Aug. 10, 2021 - First-year and new transfer students enrolled in CSU Channel Islands;(CSUCI) for the Fall 2021 semester will receive the free loan of a brand new iPad Air, Apple Pencil and Apple Smart Keyboard Folio—theirs to use for the duration of their enrollment years.
All new students who register to participate in the initiative will get the bundle, which is part of the largest device distribution program ever conducted by the CSU system. The CSU Chancellor’s Office is launching the pilot program at eight campuses, which together have a total of about 35,000 first-year and new transfer students.
The new program is called California State University Connectivity Contributing to Equity and Student Success or CSUCCESS.
“Distributing cutting-edge technology tools to our first-year students not only builds on our commitment to equity and inclusion, it also serves as a powerful message to new students that we believe in them, we are invested in their success, and we are here to support them,” said CSUCI Interim President Richard Yao, Ph.D.
About 83% of CSUCI students qualify for financial aid, and approximately 62% are the first in their family to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Overall, nearly half of the students who attend one of California’s 23 CSU campuses receive Pell Grants, which help those in financial need.
The return on investment in these students is enormous as CSU graduates join the state and national workforce. For example, each year the CSU prepares more of California’s teachers than any other institution, and approximately four percent of all teachers prepared in the nation. Nursing and healthcare are also areas of focus for the university, with CSU campuses conferring more than 3,000 degrees on new nurses annually.
“CSUCCESS will assure that students have immediate access to innovative, new mobile tools they need to support their learning, particularly when faced with the lingering effects of the pandemic,” said CSU Chancellor Joseph I Castro, Ph.D. “The new initiative will establish a foundation for their achievement and has the potential to play a key role in eliminating stubborn equity gaps among our talented and diverse students. In addition to truly addressing equity and access, we see iPad Air as a powerful tool to prepare our students for their future careers.”
Though CSUCI plans to offer the majority of instruction in person beginning in the Fall 2021 term, some courses will be offered virtually. While mobile devices are increasingly essential for participating in face-to-face learning experiences in the classroom, CSUCCESS will also be helpful by providing students with tools to participate in a virtual learning environment.
The new CSUCCESS initiative builds on previous efforts to address equity and access issues by creating a partnership with a global technology leader at the university-wide level to provide high-quality, reliable devices for new students.
“At Apple, we believe that education is a powerful force for equity and opportunity, and that technology can empower all students to achieve their goals,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s Vice President of Education and Enterprise Marketing. “We’re thrilled that iPad Air and the incredible education apps in the App Store will be central to the experience at CSU campuses across California, and will play a part in the learning and career development of students from Humboldt to San Marcos.”
On Aug. 2, 2021 new CSUCI students received an email with details on how to request an iPad bundle. Students must submit their requests no later than Aug. 20, 2021 and a campus representative will connect with students to schedule a pick-up date and time. CSUCI will distribute devices to new students the week of Aug. 23, 2021. To learn more about the CSUCCESS initiative at CSUCI visit: https://www.csuci.edu/its/csuccess/.