Center for Intercultural Relations
Welcome to the Center for Intercultural Relations (CIR)!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of our CIR programs, events, and services will be virtual for Fall 2020.
Please check our Programs and Events tab, Instagram, and CIR Presence page for more information about upcoming events.
You can also meet with our career and student staff virtually through the CIR Virtual Front Desk.
The CIR is here to support you! Please email us at [email protected] for more information and direct support.
Sincerely,
Paige Hernandez
CIR Director for Student Retention and Success
Created out of student activism in 2003, the Center for Intercultural Relations has historically served as the intersectional space for students with multiply marginalized (Hill Collins 1990) identities at SDSU.
Today, the Center seeks to support the academic, personal, and professional success of historically underrepresented and underserved students at San Diego State University. The Center continues to serve students with multiply marginalized identities through intrusive advising, access to basic needs, and academic success programming.
Vision
By eliminating barriers to academic success the Center for Intercultural Relations is designed to decrease retention and graduation equity gaps for historically underrepresented and underserved students. The CIR fosters an environment where students with multiply marginalized identities can be successful at SDSU and beyond.
Service Areas
- Academic Success
- Intrusive Coaching
- Access to Basic Needs
- Community Wellness
Goals
- Support students’ academic, personal, and professional success.
- Cultivate students’ growth, self-discovery, and self-efficacy skills through academic coaching.
- Remove barriers to academic success by identifying and supporting students’ basic needs.
- Promote health and wellness as a vital part of student success.
- Foster students’ sense of belonging to the Center and the campus community.
Our Values
Academic and Professional Empowerment: The Center supports students in developing a clear vision of their personal goals and degree path. We empower students to define what success means for themselves and support their attainment of these academic, personal, and professional goals.
Cultural Wealth: Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model represents a framework to understand how students of color access and experience college from a strengths-based perspective. Yosso defines six forms of cultural capital: aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistance. The Center seeks to support students in understanding the cultural capital (talents, strengths, and experiences) they bring into their college environment as defined in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model.
Community Wellness: We believe that mental health and wellbeing are an inherent part of student success. We promote a culture of wellness and balance by providing spaces for students to engage in community and self-care.
