Resolution to Support CSUDH Project Rebound

Author (2017-2018): Marquel Reid, Director of Legislative Affairs

WHEREAS,         the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) of the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) Board of Directors is the official governing body of the students of CSUDH; and

WHEREAS,         Associated Students, Inc.  of California State University, Dominguez Hills is the primary advocate for students at CSUDH and is dedicated to providing services designed to create and enhance a learning-focused campus environment; and

WHEREAS,         it is ASI’s mission to serve, engage, empower and inform CSUDH students about issues that affect our student population; and

WHEREAS,         San Francisco State University’s (SFSU) Project Rebound was founded in 1967, with the vision of successfully re-integrating formerly incarcerated individuals into society via higher education, by John Keith Irwin, PhD, and a formerly incarcerated individual who taught for 26 years in the Sociology Department at SFSU; and

WHEREAS,         ten other California State University (CSU) campuses– Sacramento, San Bernardino, Fresno, Bakersfield, Fullerton, San Diego, Pomona, San Marcos, Long Beach, and Los Angeles– are enrolling formerly-incarcerated individuals into the program, assisting students to graduate with baccalaureate degrees, earn advanced academic degrees and become more valuable members of society; and

WHEREAS,         the Project Rebound Regional Team and Jason Bell, Regional Director of Project Rebound, endorse the replication of this program at California State University, Dominguez Hills; and

WHEREAS,         El Camino and Los Angeles community Colleges have both established the Transitions Program for formerly incarcerated students, CSUDH must meet the regional needs of formerly incarcerated students and system impacted individuals by offering transitional admittance into a 4-year university; and

WHEREAS,         a program like Project Rebound will provide all the resources such as mentoring, recruitment, tutoring, retention and academic success necessary to empower our students; and

WHEREAS,          Project Rebound at San Francisco State University’s 2016 year-end report shows that 95% of formerly incarcerated people who pursue higher education do not recidivate. This shows that the program alleviates the problem that leads to high rates of recidivism in ways that are cost effective to the State of California and supportive of the empowerment of formerly incarcerated and system impacted communities; and

WHEREAS,         The Academic Senate California State University at the Office of the Chancellor passed a resolution as of January 26^th 2018 to support the implementation of Project Rebound by urging the Governor of California and the California Legislature to provide funding for Project Rebound by transferring funds from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and

WHEREAS,         according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the State of California allocated 11.3 billion to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 2017-2018¹. The Corrections Department accounts for almost 9% of California’s general funds, while the University of California and the California State University Systems collectively receive 5.2%²; and

WHEREAS,         the U.S. accounts for 5% of the world’s population yet houses more than 20% of the incarcerated population of the world³ costing California State tax payers 7.7% of the State budget⁴; and

WHEREAS,         according to the U.S. Department of Education, congress rendered incarcerated individuals ineligible to receive Pell Grants via a federal crime bill in 1994. In 2015, former President Barack Obama introduced the Second Chance Pell Program that allows incarcerated individuals to apply for student Financial Aid prior to their release in order to take advantage of educational opportunities upon release and pursue a higher education with the goals of gaining employment, supporting their families, and transforming their lives⁵; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED,        that the Associated Students, Inc. at California State University, Dominguez Hills will support the implementation of Project Rebound to help formerly incarcerated and system impacted students transition into the higher education system and succeed in their respective communities; and be it further

RESOLVED,        that the Associated Students, Inc. at California State University, Dominguez Hills will urge its campus partners to provide foundational resources that support this program’s infrastructure to help recruit students and support their success through admission, retention, advising, and graduation; and be it further

RESOLVED,        that the Associated Students, Inc. at California State University, Dominguez Hills   encourage the Academic Senate to endorse Project Rebound as a program to be expanded and replicated throughout the California State University system; and be it further

RESOLVED,        that the Associated Students, Inc. at California State University, Dominguez Hills forwards this resolution to the CSUDH Office of the President, Chancellor Timothy White, the California State Student Association (CSSA), the CSU Board of Trustees, the CSUDH Bulletin, the CSUDH Academic Senate, and all CSUDH Student Organizations; and be it further

RESOLVED,        that the Associated Students, Inc. will urge the Office of the Chancellor to uphold and commit to their Inclusive Excellence initiative as stated in the CSU 2017 Fact Book, The CSU strives to create a welcoming environment for all members of the campus communities. This commitment to “inclusive excellence” is manifested in students who make up the most ethnically, economically and academically diverse student body in the nation reaching higher levels of success than ever as completion rates continue to reach all-time highs. The university continues to invest in strategies to close achievement and opportunity gaps for underserved and low-income students. The CSU is an engine for social mobility as its students earn a high-quality education that propels them into a higher economic strata⁶.

Approved by ASI Board of Directors on May 11, 2018