CSU Forward Alignment

How 'Runners Forward Advances CSU Forward

Economic Mobility Engine

CSUB’s designed student experience will connect recruitment, preparation, retention, employment exposure and preparation so students graduate with clear pathways into professional and civic life.

Sustainable Affordability

CSUB’s performance dashboard, workflow redesign and proactive student navigation and communication systems will reduce avoidable friction, delay, duplication and late intervention, all of which positively impact time and cost.

Employer of Choice

CSUB’s collaboration systems, 'integrated action teams' and clearer decision rights will create a more coherent environment for faculty and staff to do effective work.

Statewide Impact

CSUB’s regional and employer integration operating principle will position the university as Kern County’s hub for workforce development, civic life, lifelong alumni development and regional problem-solving.

Student-Centered Experience

CSUB will operate from its Student Achievement Pipeline framework, and employ a student experience listening system to understand student needs and improve the student journey.

Continuous Improvement and Accountability

CSUB’s strategy uses phased implementation, performance indicators, feedback loops and student-experience data to learn, adjust and report progress over time.

System-wide Collaboration and Operational Excellence

CSUB will build an Integrated Operations Leadership Council to support coordination across the campus, cross-unit management routines, data governance and institutional performance systems to make collaboration operational.

CSUB's Role in CSU Forward

CSU Forward calls on the California State University system to strengthen its role as California's engine of economic mobility by becoming more student-centered, more coordinated, more accountable and more responsive to the changing needs of California's communities. CSUB's five-year strategy advances that system-wide direction in the context of Bakersfield and Kern County. This plan translates CSU Forward into campus-level action. Where CSU Forward calls for flexible learning pathways, operational excellence, student success, workforce durability, regional impact and continuous improvement, CSUB's strategy builds the local systems needed to deliver those outcomes: a designed student experience, integrated operations, proactive student navigation, stronger collaboration across campus and durable employer and community partnerships.