B. T.
Yelp
I'm a former CSUN student who "fell through the cracks."
Enrollment was a joke. I'd heard it would be bad, so I walked in with my ideal schedule, plus a couple dozen alternate choices. I walked out with only two classes. I think that's also the time I was stuck in a 7am Freshman Composition class. (I assume enrollment is online now.)
It would have been helpful to have an advisor tell me about "adding" classes, so I could have taken more than two classes my first semester!
The advising center had what seemed like non-tenured instructors putting in required hours. Getting advice on (EVERYTHING & ANYTHING about) college would have been helpful. Instead, I'd get told something different each time I walked in. Once, when I explained that what I was being told contradicted what's printed in the student catalog (and showed him the page), he got annoyed and said, "Well, just do that then." Another time, I had two professor-advisors arguing over what I needed to do.
Seeking help from instructors wasn't much better. Near the end of my first semester, I went to see my Poli Sci (full tenured) professor during office hours with some questions about the upcoming final exam. He was out in the long (Sierra North?) hallway, and said, "Why did you wait until the end of the semester to come see me?" ... then TURNED AND WALKED AWAY FROM ME.
I'd often be late and sometimes even miss class because, no matter how early I arrived, and despite paying for a parking permit, the lots would always be full, and I'd have to find street parking a mile or more away.
When I was finally kicked-out (for taking an Incomplete in a class to rewrite a paper ... while on Academic Probation), I was able to get an administrator on the phone. She found my records, and told me (among other things) that I shouldn't have re-taken Freshman Comp. After the call, I finally found the initial Academic Probation letter I'd received: (1) it stated that I was REQUIRED to retake Freshman Comp, AND (2) it was signed by the administrator who told me over the phone that I should not have retaken it.
After a year, I transferred to a real school, and later went on to graduate from law school.
(If you're reading this and thinking, "You should have done this ..." and "Why didn't you do that ...," then you probably have some good advice I might have benefitted from back when I was a new student there and - understandably - knew nothing about college.)