What is FREE?

Overview of the Faculty Research Experience and Expertise system (FREE)

FREE is a searchable electronic database that includes research experience and expertise of faculty at CSULB. The purpose of FREE is to foster research collaborations and partnerships:

• among faculty and with students at CSULB,
• colleagues at other educational institutions,
• industry partners, and
• government agencies. 

Other important service details:

• Faculty changes to Title will undergo a review and approval process. The designated college approver will be responsible for reviewing the request and approving or denying the change. An email message will be sent to the college designee with an alert of the Title change request. Once the college designee reviews and approves or denies the request, the requestor will receive an email alert including the decision status.
• Faculty webpages are automatically indexed and searchable through the Keyword Search upon profile update. However, changes to faculty webpages after inclusion in the FREE faculty profile will not be reflected immediately -- faculty webpages will be re-indexed twice a year (summer and winter).

How do you access the Faculty Research Experience and Expertise system?

1. To Search
   Visit www.csulb.edu/free to search the database
   
   
   1. Perform a search using Keyword Search and/or Last Name, First Name, College/Department (note: these latter fields can be accessed by clicking the + (plus) symbol)
      
      
   2. If records exist meeting your search results criteria, a list will be displayed. To view a faculty profile, click the "View Research Interests" link.
      
      
      
2. To Edit Your Faculty Profile (Two Methods)
   Method 1: Click on the FREE Admin Chiclet in SSO (sso.csulb.edu/) and begin at Step 2 below.
   
   
   Method 2 (Only available if SSO is not):  Visit https://csulb.edu/free/admin to edit a profile
   
   
   1. Log in using your Campus ID login credentials:
      • Username = your campus email address
      • Password = your Campus ID password
   2. Once you successfully log in, you will be presented with your faculty profile.
      
      
   3. If you wish to modify information, click the EDIT link on the top of the page
   4. After completing your changes, make sure to click the Update Profile button on the bottom of the page.

Notes:

• Fields in the shaded top left quadrant of the screen cannot be modified in FREE. To update your first and/or last name, click Preferred Name Change Process for instructions. To update your College, Department, or Telephone information, please contact your Administrative Services Manager (ASM).
• Changes to the Title field will undergo a review and approval process. Your college's designated approver will be responsible for reviewing the request and approving or denying the change. An email message will be sent to the college designee with an alert of your Title change request. Once the college designee reviews and approves or denies the request, you will receive an email alert including the decision status.

Related Article

• College Approver -- Faculty Research Experience and Expertise (FREE)
• FREE Chiclet Assignment

Contact for Help

For further information about the FREE database, please contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at (562) 985-8147 or submit an inquiry at http://www.csulb.edu/office-of-research-and-sponsored-programs/form/contact-the-office-of-research-and-sponsored-programs.

For technical assistance, contact the Technology Help Desk at (562) 985-4959 or helpdesk@csulb.edu. See the Technology Help Desk page for location and hours.