The global pandemic has affected students at every college, disrupting their lives and forcing some of them to drop out in order to earn money to keep their families intact. And that has driven Tomas Morales, the president of California State University, San Bernadino (CSUSB), which also has a campus in Palm Desert, California, to take concerted actions to assist his students and help them get back on track.
In Morales’ words, “the global pandemic has exacerbated and intensified existing inequities, which CSUSB has been striving to address. Therefore, the primary issues we are grappling with on campus right now come under the heading of COVID-19 impacts.”
Morales, who graduated from SUNY New Paltz and was previously president of the College of Staten Island, was named CSUSB’s president in 2012, so he’s been steering the college for a decade.
Morales leads a college with 16,704 undergraduate students and 1,934 graduate students, where two out of three students (66%) are Hispanic, while 12% are white, 5% African American, 5% Asian, 5% Non-Resident Foreign, 2% Mixed Race, and 3% Unknown.
Many of CSUSB’s students are immigrants or working-class; 81% of them are first-generation college students whose parents did not earn college degrees. And 93% of its students are on financial aid, with the average grant being $8,610. Its three most popular majors are psychology, biology and sociology.
Supporting students through and beyond the pandemic
Morales and his leadership team are focused on helping students rebound from a devastating pandemic. One goal is identifying “what those specific impacts are, what drives those impacts, and then, how we can modify what our university does to mitigate those impacts and help our students succeed,” he said.
Some of the immediate Covid-related impacts included students reducing their course load, leading to more students on probation or simply dropping out or flunking out. A December 2021 student survey revealed that the major factors explaining why students left school were: 1) financial issues related to COVID, 2) COVID status of the student or of a family member, and 3) mental health issues. Currently, CSUSB has six subcommittees aimed at post-pandemic learning, including curriculum, academic support, and connectivity.
Given the damaging effect that the pandemic has had on its students, Morales has targeted several priorities to return the college to normalcy and get more students back on their collegiate track, including: 1) re-engaging and re-enrolling students, 2) expanding credit opportunities with summer/intersession funds, 3) ensuring access to digital degree roadmaps, and 4) eliminating administrative barriers to graduation.
One of the major efforts to ensure its students flourished during the pandemic, was to make sure that they had computer access, noted Morales. “We had an aggressive laptop loan program for anyone who didn’t own their own laptop. We also gave out hundreds of hot spots, a device that connected them to the Internet,” he said. Since the lockdown, about 2,750 laptops have been loaned out to students. In addition, CSUSB also provided special workshops to its professors on how to teach effectively online.
Students can also receive a chatbot, which enables them to ask questions and get answers, as Alexa does. It is currently accessible on several CSUSB websites, including Financial Aid and Scholarships, Technology Support Center, Advising and Admissions. For example, it can notify students when their financial aid applications are due.
Another goal has been helping students meet their basic needs while their lives were disrupted by this pandemic. With assistance from the student government, a new and enlarged Basic Needs Center was just opened on campus. Its free pantry, the Obershaw DEN, underwritten by some donors, has been helping students with food assistance. Students that were unable to reach campus received grocery gift cards and were connected to community resources in their local area.
Promoting diversity, scholarships and innovative programs
Raised in the Bronx, Morales describes himself as “definitely a New York City kid through and through.” Reared in the multicultural metropolis of New York, he has made diversity another key initiative. When he arrived on campus, it “didn’t have any formal chief diversity officer role in place.” Now all faculty is trained in implicit bias.
Morales is dedicated to doing anything he can to help students succeed. “We provide the academic support and advising system to help them,” he said. What does it take to assist them? “It’s the ability to offer courses when they need them, and create a student-centered schedule of classes. We have an incredible faculty that is dedicated to our mission,” he stated.
Morales has also concentrated on building CSUSB’s endowment, which now stands in excess of $60 million, but was at $19 million when he assumed the presidency. Based on receiving about a 4% return on its endowment, that sum of $2 million to $3 million a year provides scholarship grants on campus and supports student travel. “We go out and tell our story and we’re continually raising money,” he stated.
Graduation rates at CSUSB, as in many colleges, could use strengthening. Only 24% of its students graduate within four years, but over half or 57% manage to earn a degree after six years. Morales acknowledged that he’s focused on raising that number, but also noted it was considerably lower when he started. “Many drop out because they have to work and help support their family,” he said.
Morales has also introduced innovative programs that lead to high-earning careers. For example, its Palm Desert campus introduced a hospitality management program, a growing Coachella Valley industry. The parents of many of their students work in hospitality as dishwashers and servers. The graduates of this program will be “the next generation of managers of resorts,” Morales said.
CSUSB has also established an Entrepreneurship major, one of the first in California. Moreover, its cybersecurity program is well respected, and most graduates are receiving two to three job offers.
In addition, CSUSB introduced a summer bridge program called Coyote First STEP, providing learning in English and/or math to strengthen students’ basic skills and study habits.
“The fruits of our labor”: Taking pride in CSUSB’s achievements
When asked about the achievements he’s proudest of in his ten years of stewardship at CSUSB, Morales said, “we’ve developed a culture of giving back. Our students and faculty provide 95,000 volunteering hours in our region, and we’re located in one of the poorest regions of the U.S.,” he said.
He also pointed out that students in honor programs have increased by 600% since he assumed the presidency. Hence, establishing high standards has been another hallmark of his tenure. “We have to provide opportunities for students that help make them well-prepared academically and challenged,” he noted.
Looking into the future, Morales expected the college “would meet our students where they are. That means using all of the tools in our toolkit to be as proactive as possible with them to support them in their academic goals.”
When commencement day arrives, Morales is beaming with pride. Its graduates, on average, bring eight guests to the ceremony, meaning parents, grandparents, siblings, so everyone in the family can celebrate. “That exemplifies the fruits of our labor. That’s why we work hard every day,” noted Morales.
