CSN Foundation

Congratulations to the 2023-2024 Spirit of CSN Grant Award Recipients

Cody’s Locker

Cody’s Locker is going into its third year working to provide all students with basic classroom necessities. This program allows students access to free school supplies and helps students be successful in and out of the classroom.

Period Equity

Menstrual hygiene products are necessities, not luxuries, and should be treated as such. The Period Equity proposal addresses the real issue of “period-poverty” by providing a proactive solution of providing students with free menstruation hygiene products in the student unions.

Sankofa English 101 and 102 Initiative

As a retention program for African American students, the Division of Student Affairs and the English Department has created the Sankofa English Initiative offering a combination of three sections of English 101/102 classes in any given semester. This proposal will fund books and supplies for the Sankofa initiative.

The Great Textbook Voucher Program

The Great Textbook Voucher Program will allow TRIO students to get the textbooks they need directly from the bookstore. This will help to minimize the financial burden on our low-income students.

Walking on Eggshells But Getting Prepared for It

Psychiatric nursing experts have called the moment a student nurse interacts with a psychiatric patient, face-to-face, for the very first time, “walking on eggshells”. This proposal will deliver new teaching strategies to decrease student nurses’ anxiety and increase their confidence in preparation for their first face-to-face interaction with an actual psychiatric patient.

Thank you to the 2023-2024 Spirit of CSN Grant Review Team

Carey Sedlacek
India Barton
Iris Melendez
Lily Alvarez-Sharpe
Linda Foreman
Stephanie Little

2022-2023 Spirit of CSN Award Grant Recipients

Centers for Academic Success Award

CSN Centers for Academic Success is hoping to push to end the stigma surrounding tutoring and to encourage students to take part in the services offered by providing 20 x $200 bookstore vouchers to students who attend three tutoring or Supplemental Instruction sessions in a semester.

CSN Living History Archive

The CSN Living History Archive celebrates the rich history of CSN by recognizing the efforts of generations passed and inspiring the generation of the future. CSN Libraries seeks to establish a CSN archive to preserve the history of CSN and plans to use the funds to hire a credentialed archivist/public historian.

CSN Meaningful Writing Experience Initiative

The Meaningful Writing Experience (MWE) will operate as a sub-committee of the existing Composition Committee in the English Department and partner with FYE and first-year course instructors. MWE will award 10 x $1,000 scholarships to students through an essay-based scholarship application that describes the impact the meaningful writing project had on them.

Thank you to the 2022-2023 Spirit of CSN Grant Review Team

Linda Foreman
Stephanie Little
Kayani Martin
Debra Morton
Somer Rogers

2021-2022 Spirit of CSN Grant Award Recipients

Cody the Coyote’s Locker

Cody the Coyote’s Locker looks to eliminate a financial barrier by providing basic classroom necessities. Having access to free or loaned school supplies will help students be successful in and out of the classroom. The award will provide support to stock the locker with items such as highlighters, backpacks, and paper.

CSN Community of Practice Projects Designed for Student

The CSN Community of Practice Projects Designed for Student is requesting funding to support the curriculum and program design work to implement a large-scale system to better understand and address students basic needs and success.

First Year Experience (FYE) Connection Award and Scholarship

The First Year Experience Connection Award and Scholarship is going into its second year working to offer new students an intentionally designed connection to community, academic and social engagement. This is an incentive program to encourage students to take advantage of the opportunities available in the first year, while simultaneously helping students connect.

Meaningful Writing Initiative – Rhode, Shapiro, Royer, Powell, Dixon, and Thornberry

The Meaningful Writing Experience (MWE) will operate as a sub-committee of the existing Composition Committee in the English Department. Partnering with FYE and first-year course instructors creates curriculum-based opportunities across disciplines for students to engage with the CSN community and professional leaders/organizations.

Thank you to the 2021-2022 Spirit of CSN Grant Review Team

Lisa De Jesus
Linda Foreman
Kayani Martin
Kirsten Nielsen
Shuntel Owens Rogers
Somer Rogers
Maria Schellhase
Kimiko Walton

2020-2021 Spirit of CSN Grant Award Recipients

Learning by Hands on Research

This project addresses issues of college readiness and economic disparities by providing students with the in-depth and personalized experience working with faculty outside of the classroom in the “Living Laboratory.” While participating in this research immersion, students will be provided the hands-on-experience in environmental investigation.  This experience will provide students with a sense of belonging, connectivity, and a vested interest in the work rather than just the old fashion lecture room that can feel cold, sterile, and impersonal.  This is a tool that is a necessity to succeed in the STEM fields for all students but even more so for underrepresented populations.

Meaningful Writing Initiative – up to 1,200 students

The Meaningful Writing Initiative will operate as a sub-committee of the existing Composition Committee in the English Department. The MWI leaders will partner directly with ALS and other course instructors to implement and assess the project at each key stage below. The MWI will change the student’s perspective on the relevancy of first-year courses to their overall personal, academic, and professional goals, and this will increase engagement and motivation to succeed. The MWI also hopes to impact course completion and persistence rates from first-year to second-year for the students who participate.

First Year Experience (FYE) Connection Award

The inspiration for the FYE Connection Award is to create an official “launch” to the First Year Experience (FYE) for new students at CSN. FYE provides a research-based opportunity for students to engage, academically and socially, with proven success strategies for the first year of college.

Textbook Assistance Program (TAP)

Through TAP, CSN students decrease the cost of attendance through the book loan process. Textbooks are checked out/checked in at the beginning and end of each semester and tracked through the use of the current Resource Mate. This service increases the academic success of students, which will lead to high graduation and transfer rates. Additionally, TAP provides an opportunity for students to connect with Career & Transfer Services and other services provided by the department.

The Collective Project

Our plan is to collaborate with invested and supportive CSN constituents to address the challenge(s) and reason(s) African American students are graduating at a 3% rate. We would like to explore how Academic Advising can assist with the retention, persistence, and completion of this population of students. Many times, academic advisors are the first people students meet. In turn, we set the tone for the institution, so it is imperative that we are equipped to provide the needed support African American students need to navigate the rigor of higher education and ultimately graduate.

Thank you to the 2020-2021 Spirit of CSN Grant Review Team

• Bob Bonora, Chair, Fine Arts
• Barbara Burgess, Administrative Faculty
• Cheryl Feldmeier, Associate CIO, Office of Technology Services
• LaDella Levy, Professor, Political Science
• Lisa De Jesus, AVP, Student Affairs
• Frank Woodbeck, Executive Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
• Marcus Johnson, Dean, School of Business, Hospitality and Public Service
• John Min, Instructor, Social Sciences
• Natalie Nelson, Coordinator, Student Learning
• Terry Norris, Director, Office of ELearning
• Daniel Gutierrez, ASCSN President