San Diego State University - Imperial Valley (SDSU-IV) provides opportunities for students and their families to improve the health and well-being of our region.
This year, we received support to expand our nursing program and are excited to begin ofering a new degree in public health this fall.
SDSU-IV has students at the front and center of what we do in our teaching, research, and service eforts. Our faculty, staf, and students generate innovative ideas to engage our campus in the community.
Our faculty is doing exciting research on climate change, water, air quality, education, public safety, and youth programs in partnership with our community to fnd solutions to our most pressing needs. SDSU-IV will contribute to the Lithium Valley’s workforce with new degrees in electrical engineering and chemistry supported by classes in our new sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) building.
Philanthropy is signifcant in supporting our students’ success and their basic needs; together, we are working to provide a brighter future for our students and community.
Guillermina Núñez-Mchiri, Ph.D. Dean
San Diego State University - Imperial Valley
the Numbers | Fiscal Year 2023-24
Changing Lives through Philanthropic Support
Carolyn and Clif Colwell Imperial Valley Nursing Fund
The School of Nursing received a signifcant donation to support the accelerated nursing program in Imperial Valley. This donation will help the Imperial Valley School of Nursing with faculty support and development, enhance infrastructure, and provide scholarship opportunities.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy
SDSU Imperial Valley received a signifcant donation to improve on-campus experiences for students, allowing the university to support the 2023-24 LGBTQ Lavender graduation, provide outside sun shades and tables with umbrellas.
Carolyn and Clif Colwell
Living the Aztec Experience
Isabella Harvey, Class of 2024
Class Level: Undergraduate Student
College: Division of Professional Studies - Imperial Valley
Major: Nursing
I am forever grateful to have been a part of the inaugural Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) cohort for SDSU-IV.
I have had a positive and supportive experience during my time with SDSU. I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement from staf, faculty, and peers. When there were times of hardship, they encouraged me to keep working hard and push through.
I plan on staying in the Imperial Valley and being employed by Pioneer’s Memorial Hospital. I had the honor of receiving the Outstanding Student and Overall Academic Achievement Awards. During my time in the SDSU-IV BSN Nursing Program, I received the Michael and Kerri Ann Abatti Endowment Scholarship. I also received a scholarship from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma based on my heritage as a Native American.
I am excited to see the future of this program and hope with everyone’s continued support, we can make the program grow and thrive in Imperial County.
“
I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement from staf, faculty, and peers.
Celebrating Shared Success
Statistics of Interest
SDSU-IV School of Nursing Students:
Pre-licensure BSN students : 40 / Graduating students: 10
New Regional Resiliency Center to support community-university partnerships.
New degree in public health with an environmental health focus aims to help improve the health and well-being of our region with the hiring of four new faculty members through the SDSU FUERTE (Faculty Unifed towards Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement) initiative.
Faculty working on heat studies and climate change, like Dr. Linda Abarbanell, through interdisciplinary research eforts.
We have faculty who engage in binational and global research eforts to support the health and educational needs of our students.
Proud to have hosted three years of the Building Bridges Graduation Initiative, which helps our transnational students share their educational success with their families in Mexicali.
Helping to Build a Brighter Future
Achievements:
Jeanette Shumaker, Ph.D.
Title: Professor, English Department
College: Division of Arts and Sciences - Imperial Valley
Co-Authored, Peer-reviewed Books with William Baker as First Author:
- Bernard Kops. Fairleigh Dickinson UP (forthcoming).
- The Literature of the Fox: A Guide to Anglo-Jewish Writers. AMS Press (forthcoming).
- Leonard Merrick: A Novelist’s Novelist, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2009.
Sole-Authored Essays in Peer-Reviewed Journals:
“Questioning the Paddy Stereotype in Edna O’Brien’s ‘Shovel Kings.’” Journal of the Short Story in English (forthcoming).
“Deathly Conformity of Irish Women: Novels by Mary O’Donnell and Susan Knight.” South Carolina Review 45.2 (2013): 16-24.
"Irish Sado-Masochism in Clare Boylan’s Home Rule and Holy Pictures" Estudios Irlandeses Vol. 6 (2011). (www.estudiosirlandeses.org).
Divided Allegiances and Female Friendships in Short Stories by Maeve Kelly and Rita Kelly.” Short Story 18.2 (2010) 80-88.
“Edna O’Brien’s 1990s Trilogy” in North Dakota Quarterly 76.3 (2009): 14-38.
Dean Núñez-Mchiri shares, "This year, I have had the pleasure of working with our faculty. Dr. Jeanette Schumaker and her students applied for a grant to promote the love of reading and writing and hosted LitDay in the fall and spring semesters. It was a joy to meet local and award winning authors who visited with our students to promote their craft. Our faculty are pursuing grants, mentoring students to become the next generation of scholars, and preparing future educators, nurses, public health specialists, law enforcement ofcers, and leaders."
Faculty Achievements
Achievements:
Vannessa Falcón Orta, Ph.D
Title: Assistant Professor, IVC - School of Teacher Education
College: Division of Education - Imperial Valley
Dr. Vannessa Falcón Orta won the 2023 SDSU Outstanding Transborder Educator Award and 2023-2024 SDSU-IV AS Outstanding Faculty Award.
"This year I also launched the paid undergraduate research program titled, Transborder Scholar Program, funded by the SDSU Undergraduate Research Program. I'm looking forward to connecting in Oaxaca.
Un fuerte abrazo."
- Dr. Falcón Orta
I'm looking forward to connecting in Oaxaca.
STEM Building
SDSU broke ground in February 2024 on the Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, CA.
The new state-of-the-art building, set to open in Fall 2025, will house a STEM Innovation Hub for students and faculty to collaborate, while also incorporating a design that speaks to the culture and identity of the surrounding Imperial Valley community. The 37,000-square-foot space is also designed with fexibility to support future programs and add instructional capacity to SDSU Imperial Valley. Programs will deliver skilled, highly educated professionals who are ready to dive into the local workforce, empowering the Imperial County community.
Aligned with Imperial County’s Lithium Valley initiative, this new hub is one part of the university's commitment to meeting both current and future geothermal energy sector demands.
STEM Building
Guillermina Gina Nuñez-Mchiri (left) was joined by elected ofcials, partners and community members for the groundbreaking ceremony of the SDSU Imperial Valley Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, Calif. (La Monica Everett-Haynes/SDSU)
Providing Resources for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Aztecs
Endowments (Active)
Alejandro and Florencia Nogales Endowment
Alpha Omicron, Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma
International Endowed Scholarship
Anheuser-Busch Companies Endowed Scholarship
Brawley Campus Endowment
David Ballesteros Endowed Scholarship
Douglas and Barbara Patiño Endowed Scholarship
Enrique Camarena Memorial Endowment
Ethan A. Singer Endowed Scholarship
Francis and Edna Rae Frye Endowed Scholarship
Good Sport Howie Endowment
Herschel Hudson Endowment
Imperial Valley Campus Dean’s Special Projects Endowment
