Division of Research and Graduate Studies
UGRO • UGRO Grant News
CSU Fresno Major Grants 1999-2000
(Note: key contacts and phone numbers provided) • Campus-Wide Projects
GEAR UP (Ms. Alejandra Juarez, 278-2271)
The Division of Student Affairs was awarded a five-year Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP) to conduct intensive and long-term enrichment training to middle school students. GEAR UP focuses on assisting students at McCabe Junior High School in Mendota. It provides a wide range of support services including after school tutoring and summer programs for these students through middle school and high school. The program focuses on preparing students for college as they graduate from high school. The program assists the same students for a five-year period to document the effectiveness of various support programs for students and their parents. This five-year grant totals $1,858,546. It will serve as a model for successful, long-term strategies to assist all schools, especially rural ones, in meeting the college preparation requirements of its students.
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Agricultural Research Initiative
The California Agriculture Technology Institute (CATI) at Fresno State oversees 37 new research projects funded at $2.3 million by a $5 million state initiative and matching funding from industry partners. This Agricultural Research Initiative (ARI) is designed to bring California’s private industry into partnership with scientific institutions. Fresno State faculty and staff conducting these projects are from across the disciplines including biology, chemistry, food science, viticulture, animal science, plant science and Center for Irrigation Technology. (278-2361)
Intersegmental Coordinated Outreach Program in Agriculture
The College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (CAST) received funding from the USDA for the Intersegmental Coordinated Outreach Program. Dean Dan Bartell (278-2061) recruited Ag Leadership colleague Lonna Torrico from the Fresno Unified School District to assist Dr. Dennis Nef, project director, with efforts to recruit minority students for CAST. During the academic year, Torrico, accompanied by other Ag faculty and staff, visited over 400 high school students, engaging them in exciting hands-on science and technology lessons related to agriculture. Several students were recruited for the ICOP Summer Bridge program. During the weeklong residential program, 15 newly enrolled freshmen Hispanic students attended seminars and workshops and met with Ag faculty and staff who advised them on CAST programs and ag-related careers.
College of Arts and Humanities (contact Dr. Thomas McClanahan/278-0840) "Crossing Academic Borders"
The College of Arts and Humanities was awarded a highly competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to work with Bullard High School teachers on Crossing Academic Borders: The Humanities and New Technologies. Dr. Vida Samiian and Dr. Thomas McClanahan are co-directing the project, which will revolve around three themes: "The Immigrant Experience," "John Steinbeck’s America," and "The Hispanic World." Components include implementation of a new humanities strand into Bullard’s curriculum, lectures by Fresno State humanities scholars, content and technology workshops for teachers and international school partnerships.
Craig School of Business Technology Opportunities Program (contact Amy Chubb/278-6886)
The Craig School’s University Business Center was awarded $480,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) to create Venture City Online. Based on highly successful programs administered by the UBC, the project has three web-based components: to encourage entrepreneurship among high school seniors, to provide online entrepreneurial training for adults and to create a virtual incubator. The TOP grants round received 662 applications for $12.5 million. Dr. Timothy Stearns, the Coleman chair for The Sid Craig School of Business and Amy Chubb, will head the project, working with staff from the Entrepreneurial Resource Center and the Central Valley Business Incubator.
International Business (contacts: Dr. Al Evans/278-3005, Dr. Don Leet/278-4045)
Fresno State was awarded three grants by the U. S. Department of State that reflect the university’s international emphasis. Professors Al Evans and Don Leet provided instruction and hands on experience to two groups -non-profit organization leaders from Russia and business leaders from Belarus. Dr. Barlow DerMugrdechian led a Fresno State faculty exchange with faculty and students from Yerevan State University in Armenia. Professor Bill Mallios also directed a faculty exchange with faculty and students from the International Institute of Labor and Social Relations in Belarus. These three grants, totaling almost a half million dollars and involving over a dozen faculty members, reflect the prestige Fresno State faculty have in the international community.
School of Education and Human Development
The School of Education and Human Development was awarded a three-year grant totaling $1,145,910 from the United States Department of Education to train future teachers to better use technology in the classroom. The grant will bring together clusters of university content area faculty and K-12 teachers to collaborate on restructuring key course in the content areas to infuse technology and strengthen students’ knowledge and skills in effectively implementing technology. Credential program cohorts will be developed to focus on leadership in technology and its incorporation into the classroom. The grant will also expand the Pre-Teacher Assessment Center by developing a new technology-focused teaching simulation. Professors Roy Bohlin (278-0245) and Robin Chicero (278-0362) direct this program titled Teaching And Leading for Educational Needs with Technology (TALENT).
College of Science and Mathematics SCORE (contact: Dr. Shirley Kovacs/278-2389)
Fresno State faculty, under the leadership of Dr. Shirley Kovacs (Biology), will receive more than $5 million over the next four years from the National Institutes of Health to establish SCORE, the Support of Continuous Research Excellence Program. SCORE is designed to enhance faculty and student research. Initial support from NIH will provide funding for program administration and three faculty projects. Dr. Alejandro Calderon-Urrea (Biology) will conduct research on the molecular genetics of programmed cell death in plants. Biology faculty member Dr. James Prince will study phytophthora root and crown rot resistance, one of the most damaging fungal diseases affecting pepper.
Building New Bridges (contact: Dr. Fred Schreiber/278-2410)
Dr. Fred Schreiber, Biology chair, will lead a collaborative effort designed to bridge community college education to a baccalaureate degree from the university. "Bridges to the Baccalaureate Degree" will partner Fresno State with Reedley (Madera and Clovis Centers) and Merced Colleges to increase the number of minority transfer students entering Fresno State as science majors. The program will offer integrated advising, instructional and research elements to students interested in pursuing biomedical careers. The three-year program will receive approximately $485,000 through the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) initiative of the National Institutes of Health.
College of Social Sciences
History/Social Science Content Standards (contact Jacqueline Carr/278-5155 and Susan Harris/278-0356)
The State of California has awarded the College of Social Sciences $134,000 for a one-year grant to help K-12 teachers meet the new California History and Social Science content standards. Raising the Bar: Building Excellence for the New Millennium - Strategies for Meeting the Challenge of the New History/Social Science Content Standards will include a series of workshops for K-12 teachers. These workshops will help them to better understand these standards and learn skills and strategies for incorporating them into their curriculum.