College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Challenge

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 34.7% of African-American males, 35.8% of American Indian males, 46.7% of Latino males and 49.5% of Pacific Islander males graduate within six years after starting college, compared to 57.7% of white males. 

Solution

The M3 Initiative aims to promote student success among racial/ethnic minority male students at CSUN through increased retention and graduation rates.

The Details

Tier 1: Social marketing campaign (including new M3 website, Instagram account [355 followers], M3 video, M3 poster series, Program activity flyers, articles about M3 in CSUN Today and CSUN Weekly) and storytelling campaign to minority male students in SBS with GPA of 2.59 or below, as identified by Institutional Research (N=561). These were referred to a Student Stress Survey (online). Those who completed the survey were invited to participate in the Coping and Resilience Groups.

Tier 2: Coping and Resilience Focus Groups (N=42), Basketball pick-up games;

Tier 3: One-on-one mentoring (N=21).

Project Lead

Alejandra Acuña, Ph.D., LCSW, PPSC

Original Studies

Acuña, Alejandra. 2017. "Minority Male Mentoring: A Multi-Tiered Model for College Success", presented at the National Symposium on Student Retention, Florida.

Acuña, Alejandra. Manuscript in Progress. "Stories of personal and contextual strengths and barriers to student success among racial/ethnic minority male college students at a public university." 

Acuña, Alejandra. Manuscript in Progress. "Trauma Screening and Support for College Students."