In an end-of-semester message to Fresno State employees, Provost William Covino praised them for “many successes resulting from the dedication of our faculty, staff and administrators.”

“We are pleased to report that our enrollment planning is on target and positive,” Covino wrote. “With robust spring enrollments, we expect to be at 3 percent above target – annualized for the 2011-12 academic year. Our first-time freshmen and transfer applications for fall 2012 also will be sufficient to allow us to reach the 5 percent above target ceiling that we have been given for 2012-13.”

The result will be “significant additional access to students and tuition fee revenue to help us address our budget shortfall and maintain the quality of our academic programs,” he wrote.

Continuing student enrollment is growing and fall 2012 out-of-state applications are up 29.5 percent and international student applications are up by 36 percent compared to last year at this time.

Covino’s message listed these other achievements:

  • The Gates Foundation, in collaboration with the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, is providing funding and support to make Fresno State’s Biology 10 a national model for course redesign that maintains rigor while increasing student success.
  • The Craig School of Business Accelerated Bachelor’s Program has its second cohort starting in January, which brings additional, much-needed revenue to the school and the university.
  • The Geomatics Engineering Program is completing development of a Photogrammetry Laboratory. “With the assistance of engineering alumnus Stan Lim of Zspace,” wrote Covino, “we are the first university to provide students and faculty with computer technology that produces 3D modeling.”
  • In fall 2011, there was a 9 percent increase in students enrolled in service-learning courses, compared to fall 2010. “Service learning is recognized nationally as a practice that significantly increases retention and graduation rates, prepares students for careers and gives back to the community,” wrote Covino.
  • The Center for Creativity and the Arts was successfully launched in October to an opening reception attended by nearly 200 people, to view its first commission, “Cotton Circles,” by guest artist in residence Margarita Cabrera.
  • The Division of Continuing and Global Education is partnering with Wounded Warriors and Ag Warriors to develop and implement work force opportunities for returning military veterans.
  • With significant donor support, the faculty in the Departments of History and Political Science are developing a Jewish Studies certificate. In addition, a fully online advanced studies certificate in urban and regional planning is making its way through committees.
  • Dr. John Quinto, a graduate of Fresno State’s EdD program, will present findings from his dissertation to Gov. Brown and then to Congress.
  • The Carnegie Project on the education doctorate has chosen Fresno State as the site of its June 2012 national meeting, giving the university an opportunity to showcase its doctoral program.
  • The new Doctorate in Physical Therapy and Doctorate in Nursing Practice have been approved by the Chancellor’s Office and near accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
  • Through the first four months of this fiscal year, income from grants and contracts was 37 percent above the same period last year. In October Fresno State received its first United States patent: Sean Fulop (Linguistics) for “Methods of Identification Using Voice Sound Analysis.”
  • Fresno State continues to provide leadership for the efficient use of water in California and beyond. Dave Zoldoske, Pete Canessa and Sarge Green of the Center for Irrigation Technology published “Agricultural Water Use in California: A 2011 Update.” The report was sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and California Farm Water Coalition. Eight Fresno State researchers contributed three chapters in the recently published “Irrigation, Sixth Edition,” the most comprehensive treatment of irrigation research and technology.
  • Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development will administer funding from the California Public Utilities Commission to help the San Joaquin Valley Regional Broadband Consortium bring broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved communities.
  • This calendar year to date, there have been 1.65 million visits to the Henry Madden Library. Students and other patrons have checked out over 320,000 items from the collection, including 97,000 laptops for student use. Exhibits at the library have brought thousands of people to the campus, especially the Carousel Horses and the Alice in Wonderland exhibits, which, Covino described as “the equal of any museum display.”
  • First- and second-year retention rates for first-time full-time freshmen in the 2009 and 2010 cohorts are well above past years.
  • The Irvine Foundation is devoting $800,000 to Lyles College of Engineering initiatives to improve student success. A match from the Lyles gift doubles the value to $1,600,000.
  • A collaborative group of faculty, working with IT Services, has made great progress in developing the Computational Science Center, which is funded by a grant from the Keck Foundation. It will be operational in spring 2012 and provide new and exciting research and learning opportunities for College of Science and Mathematics and the campus.