You are in the official 1998-99 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
California State University, Fresno
Accreditation
California State University, Fresno is fully accredited by the California Board of Education and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university is also a member of the Western Association of Graduate Schools, the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States, and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
School, department, or program accreditations, certificated memberships, and accrediting organizations include:
- Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
- Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
- American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business
- American Chemical Society
- American Council for Construction Education
- American Dietetic Association
- American Physical Therapy Association
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
- California Board of Registered Nursing
- California State Department of Health Services
- Commission on Teacher Credentialing
- Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
- Council on Education for Public Health
- Council on Education of the Deaf
- Council on Rehabilitation Education Inc.
- Council on Social Work Education
- Foundation for Interior Design Education Research
- National Accreditation Council for Environmental Health Curricula
- National Association of Industrial Technology
- National Association of Schools of Music
- National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration
- National Association of Schools of Theatre
- National Athletic Trainers Association
- National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council
- National League for Nursing
- National Recreation and Park Association
- State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
The University's Mission
The university offers a high-quality educational opportunity to qualified students at the bachelor's and master's levels, as well as in joint doctoral programs in selected professional areas. To carry out this mission, the university provides a General Education program and other opportunities, to expand students' intellectual horizons, foster lifelong learning, prepare them for further professional study and instill within them an appreciation of cultures other than their own. The university offers undergraduate degrees and programs in the liberal arts and sciences as well as in a variety of professional disciplines emphasizing agriculture, business, engineering and technology, health and human services, and education, preparing students for productive careers and responsible world citizenship. Building upon the strength of these under-graduate programs, graduate programs provide opportunities for personal and career enhancement through advanced study, preparing students for positions of leadership in the arts, sciences and professions.
The university encourages and protects free inquiry and expression, ensuring a forum for the generation, discussion and critical examination of ideas. By emphasizing the primacy of quality teaching and the close interaction between faculty and students, the university seeks to stimulate scholarly inquiry and discourse, inspire creative activity, heighten professional and technical competencies, encourage and support research and its dissemination, and recruit and develop outstanding teacher-scholars/artists.
The university fosters an environment in which students learn to live in a culturally diverse and changing society. Within that environment, it strives to develop a community founded upon mutual respect and shared efforts, in which individuals can communicate openly and work together to enrich the lives of all and to further the growth and excellence of the university. The university seeks and encourages historically under-represented students to embark upon and complete a university education.
The university serves the San Joaquin Valley while interacting with the state, nation and world. California State University, Fresno is a center of intellectual, artistic and professional activity. Through applied research, technical assistance, training and other related public service activities, the university anticipates continuing and expanding partnership and linkages with business, education, industry and government.
California State University, Fresno is the sixth oldest in the California State University system. It began with the establishment of the first junior college in California in 1910 and a state normal school in 1911 which, under a single administration, offered two-year programs in general and vocational training and in teacher preparation.
Between 1911 and 1921 a campus was built on University Avenue, then the northern border of Fresno. In 1921, the combined schools became Fresno State Teachers College, authorized to offer a four-year program and grant the bachelor of arts degree in teaching.
In 1935, by act of the Legislature, the official designation became Fresno State College. A variety of degree programs, in addition to those related to the teaching credential, were authorized at that time. Following World War II, expansion accelerated, both academically and physically. In 1949, the university offered its first master's degree; today, it offers this degree in 39 fields of study.
Between 1953 and 1958 the college was moved from the old campus site, by then surrounded by the city of Fresno, to a 1,410-acre site six miles to the northeast. In 1961, under the newly created California State College system, the administration and control of the state colleges was transferred from the State Board of Education to an independent board, the Trustees of The California State Colleges. By legislative action in 1972, the state college system became The California State University and Colleges, and in 1982 the system was renamed The California State University.
In Fall 1991, the university began offering an interdisciplinary doctoral
degree (Ed.D.) in educational leadership, offered in partnership with the
University of California.
The University
The official seal of the university was designed by artist and California State University, Fresno Professor Emeritus Darwin Musselman, who also created the seal used by the California State University system. The Fresno State seal includes the "lamp of learning" and the "book of knowledge." The Latin inscription "Lvcem accipe vt reddas" translates "Receive the light that you may give it forth." The date 1911 refers to the founding year of the school.
Between 1965 and 1968 an approximation of university organization was accomplished on the Fresno campus, and the transition to official university status in the state system became effective on June 1, 1972. The university is now comprised of the School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, the School of Arts and Humanities, the Sid Craig School of Business, the School of Education and Human Development, the School of Engineering and Computer Science, the School of Health and Human Services, the School of Natural Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, the Division of Extended Education, and the Division of Graduate Studies.
Fresno Normal School, in 1911, had an enrollment of 150 students, most of whom were women. By 1940 enrollment had increased to 2,000 students, and in 1968 enrollment surpassed 10,000. In the fall of 1997, more than 18,000 students registered at California State University, Fresno.
The presidents, in order of tenure:
Charles L. McLane (1911-27)
Frank W. Thomas (1927-48)
Arnold E. Joyal (1948-64)
Frederic W. Ness (1964-69)
Karl L. Falk (Acting) (1969-70)
Norman A. Baxter (1970-80)
Harold H. Haak (1980-91)
John D. Welty (1991- )
