About CSSI 

For a decade, the CREATE STEM Success Initiative (CSSI) has been a visionary collective effort linking UC San Diego faculty, staff and students and the San Diego education community in a shared effort to support K-20 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education in the region.

STEM skills are more necessary than ever today, and STEM-related jobs will employ many of today’s young San Diegans; but many of our students currently “leak” out of the K-20 education pipeline (kindergarten through graduate school) in STEM.

In the CSSI, we've been exploring with hundreds of partners how our university can leverage its resources to help create local opportunities to learn for students and teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, even as we also spread opportunity in social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

CSSI Mission

Launched in July 2013 by Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, this campus-wide initiative has sought to increase UC San Diego faculty, staff, and student participation in education outreach programs; to design and improve education outreach efforts serving underrepresented students and their teachers; and to provide essential research and evaluation services to colleagues.

Together, we also have sought to increase community awareness of and satisfaction with UC San Diego among educators, students and community groups and to provide additional opportunities for UC San Diego students to engage deeply in service learning and research.

We’ve been designing a sustainable way for any university to support K-20 education in its “backyard.”