GROW is a CSU System-wide learning and development program designed to support employees who contribute to undergraduate student success. Through role-aligned learning pathways, GROW helps faculty, advisors, and student-success professionals strengthen the knowledge, tools, and practices needed to support today’s students.
GROW provides practical, research-informed professional learning across CSU Fort Collins, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global. The program is designed to meet employees where they are, create shared approaches across the system, and support student-ready practices that can be applied directly in advising, teaching, and student support contexts.
Learning pathways
GROW currently includes two learning pathways. Each pathway includes learning experiences designed for specific employee roles and areas of practice. Participants can engage in the pathway that best aligns with their work and may have opportunities to earn a badge or certificate of completion.
Register via the links in the accordion below.
Instructional Development Pathway
The Instructional Development Pathway supports faculty and instructors who teach undergraduate students across the CSU System. This pathway is designed to strengthen teaching practices that support student learning, belonging, accessibility, and success.
Through a cohort-based learning experience, participants explore strategies for designing inclusive, student-ready learning environments and apply them directly in their courses.
Who this pathway is for
- Faculty and instructors at CSU Fort Collins, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global.
What participants will explore
- Understanding today’s undergraduate students
- Universal Design for Learning
- Asset-based approaches to student engagement
- Accessibility and inclusive course design
- Navigating classroom discourse and conflict
- Applying learning through course design and implementation
Participant experience
Participants engage in synchronous virtual sessions and apply what they learn to their own instructional context. Grounded in evidence-based practices, the pathway is designed to be practical, reflective, and immediately relevant to teaching undergraduate students.
Current participation
The learning and development pathway is a year-long commitment that starts each September and concludes the following May. Applicants are selected each spring for the following cohort.
Registration for the Fall cohort is closed.
Advisor Development Pathway
The Advisor Development Pathway supports academic advisors and advising-adjacent professionals who work with undergraduate students across the CSU System. This pathway provides a shared professional learning experience focused on advising practice, student support, and coordinated approaches to undergraduate success.
Founded on the NACADA core competencies, this pathway was developed to create a sustainable, evidence-based development model for employees who provide academic advising or support advising-related work across all CSU System campuses.
Who this pathway is for
- Academic advisors
- Advising leaders
- Student-success professionals
- Faculty or staff who support undergraduate advising
- Employees whose work connects students to academic planning, persistence, or completion
What participants will explore
- Asset-Based Advising
- Strategic Caseload Management
- Career-Embedded Advising
- Curated relevant electives*
*Participants engage in elective sessions offered across the system. Elective topics rotate and may include content such as online advising, support for student veterans, data literacy, supporting Gen-Z students, and other emerging student-success needs.
Participant experience
Participants build a shared advising foundation while also learning practical tools they can adapt to their campus, student population, and role. The pathway supports both individual professional growth and more coordinated advising practice across the CSU System.
Completion structure
The Advising Development Pathway requires completion of the three (3) core sessions and five (5) elective sessions for completion. Participants who complete the required pathway components may be eligible for a badge or certificate of completion.
Program impact
Why participate in GROW?
- 92% of participants would recommend the sessions.
- 89% of participants reported confidence in applying what they learned.
- 93% of participants rated facilitation highly.
- 97% of participants rated the sessions useful or relevant to their advising work.
- 100% reported confidence in applying what they learned.
For more information or questions, contact:
Dr. Rye B. Vigil
Lead, Student Success Education & System Collaboration
CSU System | SCALED Grant Initiative
Sadie Kinney-McGrath
SCALED Coordinator
CSU System | SCALED Grant Initiative