Campus Centers and Institutes

The following Campus Centers and Institutes (CCI) are defined per Presidential Memorandum 2022-01 and Coded Memorandum AA-2014-18 of the California State University Office of the Chancellor:

Academic Research and Evaluation Center (AREC)

Darrel Skousen, Director

Operating under the College of Education, the proposed Academic Research and Evaluation Center (AREC) seeks to labor alongside both CSUDH and the broader Los Angeles community to actualize the positive educational growth of all learners. Focusing on the assessment, exploration, enhancement, and/or development of educational programs, the AREC will:

1. 1. Assist in the development (or creation) of effective programs, using social science theory to inform expected outcomes.
   2. Investigate the ability of a program, policy, or service to achieve its desired outcomes (e.g., needs assessments).
   3. Conduct original research and evaluations to measure the extent to which key educational outcomes (e.g., learning, teaching, retention, graduation, improvement, achievement) are achieved.

Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE)

Kamal Hamdan, Executive Director

Initially established as a result of an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation to serve as a regional center focused on enabling transformative and inspiring STEM learning experiences, the purpose of the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) is to develop, support, and improve STEM education and serve as a model and resource center for K-16 students and educators, local and national organizations, STEM industries, and also serve as model of aspiration in STEM teaching for other CSU campuses. CISE engages K-16 students on and off campus in hands-on challenge-based exciting STEM learning experiences, prepares highly qualified STEM teachers through alternative routes to certification teacher pathways, offers a menu of high quality professional development opportunities to in-service teachers to assist them with transforming their teaching practices, collaborates with STEM programs and faculty to advance their research efforts and create research opportunities for students, and forms partnerships with STEM industry leaders such as Toyota and Apple to offer students experiences that merge theory and practice and expose them to industry knowledge and skills. Its goals are to promote the development of new knowledge and research with an emphasis on serving communities that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines; serve as a model and regional resource center for K-12 STEM teachers, schools, and districts as well as other CSU campuses with like programs; increase the interest of K-16 students in STEM majors and careers; help increase the representation of people of color and women in STEM fields; increase diversity in STEM majors and careers; support K-16 students’ academic excellence in STEM classes and majors; develop the next generation of highly qualified and passionate STEM teachers who will be the leaders in STEM teaching practices; increase the number of credentialed teachers in the STEM disciplines and inspire and assist them in improving their pedagogical practices; foster systemic change in STEM education through cross-sector public and private partnerships; offer high-quality STEM internships and employment opportunities for CSUDH students; and support CSUDH’s overall mission.

Snap Inc. Institute for Technology and Education (SITE)

Mike Karlin, Director

The Snap Inc. Institute for Technology and Education (SITE) was founded as a result of a $5M gift received by the CSUDH College of Education to focus on supporting computer science education.  The purpose of SITE is to make high-quality, standard-aligned computer science an integral part of the educational experience for our students in the COE and for all K-12 students in the Los Angeles area.  The Institute stands in strong alignment with the College of Education’s vision of preparing critical educators who co-create and enact transformative change. We challenge the ways technology perpetuates existing power structures and actively seek to transform how technology is used to reproduce systems of inequity and oppression. Finally, SITE centers the importance of joy as a foundational reason for engaging in computer science education.  

The Institute’s work focuses on three main areas: 

1. 1. Curricular development, innovation, and transformation;
   2. Teaching and transforming computing education through partnerships; and
   3. Robust academic research on our efforts. 

Center for Sustainability and the Environment

Ellie Perry, Director

The purpose of the CSUDH Center for Sustainability and the Environment is to:

• • Cultivate interest, promote, and support efforts to institutionalize environmental sustainability within CSUDH’s academic units and curricular/research activities.
  • Ensure the university’s ongoing prominence as a sustainability and environmental justice leader in higher education locally, regionally, and nationally, and serve as a pillar of the community in this role.
  • Serve as a campus resource center for building interdisciplinary and regional/national sustainability connections in support of instructional and research collaborations, and to provide a collaborative platform for pursuing associated extramural funding opportunities in this area.

The Center will serve as a university resource in harnessing the interdisciplinary strengths of the various academic programs on the CSUDH campus to better coordinate and pursue extramural funding related to sustainability issues and research opportunities. Proposed activities include pursuing beneficial academic initiatives and offering supporting resources designed to strengthen the ability of the university to enhance its curricular and research offerings in sustainability and the environment. These resources and initiatives will be designed to elevate instruction and research capacity in sustainability university-wide: by adding interdisciplinary elements into existing curriculum across all academic units by integrating a sustainability lens, building networks across academic disciplines and with potential funders to more competitively and efficiently pursue extramural funding opportunities related to sustainability, and to offer support for faculty, instructors, and academic departments for integrating sustainability into their curricular and research activities. The Center will also be a networking resource for identifying fellow faculty members in other disciplines who can serve as potential collaborators on extramural grant funds and projects in support of sustainability and environmental concerns.

South Bay Economics Institute (SBEI)

Fynnwin Prager and Jose N. Martinez, Co-Directors

The South Bay Economics Institute serves CSUDH students, faculty, and community partners by conducting and disseminating cutting-edge, impactful, and student-involved research on economic issues facing the South Bay region of Los Angeles and beyond. The SBEI leads innovative and forward-thinking economics education and research by: developing CSUDH economics curriculum and teaching while incorporating proven high-impact practices; engaging our diverse student body in economic analysis projects through mentoring programs, guest speakers, and community outreach opportunities; and facilitating faculty development through economics research resources, grant writing deliverables, and local business and government community engagement. Since launching the Institute in 2016, we have undertaken numerous activities, including expanding economics teaching across CBAPP programs, mentoring students through our Student Fellows program and the UCLA Anderson Forecast Fellows program, conducting and publishing several research projects on the South Bay region, and engaging in a broad range of events with community partners. This substantial body of work has provided a unique insight into a range of issues facing the regional economies of the South Bay, Los Angeles, and Southern California that benefits our students, faculty, and community partners alike.

Institute for Student-Engaged Health Equity Research (SEHER Institute)

Matt Mutchler, Director

The SEHER Institute is a multi-disciplinary, applied research institute focused on addressing the needs, problems and solutions that arise in urban areas with a special focus on the South Bay Region of the Los Angeles Basin. Students and faculty in the Institute collaborate with a number of governmental, community-based, and university/research institutions such as the City of Los Angeles, AIDS Project Los Angeles Health, Charles R. Drew University/Spectrum, and RAND corporation. The Institute supports faculty-student research through integrating coursework in various disciplines for students to work with faculty to gain experiential learning in hands-on activities. Since undergraduate research is a high-impact practice, the Institute provides support both for faculty and student success while engaging stakeholders and local communities in research and scholarly activities. The Institute has a physical space where students, faculty, staff, and community partners can meet to discuss and work on studies addressing our mission and values including equity, inclusion, and social justice; collaboration, community engagement, and curiosity. The Institute has worked with faculty from sociology, health sciences, nursing, psychology, and other programs and seeks to expand such collaborations in future collaborative endeavors.

Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political & Economic Institute

Anthony Samad, Director

The mission of the Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political & Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) is to build community and institutional memory, through a digital archive, of the history and contributions of African American elected officials, business leaders, and community leaders who have influenced the progress of the State of California and the nation. The MDAAPEI is a state legislative mandate, founded as a non-partisan public think tank, to study and document public policy and its impact on African Americans and the communities in which they live. MDAAPEI was developed to lead, foster and influence public policy debates through ongoing academic research and public discourse related to African American political/economic development issues and impacts in California and elsewhere around the nation; to help develop the next generation of elected officials, civic, and policy leaders; and to promote and engage the CSUDH community through cultural events and experiences that highlight the Dymally influence in the African Diaspora. The MDAAPEI provides mentoring programs for current and future leaders, including the Dymally Fellows program, and the Sisters United Program, which promotes student success and matriculation by expanding their global worldview of other cultures, using national and international travel as lived learning experiences in the global classroom. The MDAAPEI also supports the California Legislative Black Caucus’ African American Leaders of Tomorrow Program (AALT), a leadership training summit for high school students. Finally, MDAAPEI supports and promotes students interested in business through entrepreneurial training partnering with local businesses.

Center for the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians

Oghenevwarho Ojakovo, Director

The Center for the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians (CADSMM) is the world’s preeminent site for the collection and dissemination of research on the music of the African Diaspora. Housed on the California State University, Dominguez Hills campus and a program of the College of Arts and Humanities in partnership with the University Library, the center is a national hub for archiving, performance, research, and information dissemination about African music. African and African American musicians, scholars, music educators, internal and external community partners, and collaborators committed to engaging with African sacred music research and performance will find a dedicated space for creative and intellectual discussion at the center. Included in CADSMM’s multidimensional program are the Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive of Sacred Music and the Distinguished Lecture, African Diaspora Music/Sacred Music Lecture Series, the African Gospel Concert Music Series, and the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians Network and Forum. In addition, CADSMM is committed to hosting various other academic symposia, workshops, and performances, often inviting guest speakers and visiting scholars to perform or present highly regarded artistic and scholarly works. Among its many functions, CADSMM also offers a space for faculty members to network with colleagues and potential collaborators on external grants and projects to advance the study of African music, both sacred and secular, and musicians in Africa and the African Diaspora.

Recognized Campus Centers and Institutes currently in the process of chartering include:

• Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence, and Emerging Technology (CAE)^2

For questions about the CCI policy, more information on the chartering process, or student/faculty service centers that are exempt from this policy, please contact us at research@csudh.edu.