You are in the official 1999-2000 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
President's Message
As we approach the beginning of a new century, California State University, Fresno faces many challenges in continuing to provide quality academic programs to our students. This year we will launch the university's new Smittcamp Family Honors College, a program which combines the best of a small liberal arts college experience with the advantages of a large public university. At Fresno State our number one priority is to continuously enhance the quality of the learning environment that we provide for our students.
The dynamic, changing face of higher education, the advent of the information age, and the increasing global interdependence of nations make it imperative that we find new and better ways to meet the needs of students and prepare them to succeed in the global community. We need to do this while preserving what is most unique and valuable about our history and traditions. This is a challenge well worth the journey.
At Fresno State we have adopted a new plan: "Vision for the 21st Century: A Plan for Excellence," which guides us as we move forward to meet these challenges. Covering the areas of academic programs, students, faculty, facilities and equipment, the university community, staff and administration, advancement, community linkages, and assessment and evaluation, this plan will allow us to serve our students better as we move into the next century. As an institution we are evaluating what we do best and establishing goals for excellence to be implemented over the next five years.
Our plan includes a revised General Education program, a new honors program, new instructional delivery systems, partnerships with all levels of education, greater reliance on non-state sources of support, more efficient use of our facilities, renewal of our commitment to graduate education, and increasing opportunities for learning in our diverse community. During your time at Fresno State you will benefit from many of these changes.
One thing will remain the same, however: the 1999-2000 General Catalog reflects the university's ongoing commitment to academic excellence. That tradition will continue to grow as we actively recruit highly qualified students and begin our new honors program. The university will continue to offer a breadth of study that includes degrees at the bachelor's and master's levels and at the doctoral level in educational leadership. Students from all walks of life, of many ethnicities, of both sexes, and of all economic levels participate in the Fresno State learning experience as they strive to meet the challenges of the new age.
We are all on a journey that may take us beyond the challenges and accomplishments of past generations. California State University, Fresno will continue to serve as a critically important institution in our community and region as we move together into the 21st century.
President John Welty
