuring that students in as early as high school grades see teaching as a viable and welcoming profession and also that our schools will be led by educators who reflect and understand the communities they serve,” Ochanji said.

“The School of Education is grateful for the partnership with SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union in working to remove barriers before they become roadblocks.”

Jennifer Ostergren, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, called the partnership with SchoolsFirst a timely investment.

“This is more than a grant,” Ostergren said. “It is a commitment to building pathways for the next generation of teachers and leaders.”

The announcement comes at a critical time as California continues to face teacher shortages, particularly in high-need communities. With Project R.I.S.E., CSUSM is positioning itself at the forefront of solutions by engaging students early, supporting them through credentialing and preparing them for impactful careers in education.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation selected CSUSM during its 2025 grant cycle themed “Wellness Across the Lifespan” to fund programs that encourage hands-on nutritional education. CSUSM is committed to promoting student wellness and working with SHCS to advance a campus culture of health and resilience. 

“We’re incredibly grateful to receive the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation grant to support our Cougars Cooking for Wellness program," said Cathy Nguyen, CSUSM's coordinator of health promotion. "This funding allows us to expand our efforts in educating students about nutrition through hands-on cooking demonstrations and empower students with practical nutrition skills, cooking confidence and access to healthy food resources. This support helps us build a culture of wellness that strengthens student health, connection and academic success.”

CSUSM aims to host four cooking demonstrations, four education sessions and two “Cook and Connect Events” through the program during the 2025-26 academic year. CSUSM also will provide in-person and online sessions for ongoing student access.  

Online nutrition workshops will include many important food- and health-related topics, and cooking demonstrations held on campus will provide students with strategies for cooking in dorm kitchens. Students also will learn how to make meals with ingredients provided at the ASI Cougar Pantry. 

“Cougars Cooking for Wellness” will aim to increase students’ nutrition literacy, influence healthy behaviors, build confidence in food preparation and ultimately stimulate academic success and retention.  

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Eric Breier, Interim assistant director of editorial and external affairs
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The grants come from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The faculty members involved from CSUSM include assistant biology professor Mallory Rice, associate biology professor Jane Kim, biology professor George Vourlitis, kinesiology professor Todd Astorino and assistant math professor Kim Ayers.

Rice is the principal investigator (with Kim and Vourlitis as co-PIs) of a three-year, $499,970 grant from the NSF’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program). The project aims to increase student success by ensuring that every CSUSM biology student participates in multiple research experiences while enrolled in their lower- and upper-division courses. Research projects will investigate how urban development impacts wildlife and natural resources in North San Diego County.

The grant will be supported by the CSUSM-based National Latino Research Center, with Konane Martinez (faculty director of the NLRC and chair of the anthropology department) serving in a senior personnel role.

Astorino received a $442,590 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) from the NIH. He will conduct a randomized controlled trial with 60 inactive adults, who will complete 24 sessions of reduced exertion high-intensity interval training (REHIT), a variation of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that requires only two 20-second sprints within a 10-minute session. Astorino then will compare the resultant changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), substrate metabolism and psychological response to a non-exercising control group.

The trial will expand work in the field showing that REHIT increases CRF and other health-related outcomes, but that has been criticized due to its small sample size, serving to question the broad application of REHIT in adults.

Ayers received a $173,098 grant from the NSF in collaboration with Florida International University and the University of Virginia. The three universities will adapt and implement the Modeling Practices in Calculus (MPC) approach, which has been shown to significantly improve learning and success for a broad collection of introductory calculus students. At the core of MPC is the opportunity for students to work cooperatively and discuss key mathematical ideas in a face-to-face, small-group setting. After adoption and implementation, CSUSM and its partners will identify three additional sites that will join the project in its second year. 

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Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The program has been so successful that two more rounds of funding have been provided, and the latest award is not only one of the largest in university history, but it also broadens the scope of the project.

This summer, CSUSM received a five-year grant worth up to $12.5 million from the Office of Naval Research to continue the work of Veterans to Energy Careers (VTEC). But the program has been renamed Veterans to Naval Careers (VNC) in a reflection of the fact that it has expanded to include civilian jobs in all areas of Navy research and development, not just the energy sector.

The $12.5 million award is the largest current federal grant for CSUSM and the second-largest in university history. It also more than doubles the amount that CSUSM received from the Defense Department in 2021 ($6 million, though over three years instead of five) and quadruples the amount of the initial award in 2018 ($3 million, also three years).

“The Navy has been very direct that they like what this program does, that CSUSM is running it well and getting great outcomes, and they want to continue to grow and expand the program,” said Josh Loop, the program director of VNC. “The Navy sees this program as a long-term investment and initiative for our student veterans.”

Since the advent of the program, VNC has supported student veterans and partners in 27 states, spanning from Hawaii to Maryland. VNC participants have been placed into 313 internships with 31 partnering organizations, including 164 internships at eight Defense Department facilities. And boosted by those internships, 225 participants have secured employment with 143 companies and government entities, with more than 99% of them landing jobs before graduation.

Under the new grant, VNC plans to place at least 100 student veterans into year-round internships lasting one to two years with Navy personnel and ensure that all 100 receive job offers before graduation. That’s double the benchmark from the previous grant and more than three times that of the original grant.

The additional funding also will allow VNC to increase stipend amounts for students so that the program compensation stays competitive with similar internships and accounts for the elevated cost of living on the West Coast and other internship sites.

“Veterans to Naval Careers is a veterans transition program run by veterans, for veterans,” said Loop, a veteran of the Coast Guard. “As veterans, we understand the challenges of transitioning to civilian life because we've been in their shoes. We're committed to offering the mentorship, resources and paid internships to ensure that veterans gain the skills and experience they need to secure successful careers before they graduate, setting them up for long-term success in their civilian lives.”

The total amount of the grants is almost $8 million.

The funding is allowing the Department of Social Work to offer about 100 training stipends or scholarships covering full tuition and fees to MSW students this academic year. The department plans to provide approximately the same number of stipends/scholarships during the 2024-25 academic year.

"The Department of Social Work is thrilled to receive these grants and the level of student support that we will be able to provide over the next few years," Beecher said. “These grants will be life-changing for hundreds of social work students and impactful on the local community.”

The five grants are as follows:

• $1.8 million this year (funding dates back to 2015) from a federal grant through the Title IV-E Social Security Act to fund the Title IV-E child welfare stipend program, which provides specialized training for students who are committed to working in public child welfare. The program’s goal is to improve the quality of foster care, reduce the number of children in foster care, return children to their homes as soon as conditions permit, and facilitate the adoption or permanent placement of children who cannot be returned to their homes. Students selected to participate in the stipend program gain knowledge and experience working in child public welfare settings that will prepare them for a career in the field.
• $4.8 million for a four-year grant ($1.2 million each year) from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to fund the Social Work Education Capacity Expansion (SWECE) grant program, the purpose of which is to fund institutions and organizations to increase the number of social workers serving in California, especially with children and youth. Among the goals of the grant are to recruit culturally and linguistically diverse MSW students who reflect the sociodemographic and other characteristics of underserved communities, to provide education and training in how to deliver culturally competent and linguistically appropriate behavioral health care, and to increase the number of hours that MSW students train in underserved communities.
• $960,000 for a two-year grant ($480,000 each year) from the California Social Work Education Center to fund the public behavioral health training program, which is designed to increase the number of MSW students who pursue and are committed to careers providing behavioral health services to consumers in California’s public systems of care.
• $240,000 for a two-year grant ($120,000 each year) from the California Social Work Education Center to fund the Adult Protective Services (APS) training program. The goal of the program is to enhance the capacity of California’s county and tribal APS programs to meet the complex needs of aging and vulnerable adults.
• $166,000 from the California Social Work Education Center to fund a one-year pilot program that provides specialized training for students who are committed to working in tribal child welfare agencies. The grant gives additional stipends to MSW students who are Native American/Indigenous and who will commit to fulfilling their employment obligation in child welfare services in a tribal agency or reservation.

She grew up in Vista in a household where music was the background noise of life. Her father’s side of the family is populated with music teachers and choir directors, and during the holidays especially, the whole clan would congregate to play instruments or sing hymns.

Davis attended an elementary school where music education was strongly emphasized, and she began to come out of her shell through musical theater.

“Music is something that brings my family together and gives me joy,” Davis said. “It’s something I’ve been surrounded with my whole life.”

When Davis enrolled as a student at Cal State San Marcos in 2018, however, she did so with the intention of pursuing a major in literature and writing studies. She wanted to become a teacher like those who had inspired her as a child, but English struck her as a far more plausible discipline than music, or the arts in general. Such jobs, she reasoned, don’t exactly grow on trees.

In California, though, suddenly they might. In November 2022, the state’s voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 28, which will provide about $1 billion in funding each year to support arts education in public schools. Schools must spend 80% of that money on teachers and aides, which means that California has an overnight need for about 15,000 teachers in the arts, and San Diego County for about 500 such teachers.

This marks a sea change in the field of arts education, and CSUSM now is well-positioned to be a leader in the space. The university has received grants of $308,260 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and $50,000 from the Clarence E. Heller Foundation to launch a program that will streamline the process for CSUSM students to become arts teachers.

Under the new CSUSM Art Credential Pathway, the university will be the first in the CSU system to create a pathway specifically for undergraduate arts majors who aspire to teach. Center ARTES, an organization dedicated to arts education and integration in K-12 schools that was founded by CSUSM music professor Merryl Goldberg in 2003, will partner with the university’s School of Arts and School of Education to develop and implement the pathway to prepare CSUSM arts students to reimagine high-quality arts education for the San Diego region and serve as a model for the state.

The future arts teachers will be recruited from CSUSM’s undergraduate arts and liberal studies students, as well as teaching artists and existing teachers in the San Diego community.

“We’re setting the course on this,” Goldberg said. “We’re not the only CSU that’s doing any work in this area, but we’re way ahead of the curve in terms of the partnering of the School of Arts and School of Education. That makes us a standout.”

To be able to teach in the arts, students typically need to earn a single-subject teaching credential in the arts, which CSUSM does not yet offer. What the new pathway will do is allow undergraduate arts and liberal studies students to complete a one-year multiple-subject credential program as long as they have accumulated 20 credits of arts classes, which could be dance, music, theater or visual arts.

“In the past, we haven’t really looked at that as a viable option for our students because there haven’t been jobs in the arts,” Goldberg said. “But now that there are probably 500 jobs alone in San Diego, this is such a no-brainer way to get our students into this career path.”

Working with Goldberg to institute the program is a team of faculty that includes education professor Christiane Wood, dance professor Cherie Hill, theater professor Judy Bauerlein and media arts professors Lucy HG Solomon, Kristin Moss and Julie Goldstein.

“This program is a game-changer for students looking to impact children’s lives through the arts,” Hill said. “I am excited that this pathway will cultivate future dance and arts educators.”

“Our on-the-ground efforts should translate to increasing the arts in schools and helping CSUSM students and area artists get jobs in the arts,” Solomon said. “In the not-so-distant future, we will be admitting new undergraduate students who have had classes in the arts throughout their education in the public schools. And it is likely that CSUSM alumni will have taught them. That’s exciting!”

“This initiative provides an opportunity to transform the arts education landscape by nurturing talent, igniting creativity and equipping future educators with the skills and knowledge to inspire the next generation of artists, serving as a blueprint for the state of California in support of Prop 28,” Wood said.

Planning and development of the pathway program started this semester and will continue in the spring. CSUSM also will seek to solidify connections with local arts organizations and teaching artists that will serve as partners in the program, including the Museum of Making Music, New Village Arts, The Old Globe, A Step Beyond and the Oceanside Museum of Art.

The first cohort of students pursuing a credential to teach the arts will launch next fall. Goldberg says the goal is to recruit 24 students for the yearlong program. The foundation funding will last for three years, meaning that there will be at least two cohorts.

Many of those two dozen future teachers were on campus Saturday, Nov. 4 when CSUSM hosted a workshop in the Arts Building that drew more than 75 people. The event introduced attendees to the road to becoming an elementary arts teacher in the areas of dance, theater, music, visual and media art. It featured activities, a panel with current arts teachers and an information session about the different ways to pursue a career in arts education.

“There was definitely a buzz of excitement there; it was just a really bright energy,” said Davis, one of the attendees. “A lot of the people on hand had no intention of being art teachers before Prop 28 passed. They just wanted to teach elementary education or maybe high school history or something. But now you can do both in the same program. I think that that's so wonderful, opening up these opportunities for people who might have never considered arts education.”

While she studied literature at CSUSM, Davis decided to take a couple of music classes just for fun, and she enjoyed them so much that she added music as a second major in 2020. She will graduate as a double major this month (though she’s walking in the spring) and take three pre-credential program classes next semester before joining the first arts pathway cohort in fall 2024.

When she’s not taking classes, Davis gives private voice lessons (she has sung at several CSUSM commencement ceremonies over the years) and teaches in after-school music theater programs at a couple of elementary schools in Escondido. Her goal is to teach both music and English at a school in San Diego County, preferably one where arts resources aren’t as bountiful and her skills are more needed.

“I've always been a huge advocate for arts teaching, especially in primary education,” she said. “I think it's so important to introduce kids to art at a young age. It inspires you to be a better person and motivates you; it's a great way to express yourself and to have a voice in the classroom. So I was really excited to hear that the state was pushing arts education a little bit more heavily.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The importance of the grant was recognized during a press conference in Vista on Oct. 6 by Mike Levin, who represents the 49^th congressional district that includes much of North County, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.  

Dr. Konane Martinez, director of the NLRC and an anthropology professor at CSUSM, spoke at the press conference to discuss the impact that the grant will have on Latinx communities.  

“The NLRC believes research is a collaborative effort, placing great value in collaborations with faculty, students and community partners to create bridges between the university and the communities around us,” Dr. Martinez said. “Collaborations create a medium for conversations that can lead to research initiatives that address the needs of local and regional communities.” 

The funding will help develop an innovative health service that will educate low-income students and their families about health-related resources.  

The NLRC plans to target students and families with limited English proficiency and those who have been affected by poverty or inequality. 

An advocate from Bridges2Health will assist two community schools in the Vista Unified School District and connect students with community resources to address health needs. This is a new initiative in California and nationwide to provide services for students and their families. The advocate will also encourage families to enroll in Medicaid and SNAP programs.  

“In San Diego County, there are about 1.1 million people who are Medicaid eligible,” Dr. Martinez said. 

The NLRC program plans to identify the resources urgently needed for students and their families as well as incorporate health services within the Vista Unified School District.  

“We hypothesize that the project will be successfully implemented and accessible to the target population and will accurately identify and capture variables to track and monitor long-term impact,” Dr. Martinez said.  

The Minority Research Grant Program is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health.

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Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist
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The grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation will allow CSUSM to team up with TrueCare, a community health center and nonprofit organization, to provide free health and wellness services in medically underserved areas of North County.

The grant money specifically will go to CSUSM’s College of Education, Health and Human Services. Over the next two years, CEHHS will deploy the funds to hire a project coordinator, buy health care equipment and supplies, and send students into the community with health care professionals from TrueCare and alongside the organization’s fleet of mobile wellness units.

Jennifer Ostergren, dean of CEHHS, said the partnership with TrueCare will give students from the college’s seven disciplines – nursing, kinesiology, public health, human development, social work, speech-language pathology and education – valuable chances to intersect and work together.  

“Through this grant, our students will have a unique opportunity to work together with other disciplines in the college to provide services for and guided by our local community,” Ostergren said. “This type of community-informed and interdisciplinary experience will be transformative for them. I have no doubt our students will walk away from this experience with both a greater understanding of the needs of our local community and a greater appreciation for the many disciplines in the college.”

This grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation builds off work done through a previous award from the foundation. Last year, CSUSM received almost $150,000 to support its faculty innovation fellows program, through which five faculty members were selected to lead an entrepreneurial project while also serving as an innovation ambassador to other faculty.

One of those innovation fellows was Matt Mincey, a nursing lecturer whose two-year project explored the educational and community benefits of incorporating a mobile health unit into student learning experiences across CEHHS. In May, Mincey established a partnership between CEHHS and TrueCare via a Community Engaged Scholarship grant from CSUSM.

The grant created the CEHHS Mobile Wellness Initiative. On Aug. 12, the initiative held its first event as Mincey and CSUSM nursing and public health students joined TrueCare at its annual health fair and breast milk drive in San Marcos, working collaboratively to provide health promotion and education to families.  

The relationship with TrueCare deepened this summer as Ostergren connected with Michelle D. Gonzalez, TrueCare’s president and CEO and a member of the CEHHS dean’s advisory council and CSUSM president’s university council, as well as Anthony White, the organization’s vice president of government and community affairs. CEHHS and TrueCare applied together for the grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation.

“We are excited to leverage the mutual benefits of this longstanding relationship to multiply the impact both TrueCare and Cal State San Marcos can have on the community,” White said. “By providing Cal State students with hands-on experience on our mobile units, together, we can close the gap on our regional health care needs and support the future generation of health professionals.”

Christina Holub, chair of CSUSM’s public health department, is serving as project coordinator until a permanent coordinator can be hired. Mincey will continue serving as a faculty lead. Some of the funding will go toward renting a van equipped with medical supplies to complement TrueCare’s larger mobile units, but Ostergren hopes that this project will lead to the college eventually having a mobile clinic of its own.

The program calls for CEHHS to do two to three community events per semester with TrueCare, and hundreds of community members are expected to be served at each event.

“It's important to show that we're not an island,” Ostergren said. “We're working with our partners to make life a little better for our community.”

The award to CSUSM is among grants to 18 clinics across the region, totaling $8.1 million, by The Conrad Prebys Foundation as part of its Strengthening Health Access, Resources and Excellence (SHARE) Initiative. The foundation launched the initiative in April, providing two-year, unrestricted grants of up to $250,000 per year to health clinics that effectively serve communities needing improved health services – especially Indigenous, immigrant and border residents.

“Not only is this project providing essential health services for communities that need them most, but Cal State San Marcos is helping students receive valuable internship opportunities in a field that is struggling to fill health care positions,” said Grant Oliphant, CEO of The Conrad Prebys Foundation. “This is the kind of creative work that our community needs, and we are proud to support this terrific partnership.”

The grant of about $80,000 covers a term of one year and will start on Aug. 1.

The project will be run by two organizations on CSUSM’s campus: the Center for Training, Research and Educational Excellence (CTREE), which supports the educational and research experiences of students from underserved backgrounds in higher education; and the Center for Contemplative Practices, which is dedicated to the practice of mindfulness.

The principal investigators for the grant are Denise Garcia, faculty director of CTREE; Richard Armenta, associate director of CTREE; and Ranjeeta Basu, faculty director of the Center for Contemplative Practices.

Under the grant, the two centers will partner to develop and deliver a series of workshops to CSUSM students who are served by CTREE programs. The workshops will focus on mindfulness practices designed to reduce stress, increase emotional equanimity and resilience, build community, reduce procrastination, and increase focused attention. 

“Research has shown that mindfulness practices can be life-changing not only while students are in school, but for the rest of their lives,” said Basu, who will teach most of the workshops. “Reducing stress and anxiety allows students to thrive and find purpose even in the midst of uncertainty and crises. This grant will give us the opportunity to offer these practices to our students.”

The in-person workshops during the upcoming academic year are expected to benefit at least 70 students, and the PIs have discussed the possibility of opening them up to the wider campus community.

The idea behind the project is partly a reflection of the NIH making wellness one of its priorities. Last fall, CTREE reached out to Basu and asked her to run a couple of student workshops about mindfulness and procrastination. The sessions were so well-received that Garcia, Armenta and Basu decided to work together on the grant proposal.

“For me, this grant represents a much-needed and significant change to our programs,” Garcia said. “Mental health for our students has not been a priority in the past for our granting agencies. To be one of the first in the country to incorporate it into our student training programs in such a meaningful way feels like it has the potential to revolutionize the way these training programs operate.”

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The four-year grant funded by the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program is a partnership with UC San Diego. It’s called the CSUSM/UCSD Smoke and Vape Free Scholars Initiative Program for Reducing Tobacco Disease in Diverse Communities (SVFSIP).

The training opportunity is tailored to students from racial/ethnic minoritized, low-income or LGBTQ+ groups, the same populations that studies show are disproportionately targeted by tobacco companies and affected by tobacco-related disease.

“I am delighted to bring a training program dedicated to addressing tobacco-related health disparities to our campus,” said Kim Pulvers, a CSUSM psychology professor and the CSU principal investigator for the grant. “I am passionate about this issue and am so excited to have the necessary resources to provide students a substantial training experience. Personally, it will be extremely rewarding to work with students toward the common goal of reducing the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. I am looking forward to teaching them best practices in tobacco research, placing them into great internships, and promoting their success in graduate school and careers.”

Pulvers procured the grant along with CSUSM kinesiology professor Richard Armenta. Pulvers will coordinate the administrative functions of the program, while Armenta will recruit prospective students and support them during their time in the program.  

The principal investigator from UCSD is Dennis Trinidad, a professor of family medicine and public health who previously has collaborated with both Pulvers and Armenta.

The grant will support the training of 15 CSUSM students across two cohorts beginning this August. Students will spend the first year working with a research mentor on an individual prevention or treatment research project. During the second year, they will work with a community-based tobacco control specialist on a local advocacy project.

Throughout the two-year term, the students will receive structured education through a research class and weekly seminars and workshops on tobacco control topics and professional development, and receive academic advising, networking and career guidance.

The program will be run through CSUSM’s Office for Training, Research and Education in the Sciences (OTRES).   

“This program is a great addition to the other training programs we have at CSUSM and fills a gap in our existing programs,” Armenta said. “We are excited that CSUSM students will have the opportunity to work with amazing research and advocacy mentors to address tobacco-related disparities that their own communities face.” 

To be eligible to participate, students must be a member of a racial or ethnic minoritized, low-income or LGBTQ+ group; have an interest in health research or advocacy; and have two years remaining to complete an undergraduate or master’s degree at CSUSM. Selected students will receive an annual stipend of up to $14,760 for two years and 50% tuition and fees coverage for two years.

For more information about the program or application process, go to the OTRES website.

The grant is funded at just under $1 million a year over five years, beginning Oct. 1. It’s part of the Hispanic-Serving Institutions – Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (HSI-STEM) Program, which is designed to increase the number of Hispanic and/or low-income students attaining STEM degrees.  

This HSI-STEM grant will build on a similar award that CSUSM received in 2016. That one, which totaled almost $6 million over five years, provided the funding to launch software and electrical engineering programs at CSUSM, create articulation and transfer agreements in engineering between partner two-year colleges and CSUSM, and build an “ecosystem of student success” for engineering majors.  

An ecosystem of student success is the intentional and strategic integration of campus resources (people, services and activities) to reduce the complexities that students face in learning about and benefiting from campus resources that support student success and degree completion. 

The new grant will expand on the engineering effort in CSUSM’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) by: 

• Establishing an ecosystem of student success for each STEM degree from enrollment to graduation, in an inclusive and equitable environment. Components of each ecosystem will include advising, peer mentoring, faculty mentoring, student learning communities, and solidifying a sense of belonging for all majors.   

• Developing a computer engineering degree program to complement the electrical and software engineering programs that were created through the 2016 grant.  

• Further developing industry partnerships that will include co-operative education and provide students with industry internship opportunities. Co-operative education allows students to apply classroom learning and theory to periods of paid full-time employment as they earn their degree.   

• Partnering with community colleges to recruit students to CSTEM and developing summer bridge programs for transfer students and incoming freshmen to integrate them into the CSTEM community. 

• Increasing the number of Hispanic and/or low-income students attaining STEM degrees. 

“I am very excited about the new programs and partnerships that will be possible with the support of this grant,” said Jackie Trischman, the interim dean of CSTEM and a longtime professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “Not only will we expand our college’s degree options in the high-demand computer engineering field, but we will also continue our work to create a more responsive, inclusive and service-minded college and university.” 

The project leaders for the grant will be Suzanne Hizer, a biology lecturer who has worked with multiple grant programs designed to support inclusivity, equity and student success in STEM; and Stephen Tsui, an associate professor of physics and chair of the department. Ricardo D. Fierro, associate dean of CSTEM and project director for the previous grant, led the working group that developed the main ideas of the current proposal. 

CSUSM is one of 33 HSIs in California that received funding from the Department of Education for STEM programs. The other two such institutions in San Diego County are San Diego State and San Diego City College.  

“As a proud graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a degree in mechanical engineering, I know firsthand the value of STEM education,” U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in announcing the grants. “This funding for HSIs across California — from community colleges to universities — will help build upon the success of their STEM educational programming. Diversity in the research environment drives scientific discovery; that’s why I’m supporting a government-wide push to increase equity in STEM education. A more diverse STEM pipeline is key to maintaining America’s leadership in innovation and promise of educational opportunity for all.”