California State University, Fresno
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5241 N. Maple Avenue
Fresno, CA 93740
http://www.csufresno.edu

The University
California State University, Fresno was founded as Fresno State Normal School in 1911, became a teacher's college in 1921, and has offered advanced degrees since 1949. The university's popular nickname is "Fresno State." Our mascot is the Bulldog.

Affiliation
Fresno State is one of the 23 campuses of the California State University, one of the largest systems of higher education in the world.

Accreditation
The university is accredited by the California Board of Education and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It has 26 nationally accredited departmental programs, among the highest number within the CSU system.

Enrollment (2005-06)
The university enrolled more than 20,000 students, and approximately 4,080 students completed work for bachelor's degrees by Commencement 2006.

Faculty
1,250; 96 percent of the tenured faculty hold doctoral or other terminal degrees in their areas of study.

Location
Fresno State's 388-acre main campus and its 1,011-acre University Farm are located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, at the foot of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range. The surrounding San Joaquin Valley is one of the richest agricultural areas in the world, and Fresno is the sixth largest city in California. The university is within an hour's drive of many mountain and lake resorts and within a three- or four-hour drive of both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Academic Schools and Divisions
Agricultural Sciences and Technology; Arts and Humanities; Business; Education and Human Development; Engineering; Health and Human Services; Science and Math; Social Sciences. Graduate Studies; Extended Education.

Academic Calendar
Fall semester: late August through December. Spring semester: mid-January through mid-May. The university also offers shorter sessions in summer.

Vision

Our vision is to be one of the nation’s premier interactive universities, recognized for quality teaching, transformational scholarship, and cultural leadership for the benefit of society.

Priorities

To realize this vision, the university will adopt the following priorities:

Develop an engaged and diverse student learning community with graduates who value lifelong learning, possess a broad general education, communicate effectively, are mathematically literate, appreciate the fine arts, are committed to the principles of tolerance and freedom, and are concerned about the welfare of others and society.
Recruit and retain high quality, diverse faculty, dedicated to teaching, research, creative activity and service, and are recognized for their active involvement in the application of knowledge.
Recruit and retain high quality, diverse staff and administrators dedicated to the support of the academic mission of the university.
Engage in high quality research and creative activity in all disciplines, with particular emphasis on applications that support the region.
Build upon existing academic programs and create new academic programs to help transform and develop the region.
Support and develop high quality graduate programs appropriate to the needs of the region, and achieve the Carnegie classification of "Doctoral/Research University-Intensive" (for Carnegie classification information see www.carnegiefoundation.org).
Play a major role in transforming our region by employing the university’s resources for the solution of problems and improvement of the lives and livelihoods of its citizens.
Establish partnerships and alliances that serve the region and work with educational institutions to improve the commitment, quality, and value of education.
Establish a positive and productive working environment for the entire university community, which values the individual; supports teamwork and cooperation; requires honesty, integrity, and civility; and inspires enthusiasm and pride.
Commit to continuous improvement by planning, implementing, and evaluating new strategies and improving the university’s operational and technological infrastructure to enhance instruction; support scholarship, research, creative activity and service; and facilitate the delivery of support services for students, staff, faculty and alumni/ae.
Search effectively for resources from a wide range of sources to support all members of the university community in their quest for innovation and excellence.
Demonstrate and communicate the quality of the university’s programs, its students, faculty, staff, and alumni and its many and diverse centers of excellence.