The expo will take place on Friday, Feb. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Kellogg Library.

The event will feature two primary speakers – kinesiology professor Paul Stuhr and management professor Paola Ometto – who were recommended by the Faculty Center Advisory Council.

Stuhr will deliver the “Joy of Teaching” keynote with the theme “One Blueprint for Belonging: Designing Intentional Conditions for Community.” Stuhr describes the presentation as follows:

"Belonging is not something we add to our classrooms as an afterthought; it is something we create through the conditions we design. Small, intentional shifts in instruction can create moments, or pockets of joy and collective effervescence, where students feel seen, connected and ready to learn. In this keynote, I share one way to intentionally shape the conditions in which community can emerge. I’m not suggesting ‘this is the way’ to build belonging, but rather one blueprint grounded in a model called adventure-based learning."

Ometto will open the research plenary session with a presentation titled "Is Entrepreneurship the Same Everywhere? Rethinking Entrepreneurship in Marginalized Contexts.” She will cover how entrepreneurs from marginalized communities experience distinct entrepreneurial pathways, emphasizing how they craft identity narratives to respond to social perceptions and sustain their ventures.

In addition to the featured speakers, the expo will include a conference panel and roundtable sessions for faculty-to-faculty learning and celebration of the work that takes place in the classroom every day.

View the full program and register for the Teaching & Learning Expo on the Faculty Center website.

Media Contact

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

The grant of $215,740 is notable in part because of its interdisciplinary nature. The awardees are Carly Offidani-Bertrand, an assistant professor of human development, and Paola Ometto, an assistant management professor. Ometto is believed to be the first tenure-track faculty member in CSUSM’s College of Business Administration to receive a NSF grant.

The grant will fund research to understand the development of entrepreneurial ventures in minority communities of color, as well as how marginalized individuals use entrepreneurship as a pathway for overcoming racial discrimination and socio-legal exclusion. The two professors also hope to focus on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs of undocumented status as part of a partnership with the CSUSM DREAMer Resource Office.

Offidani-Bertrand said she applied for the grant with Ometto because of their complementary experience – Ometto in business and herself in community research with undocumented/formerly incarcerated people.

“We are really excited to be awarded a grant that focuses on developing research capacity among faculty and students at minority-serving institutions,” Offidani-Bertrand said. “We are very grateful for this opportunity to engage with our community to generate knowledge that can be used to create future supports for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as gives us resources to involve our students in applied research that will facilitate their growth.” 

CSUSM is one among more than 20 colleges and universities in 12 states and Washington, D.C., that received funding from the NSF through its Build and Broaden Program. It’s a $12 million initiative that focuses on supporting research, offering training opportunities and creating greater research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions such as historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities.

CSUSM has been a Hispanic-serving institution, a U.S. Department of Education designation for institutions that have a Hispanic student population of at least 25%, since 2010.

Offidani-Bertrand and Ometto will use a comprehensive set of research methods, including focus groups, social network mapping and minority business owner interviews. They also hope to offer workshops, events and programing opportunities for entrepreneurial development in the local community.

“The literature on entrepreneurship has very few studies looking at minority groups,” Ometto said. “We think our research will be able to create case studies, tools and frameworks that will help bring diversity to the examples used to teach entrepreneurship and help minority entrepreneurs (who generally face more barriers to access startup capital, networking events, etc.) be successful in their endeavors.”