6 minute read
News Briefs
Spring 2020
STAN Magazine is published by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs in the Division of University Advancement at Stanislaus State. President Ellen Junn Vice President for University Advancement Michele Lahti Director of Alumni Engagement Karlha Davies Senior Associate Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Media Relations Rosalee Rush Director for Communications and Creative Services Kristina Stamper (’06) Senior Writer and Content Specialist Brian VanderBeek Content Specialists Tatiana Olivera (’17) Gina Oltman Linda Mumma Solorio Lori Gilbert (’91) Digital Communications Specialist Sara Balisha (’13) Senior Graphic Designer Steve Caballero Senior Web and Electronic Communications Developer Mandeep Khaira (’02) Photographers Tracee Littlepage Justin Souza Stay in touch! Phone: (209) 667-3131 cpa@csustan.edu www.csustan.edu/stan-magazine If you receive more than one copy of STAN Magazine, please pass it along to a friend of Stanislaus State. If you would like to support Stanislaus State, visit www.csustan.edu/giving. Stanislaus State serves a diverse student body of more than 10,000 at two locations in the Central Valley— a beautiful 228-acre campus in Turlock and the Stockton Campus. Widely recognized for dedicated faculty, high-quality academic programs and exceptional value, the University offers more than 100 majors, minors and areas of concentration, along with 15 master’s degree programs, seven credential programs and a doctorate in educational leadership. We are a proud member of the 23-campus California State University system.
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From left to right: Past and present University Student Union Board Chairs Allysa Gonzales, Natalie Dykzeul, Hailey Holm and Jennifer Galeana-Vasquez cutting the ribbon to the new University Student Center alongside ASI & SC Executive Director Cesar Rumayor, President Ellen Junn and Vice President for Student Affairs Christine Erickson.
CONTENTS
04 News Briefs 08 Campus Sustainability 14 Returning to Her Roots 16 University Student Center
20 Changing Lanes 24 Each Day is a Gift 26 Celebrating Excellence 30 The Next Chapter
CareerReadyU GAINS PARTNERS AND GENERATES MOMENTUM
CareerReadyU continues to build momentum throughout the region by fostering formal partnerships between Stanislaus State and regional employers and organizations, with the goal of developing focused learning that will send career-ready graduates into the regional workforce.
As of the start of the spring 2020 semester, the University had completed memorandums of understanding with 18 regional businesses and organizations, pledging to partner with Stan State in the development and execution of this vital program.
The first 18 CareerReadyU Founding Partners Include:
• City of Turlock
Mayor's Office • Turlock Chamber of Commerce • City of Modesto
Mayor's Office • Nathan Dabulewicz
Insurance Agency, LLC (Farmers Insurance) • Price Ford of Turlock • Basic Resources
• Opportunity Stanislaus • Stockton Unified
School District • Greater Stockton
Chamber of Commerce • TID • Modesto Bee • Availability Professional
Staffing • Stanislaus Community
Foundation
• Bixby & Aguiar,
Attorneys at Law • Merced County Human
Services Agency • Turlock Unified
School District • Gallo Center for the Arts • Merced County Office of Education
www.csustan.edu/CareerReadyU
STAN STATE CONTINUES TO EARN NATIONAL ATTENTION
The quality, value and transformative nature of a Stanislaus State education continued to be noticed by national publications in recent months, including MONEY Magazine ranking the University No. 2 among all the nation’s public colleges for being the “most transformative.” In MONEY’s view, there are almost no public colleges in the country better at improving the lives of students than Stan State. In addition, Washington Monthly placed Stan State at No. 1 on its list of the West Coast colleges that offer the most “bang for the buck,” which weighs the quality of education against the cost. Also, Stan State made the Princeton Review’s list of the country’s best 385 colleges, based on the quality of the education offered, for a 14th consecutive year. And Stan State’s Online MBA program was ranked 118th in the nation among all colleges by U.S. News and World Report, a ranking that reflects an improvement of 46 spots over the last two years.
HISTORIC FALL SEASON FOR WARRIOR ATHLETES
The fall 2019 athletics season was the most successful for Stan State Athletics across the board since the University began awarding athletic scholarships in 1998. The men’s cross-country team finished 11th as a team at the NCAA Division II National Championships, the women’s soccer team reached the NCAA
Tournament for the first time since 2014 and the volleyball team reached the conference tournament for the fourth time in five years. Entering the winter sports calendar, the Warriors were ranked a bestever 58th (out of 310 Division II institutions) in the Learfield Director’s Cup Standings, which measure the overall strength of a college’s athletics programs.
View the COVID-19 letter from director of athletics, Terry Donovan, to Stan State student-athletes.
STAN STATE ADVANCES TO SECOND DAY OF COMPETITION IN FIRST MOOT COURT EVENT
In its first venture into American Moot Court Association competition, Stan State had one team reach the Sweet 16 in the Western Regional, held fall 2019 at Fresno State. In all, 36 teams competed, and the tandem of Manroop Chandi and Ana Villegas — one of three Stan State teams to enter the event — reached the round of 16. Unlike mock court, which is a trial simulation, moot
court replicates the style and form of arguing present at the appellate level. All members of the Stan State group took the Criminal Justice Moot Court course, offered for the first time in the fall by M. Blake Wilson, assistant professor of criminal justice. The coursework prepared the students for the two-day competition, in which they argued both sides of a case in front of local attorneys posing as members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In an effort to increase the visibility of its agriculture program and spark interest in STEM studies in the region’s elementary and junior high classrooms, Stan State has entered into a partnership with the National Ag Science Center. At the core of the center is its mobile classroom, which visits every seventhand eighth-grade class in Stanislaus County each year with a variety of hands-on science labs.
“So much of what we do at Stan State has relevance to the agriculture industry — be it in science, computer science, arts, behavioral health, public policy, etc.,” said David Evans, dean of the College of Science at Stan State. “This partnership with the National Ag Science Center will help bring attention to these cross-curricular relationships and will create new opportunities for the University to serve the agriculture community in our region.”
FALL 2019 BUSINESS FORECAST POINTS TO SLOWING OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
All regional and national indicators point to further slowing of economic activity according to the biannual San Joaquin Valley Business Forecast produced by Gökçe Soydemir, the Foster Farms endowed professor of business economics at Stanislaus State. As the report states: “As the longestlasting period of expansion comes to an end, it is important for the business community to begin positioning itself to consider this change in the dynamics of the Valley economy.” Read the report: https://www.csustan.edu/sjvbf
