California State Universities in Los Angeles County: Fire Response
Los Angeles County is home to five California State Universities: Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge, and Cal Poly Pomona. These universities serve more than 142,000 undergraduate and graduate students and employ nearly 17,500 faculty and staff. Like all other LA entities, the five universities, known collectively as the CSU5, have been affected by the horrific LA firestorms.
At least 200 residences belonging to campus students or employees have been lost or damaged. Many of our students and employees have had their children’s schooling and/or childcare disrupted. Students have reported that their places of work and/or internship sites have been destroyed. Each university has launched programs to support its students and staff.
Some examples of assistance include emergency grants offered to students whose homes were lost; refuge for now-homeless staff and students in student housing; and professional case management to help the families in their applications for aid from the Red Cross, FEMA, and other emergency services. In addition, students and staff have been referred to campus counseling resources, social work departments use their social media platforms to spread information about fire-related resources to affected individuals, and university Basic Needs programs offer food, toiletries, diapers, and other essentials to fire victims.
Faculty members who have lost their homes are granted extensions on annual evaluations and tenure or promotion applications to help alleviate some of their stress. Universities with professional clothing closets welcome affected individuals to pick out free clothing. Additionally, computer labs are available not only for academic work but also for job searches and completing necessary application paperwork.
As LA anchor institutions, the CSU5—in partnership with others—will continue to care for their affected employees and offer services to the community. These include job and resource fairs, professional continuing education certificates for those needing to find new work, low-cost community counseling services, and educational services for K-12 students whose learning opportunities have been disrupted by changes in school sites.
