May 12, 2008

It was an especially busy and bountiful semester on the California State University, Fresno campus this fall as a record nearly 22,000 students enrolled and construction of new buildings accelerated even as plans were made for more growth.

The biggest building project is the new Henry Madden Library, which gets a new north wing and a renovated south wing as it expands to become the California State University system’s biggest academic library. When completed in late 2008, the Madden Library will be Fresno State’s largest academic building. It will have doubled its capacity for books to 2 million volumes, added hundreds of study areas, incorporated state-of-the-art technology and increased special-exhibit and public meeting space.

The library became a $105-million project in December when Table Mountain Rancheria announced a $10-million cash gift – largest in the university’s history. The tribe’s generosity will allow enhancements to the library to reflect the region’s physical beauty and American Indian heritage.

The Campaign for Fresno State, the biggest fund-raising effort in university history, gathered momentum with the tribe’s gift and a $1.5 million endowment from Arnold and Dianne Gazarian for a Real Estate Center in the Craig School of Business.

Longtime Fresno State benefactors Bud and Jan Richter agreed to chair the campaign. They immediately began working with potential donors who share the goal of improving Fresno State’s ability to give students and faculty opportunities to meet the many challenges to the central San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

One issue with global resonance is making the best use of decreasing water resources. Fresno State’s International Center for Water Technology has collaborated with the Central Valley Business Incubator to meet that issue head on. In the next few weeks, that partnership will result in the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator opening its doors to innovators who are developing their good ideas into businesses.

Those new businesses will stimulate the region’s economy by adding good-paying jobs and making the area more attractive to other entrepreneurs and to businesses seeking to relocate.

The university is about to unveil to the campus its new Comprehensive Master Plan, a blueprint for a Fresno State campus that is distinctive, attractive and able to meet the needs of projected increased enrollment. The plan envisions improved pedestrian circulation, integration of the academic campus with the university’s agricultural heritage and the flexibility to meet changing needs of the region.

Also in the planning stage is Campus Pointe, a public-project with several educational benefits that will include residential, commercial, office, entertainment and hotel development on 45 acres on the eastern edge of the campus. Plans were announced for a Hyatt Place hotel capable of hosting small conferences and community events to enhance the community’s ability to attract such gatherings. The university is working with the cities of Clovis and Fresno and with other government entities to move the project forward.

To put students and faculty in closer touch with the realities of need throughout the region, the university this fall opened the Social Welfare Evaluation, Research and Training Center. The aim is to develop systems that will best address needs of residents and promote social welfare and social justice.

Sophisticated Fresno State-based research with industry partners produced a breakthrough by harnessing satellite positioning technology, geographic information systems, computers and infrared equipment in winegrape harvesting. In other parts of the Fresno State Agricultural Laboratory this fall, students harvested the university’s first pistachios, bottled the first Fresno State Orchards honey and made dessert wine for the first time from frozen grapes.

Fresno State was among 12 CSU campuses receiving national recognition for community service. The award recognized 6,300 Fresno State students who logged 485,300 hours in organized community service-learning – the equivalent of a $10.4 million donation to the region’s nonprofit organizations. Those numbers do not count volunteer service of university faculty and staff.

Fresno State’s many initiatives in the community recently were recognized with Community Engagement Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Only 76 of the nation’s universities were so honored.

As the fall semester began, President John D. Welty told faculty and staff, “The transformation of Fresno State is happening here and now. Not by accident or coincidence, but by plan and commitment. All of us here have made a great investment in Fresno State’s future. That future is inspiring and challenging.”

And the next chapter of Fresno State’s future begins Jan. 17 with the start of the spring classes. That future holds the promise of new strategies to move the university forward in its role of transformation on campus and throughout the community with its centennial just less than five years away.