As the fall semester kicks off, remember to set aside some additional time for your commute to campus. The first few weeks are always a busier period with students, staff and faculty getting back into the swing of things. Whether you are walking, driving or biking, expect a little extra hustle and bustle on the campus pathways and parking areas. Planning ahead can help ensure you arrive on time and stress-free for your classes or meetings. Avoid additional driving stress and parking fees by choosing one of the many free or highly discounted forms of sustainable transportation at CSUSM. Biking, transit, carpool and vanpool options are available here. Contact our sustainable transportation coordinator at 760-750-7029 or commuterprograms@csusm.edu for more information. Welcome back, Cougars, and have a great start to the semester!

Welcome to the new academic year! We hope you have enjoyed a restorative summer. We look forward to our work together in the year ahead in support students’ academic success. Learning & Tutoring Services for Fall 2024 The learning centers are at the heart of the direct academic support that the Office of Undergraduate Studies (OUGS) provides CSUSM students. Virtual and in-person academic support is available. For a list of specific courses supported, visit our website. We look forward to working with you to ensure that students have access to available academic resources.    STEM Success Center supports courses in these disciplines: Biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics Writing Center: Supports writing in all courses Supplemental Instruction supports courses in these disciplines: Biology, chemistry, economics, physics, psychology and speech-language pathology NetTutor supports courses in these disciplines: Business, economics, finance, history, psychology, political science, philosophy, Spanish, statistics for human development, and statistics for psychology Language for Your Syllabi/Cougar Courses Container Faculty are our most powerful partners in engaging students with academic support resources on our campus. To assist you in directing students to campus academic support resources, we have drafted language to include on your syllabi/Cougar Courses containers. You also may want to provide this link to your students. When do we open to students? Students are welcome to visit Learning & Tutoring Services to see the space or study beginning Aug. 26. Tutoring begins Sept. 3 and is open Mondays through Thursdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Where? The second floor of the Extended Learning Building. The STEM Success Center is in ELB 250. The Writing Center is in ELB 201 for in-person tutoring (see our website for virtual support options).  Do students visit the academic learning centers? Yes. Supported by roughly 120 trained peer educators, the STEM Success Center, Writing Center, Supplemental Instruction (SI) program, and NetTutor supported more than 19,000 student visits during the 2023-24 academic year. This includes an 8.8% increase in unique visits from the 2022-23 academic year.  Thank you, faculty and staff, for directing students to these learning centers and for your key role in recommending students to serve as peer educators in Learning & Tutoring Services. We can support many more students, so please continue to direct them to us. To what effect? Data suggest that students who make at least five visits to a single learning center per semester in support of a specific course tend to earn higher grades. Visiting the learning centers early and often is sage advice. In the words of one of our peer educators, “The more you go, the more you know.”  Friendly Suggestions Add the language to your syllabi and Canvas course containers. Encourage students to stop by LTS during the first week of the semester to get acquainted. They can simply come by to look around. Encourage students to make use of the free tutoring at least once during weeks 1-3. Remind your students that LTS is a safe space to learn. Encourage them to bring a friend with them when they visit LTS. Remind your students that with regular visits to LTS early and often throughout the semester, their learning will be deeper and their GPA likely will be higher.  Feel free to reach out to us with your questions and suggestions. In his role as assistant dean, Adam Petersen supervises Learning & Tutoring Services. You can reach him at apetersen@csusm.edu For Learning & Tutoring Services questions, contact Evan Smith (esmith@csusm.edu), Learning & Tutoring Services director. For Writing Center questions, contact Allison Reyes (ajreyes@csusm.edu), associate director of LTS for writing support. For STEM Success Center questions, contact Paulina Coronado (pcoronado@csusm.edu), associate director of LTS for STEM support. For Supplemental Instruction (SI) questions, contact Alex Picasso (apicasso@csusm.edu), SI coordinator.   We know that the more students believe they belong, the better they do academically. Thank you for all you do to enrich this vibrant learning community. Best wishes for a wonderful fall semester. Dawn M. Formo Dean, Undergraduate Studies Adam Petersen Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies

Please join us on Sept. 26 at noon in the Innovation Hub as HEART lab students in the kinesiology department host a free workshop for women in the community. This workshop will provide information on cardiac risk factors that are specific to females and will be an opportunity for women from the community to gather and have dialogue about heart health. The event will include lecture-style discussion and chances for women to socialize and get scheduled for a simple health screening.  Email Deborah Feairheller at dfeairheller@csusm.edu to add your name to the list.

Researchers in kinesiology are conducting a study on the effectiveness of CBD for endurance exercise performance. Endurance athletes training at least six hours per week and not using cannabis are invited to participate. The study includes free fitness and estimated lactate threshold assessments. You will participate in three visits to our laboratory in the Extended Learning Building over the course of about three weeks. You must be 21-45 years old and in good health. For more information, please contact the lead investigator, Weston Titus, Ph.D. student candidate, at Weston.titus@autuni.ac.nz. The faculty sponsor is Dr. Matt Schubert of the kinesiology department, who can be reached at mschubert@csusm.edu.

Researchers are seeking cannabis users for a study assessing the heart rate and blood pressure responses to smoking legal-market cannabis. You will wear an activity monitor and blood pressure monitor for 24 hours while you smoke cannabis. You will not be provided cannabis for this study. You’ll report to our lab twice to be outfitted for the study and to drop the devices off when the study is over; the total time commitment in the lab will be about one hour. If you are 21-45 years old and have used cannabis at least twice a week for the last year, you are eligible to participate. If you have high blood pressure, use tobacco or take certain medications that impact blood pressure, you are not eligible to participate in this study. If you are unsure, please contact the study team. For more information, please contact Matt Schubert, associate professor of kinesiology, at mschubert@csusm.edu.

Housing move-in days are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 22 (The QUAD and UVA) and Friday, Aug. 23 (North Commons and Block C). We look forward to welcoming more than 1,800 residents to campus. Please mark your calendars to be prepared for high traffic and congestion along North City Drive, East Barham Drive, Campus Way and Campus View Drive.  After unloading, residents will be directed to park in Parking Structure 1 on both days. The first two levels of Parking Structure 2 (behind North Commons) will not be available on Aug. 22-23. Lots N, K, Z, and the parking structures also will be affected.  For anyone attending Faculty and Staff Convocation on Aug. 22, we encourage you to park in alternate lots: General lots B, C, F Faculty/staff lots E, H