Inclusive Certificate

INCLUSIVE

Description of and requirements to earn these certificates listed below

Fall 2026 Offerings

To register for any of the workshops below please use the INCLUSIVE registration form.

Supporting Graduate Students’ Mental Health
Facilitated by Dr. Adrian A. Rodriguez

• Wednesday, September 9, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)opens in a new window

This workshop explores how faculty can support graduate students' mental health by considering intersectionality, resilience, discrimination, microaggressions, and imposter syndrome. Attendees will develop strategies to broach mental health topics, cultivate empowering academic environments, and promote a culture of well-being and cultural responsiveness in their departments.

The Resilient Faculty: Thriving Without the Superhero Cape
Facilitated by Dr. Jason Branch

• Wednesday, September 16, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)
• opens in a new windowMonMMonday, October 19, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)

Are you wearing the superhero cape but running on empty? This workshop is designed to help faculty prioritize their own well-being while continuing to support their students effectively. Explore practical self-care strategies and learn how to build healthy systems, routines, and boundaries with graduate students. Leave with actionable tools and fresh ideas to foster resilience and sustainability in your academic life.

A Servingness Approach to Increasing Graduate School Intent at an HSI
Facilitated by Dr. Adrian A. Rodriguez

• Thursday, September 17, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)opens in a new window

This workshop reviews research on servingness, community cultural wealth, and Latiné resilience to increase graduate school intent, especially for Latiné and first-generation college students. Participants will explore culturally sustaining practices that introduce graduate experiences, build self-reassurance, reduce academic stress, and strengthen support networks aligned with CSUF’s commitment to servingness. The session blends data-driven insights with interactive discussion and practical strategies to promote belonging and demystify graduate school.

The Nuts and Bolts of Mentoring Graduate Students: Building Relationships, Setting Goals, & Creating Success
Facilitated by Dr. Matt Englar-Carlson

• Tuesday, September 22, 2026 | 1:00pm-2:00pm (Zoom)opens in a new window

Effective mentoring of graduate students of color is not mentoring as usual. It requires culturally responsive attention to the multiple identities and lived experiences of the mentee. This workshop explores evidence-based mentoring practices that focus on nurturing the relationship between mentor and mentee. Cultivating belonging and mattering, addressing overcoming barriers in higher education, and setting reasonable and reachable goals are the building blocks of graduate student success. Attendees will reflect upon their mentoring style, develop practical strategies for communicating with mentees, and gain an understanding of realistic ways to be an effective mentor.

Funding Their Futures: Strategies for Faculty to Support Graduate Student Success
Facilitated by Dr. Matt Englar-Carlson

• Friday, September 25, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)opens in a new window

Graduate school funding and financial support is often a challenging labyrinth for graduate students and faculty. Recent changes in federal loans by the Department of Education makes this even more challenging. This workshop equips faculty with actionable strategies to connect students with scholarships, funding, and travel opportunities—both on campus and beyond. Learn how to identify hidden pockets of support, guide students through the application process, and empower first-generation and underrepresented graduate students to leverage their cultural strengths and talents. Participants will leave with practical tools, fresh ideas, and a roadmap to foster graduate student success in a resourceful and impactful way.

Feeling Seen and Heard: Using Communicative Immediacy to Build Trust Across Difference
Facilitated by Dr. Erika Thomas

• Friday, September 28, 2026 | 2:00pm-3:00pm (Zoom)
• Friday, October 23, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)

This workshop explores how immediacy behaviors, e.g. verbal strategies, accessibility cues, and forms of nonverbal engagement, can counteract uncertainty, distancing, and difference and, instead, foster an environment where mentees of diverse backgrounds feel empowered and connected. Participants will examine and consider how interpersonal and intercultural communication tools can foster trust, navigate misunderstandings, and result in growth and support for mentees (and mentors).

Want to Best Serve Your Graduate Students? Start with Knowing Who They Are
Facilitated by Dr. Volker Janssen

• Thursday, October 6, 2026 | 1:00pm-2:00pm (Zoom)
• Wednesday, October 14, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:30pm (Zoom)

Our campus serves almost 5000 graduate students, but our campus-wide conversations rarely focus on their stories and background. CSUF graduate students are unique, and assumptions about undergraduates rarely translate to graduate student cohorts. This practical workshop draws on CSUF data to illustrates the uniqueness of our graduate students and provide clear insights about how to meet your students where they actually are.

Community-Building to Support First-Generation Graduate Students
Facilitated by Dr. Edson Andrade

• Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 1:00pm-2:00pm (Zoom)
• Monday, November 16, 2026 | 12:00pm-1:00pm (Zoom)

Community is a powerful driver of graduate student success—especially for first-generation students navigating unfamiliar expectations and “hidden curriculum.” In this session, participants will explore concrete, culturally responsive ways to build connection, normalize help-seeking, and create learning and mentoring environments where first-generation graduate students can thrive.

FSSD: Inclusive Teaching Strategies
Facilitated by Shelli Wynants

• Asynchronous, Self-Enrollment

Introduction to three inclusive strategies you can easily implement into any course modality or discipline; you can track equity gaps over time using Faculty Student Success Dashboard (FSSD). This online course can be completed in about one hour!

OER Certificate Program
Facilitated by Claudia Acosta

• Asynchronous, Self-Enrollment

The Open Educational Resources (OER) Certificate Program is an innovative, self-paced online course designed to empower instructors with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate free, high-quality educational materials into their curriculum. This comprehensive program guides faculty through the process of searching, evaluating, and implementing OER, while also covering essential topics such as Copyright, Creative Commons licensing, and Affordable Learning Solutions. Through a series of asynchronous, sequential modules, participants will engage in instructional content, self-reflection exercises, and practical application activities. The course, which takes approximately 3-5 hours to complete, offers a deep dive into adopting, adapting, and creating OER materials, as well as licensing and publishing original work.

• Outcomes: After taking this course, participants will be able to define Open Educational Resources (OER) and explain their uses and benefits for college affordability and student success; distinguish among Copyright, Fair Use, Public Domain, and Creative Commons licenses to apply them appropriately to educational materials; identify and evaluate alternatives to traditional textbooks, with practical guidance for OER adoption; discover, adapt, and accurately attribute OER resources for instructional use; explain how the Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) program supports the shift to free or low-cost materials for students; and assess the impact of OER and AL$ initiatives on educational access, retention, and learning outcomes.

Workshop Flyer

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Certificate Descriptions and Requirements

Introductory

The focus of this certificate is to: help faculty examine their beliefs about human diversity in all of its forms; deepen cultural competency in the classroom and workplace; increase understandings of equity and inclusion; and gain knowledge across the broad range of diversity issues. Through direct engagement and community building, the variety of workshops, faculty learning communities, and trainings for the INCLUSIVE certificate examine issues of diversity and higher education, with a specific focus on concerns at CSUF, as well as how we can work collaboratively to increase retention and achievement at all levels – for students, faculty, and staff. INCLUSIVE offerings encourage participants to explore their own beliefs about diversity, gain knowledge about how diversity, equity, and cultural identity influence higher education, and how the development of cultural empathy can create inclusive classrooms and workplaces as we work together to increase retention.

• Look for workshops tagged INCLUSIVE in the FDC Newsletter emailed out every Thursday. Each inclusive training will provide the amount of credit. Once you have completed 12 INCLUSIVE credits through different workshops, faculty learning communities, and/or trainings, you may submit a list of your courses and complete an online reflection found at INCLUSIVE Reflection.
• To be awarded an INCLUSIVE certificate, your reflection answers must demonstrate substantive reflective thought and provide specific and concrete examples for each question. Courses and the written reflection must be completed and submitted within a two-year timeframe.

Advanced

The Advanced INCLUSIVE certificate demonstrates sustained commitment to diversity and inclusion at CSUF. Meeting the requirements for the Advanced certificate means that you have completed over 25 hours of training on human diversity.

• The focus of this certificate is to: help faculty examine their beliefs about human diversity in all of its forms; deepen cultural competency in the classroom and workplace; increase understandings of equity and inclusion; and gain knowledge across the broad range of diversity issues.
• Through direct engagement and community building, the variety of workshops, faculty learning communities, and trainings for the INCLUSIVE certificate examine issues of diversity and higher education, with a specific focus on concerns at CSUF, as well as how we might work collaboratively to increase retention and achievement at all levels – for students, faculty, and staff.
• INCLUSIVE offerings encourage participants to explore their own beliefs about diversity, gain knowledge about how diversity, equity, and cultural identity influence higher education, and how the development of cultural empathy can create inclusive classrooms and workplaces as we work together to increase retention.
• Look for workshops tagged INCLUSIVE in the FDC Newsletter emailed out every Thursday. Each inclusive training will provide the amount of credit. Once you have completed 25 credits, submit a list of your courses and complete an online reflection found at INCLUSIVE - Advanced Reflection.

To be awarded an ADVANCED INCLUSIVE certificate, your reflection answers must demonstrate substantive reflective thought and provide specific and concrete examples for each question. Courses and the written reflection must be completed and submitted within a two-year timeframe.

Outcomes

• Inclusive programming is designed to foster collaborative understandings and cultivate respect for diversity in teaching and learning, thereby increasing communication across differences in ways that promote the dynamism of a culture of learning
• Inclusive programming is designed to foster collaborative understandings and cultivate respect for diversity in teaching and learning, thereby increasing understanding of the varying funds of knowledge students bring into our classrooms in ways that help develop student agency, achievement, and retention

Eligibility

INCLUSIVE workshops, activities, and resources are open and available to all who are interested in applying and/or participating, regardless of race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, or any other protected status.