Federal Officials Praise CSUSB for Ongoing Work with Underrepresented Students in Select Programs

“This is an amazing campus with amazing students.” That was the reaction of LaDoris “Dot” Harris, assistant secretary and director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, US Department of Energy, after a daylong series of presentations on Cal State San Bernardino’s ongoing work with underrepresented students in entrepreneurship, technology transfer, cyber security and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs. Harris said that in her two years of visits as assistant secretary to colleges and universities around the country to learn about their work in programs serving underrepresented students, none had shown all the expertise that CSUSB has, adding that it is of great importance to President Obama and his administration. “You have hit every cylinder of interest to the president in leading programs in technology transfer, entrepreneurship and STEM,” said Harris, who promised financial support from her department for the programs. She also offered some suggestions to help the university in attaining larger federal grants, including collaborating with other Minority Serving Institutions to seek funding on joint projects and partner with large, research universities that have established track records in securing grants. CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales said the purpose of the meetings with Harris and DOE officials was to talk about the university’s work with students in those critical areas. “We’re eager to share how CSUSB’s ongoing work in these vital programs have helped our students not only in the classroom, but also after they graduate and enter the workforce,” Morales said. “It is also important to show that the communities in our region benefit from these programs through our graduates.” Harris leads the DOE’s efforts to ensure minorities and historically underrepresented communities have an opportunity to participate fully in the OEID’s energy programs. She oversees a corporate funding strategy for minority institutions, develops the current and future departmental workforce, and works closely to develop small business contracting opportunities at the department. The other visitors included: - Tony Baylis, director, Office of Strategic Diversity Programs, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Baylis is the laboratory’s chief diversity officer and primary advocate for diversity, inclusion, and creating a workplace that is hospitable to all employees. - Chris Ford, technical adviser to the DOE director Office of Economic Impact and Diversity. Ford also advises the Energy Economic Development committee of the Minorities in Energy Initiative. - Janice Howroyd, founder, chairman and chief executive officer, ACT-1 Group in Torrance. In 1978, Howroyd opened a temporary employment agency in Los Angeles, which quickly developed into a conglomerate of human resource services and management solutions to Fortune 500 companies. She opened her first branch office in 1981. The company now has offices in 75 U.S. cities with clients that include Ford, Toyota, Cingular Wireless and Sempra Energy. Revenues at Act-1 went from $75 million in 1997 to $483 million in 2002. Her headquarters now employs more than 2,500 people and serves more than 13,000 clients globally. Howroyd is the first African American woman to own a billion-dollar company. The group also toured the campus, with a visit to the university’s Murillo Family Observatory, where they were able to see the sun close-up using a solar telescope, as well as images of various stars. Howroyd, who helped organize the visit, said she wanted to help the university after meeting with Kim Alexander, the university’s senior director for Corporate and Foundation Gifts. "Kim Alexander made me aware of the stellar faculty and diverse student population housed at Cal State San Bernardino,” Howroyd said. “Through meeting with her and President Morales, I have learned so much about the energy surrounding STEM at this school, which not only offers it as a rich environment to tap into solving critical issues in the STEM sector; it also supports strongly the assurance of educating and launching diversity of talent in this space. “Energy is the new frontier. As an entrepreneur -- as well as an ambassador for energy -- I am so excited to work with President Morales to ensure that students, faculty and the surrounding public and private sectors raise the bar on innovation in STEM," Howroyd said. The presentations included discussions with Morales; Provost Andy Bodman; Lawrence Rose, dean of the university’s College of Business and Public Administration; Kirsty Fleming, dean of the College of Natural Sciences; and various faculty members and students from the colleges. Included in the presentations was CSUSB’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship, which works extensively with the Inland Empire business community to provide business counseling and training programs to help aspiring, as well as existing, entrepreneurs. Its programs include the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley Women's Business Center, Inland Empire Small Business Development Center, the Family Business Partnership and student consulting and project teams. Since 2002, IECE has delivered consulting and training services to more than 23,000 individuals and business owners through these programs from community-based locations. In addition, IECE delivers innovative specialty education programs, such as the Integrated Technology Transfer Network, which trains minority science students from across the nation to become technology innovators and entrepreneurial leaders of the future. There was also a presentation on the university’s Cyber Security Center, which earlier this year was designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The center is one of the most diverse programs in the nation, with 50 percent of its students Hispanic and 43 percent female, said center director Tony Coulson. The College of Natural Sciences discussed its commitment to implementing STEM programs for its students and with area K-12 schools. The college’s nine departments provide courses and programs in STEM fields, which play an increasingly important role in society to educate the next generation of scientists and future health professionals, as well as science and math teachers. The university and the College of Natural Sciences is also working with area schools, such as Project Prototype in the Coachella Valley, which works with teachers to prepare students for STEM-related careers, specifically in biomedical engineering. The goal is for the teachers to come away with ideas for projects that will help motivate students interested in careers in science and engineering. Earlier this year, the university participated in the STEM Service Learning Institute, where more than 150 teachers and educators gathered to learn and reinforce concepts to help in their teaching of STEM-related programs from kindergarten through college.