Celebrating this year’s achievements in Student Affairs (part 2)

Maxine McDonald Residential Scholars, photos by Marisa Mata

Community connections on campus and beyond

Dedicated to creating supportive communities for students, the division established and expanded programming to foster a sense of belonging for various student groups, welcoming the second cohort of Maxine McDonald Residential Scholars (housed in the Black Student Success Center), opening applications for the first cohort of Bulldog Scholars (housed in the Southeast Asian Student Success Center) and hosting the university’s first Hmong Heritage Education Day.

With first-generation students making up over 88 percent of the university’s student population, the division increased its efforts to support first-generation students – establishing a chapter of Alpha Alpha Alpha, a national first-generation honor society, hosting a week-long First-Generation College Celebration in partnership with FirstGen Forward and creating a Diversity & First-Gen Directory where students can find staff and faculty mentors. 

Through programming within the division, students were also able to travel with their peers to Yosemite National Park, Washington, D.C. and the California Indian Big Time and Social Gathering at Cal Poly Humboldt. 

photo courtesy of Upward Bound Programs

The division also gave back to the local community – staff members served as mentors to students at Clovis Unified School District’s Middle School African American Student Success Conference, and students and staff in the Upward Bound programs hosted a holiday toy drive to support children in the Central Valley, supplying almost 400 toys to children in Fresno and Madera. 

Supporting our students’ holistic well-being

Supporting students holistically is at the heart of Student Affairs. We work to help students meet their most essential needs so that they can focus their attention and energy on personal growth and academic success. 

2024 marked the 50th anniversary of our Student Health and Counseling Center, which partnered with Anthem Blue Cross, Fresno Madera Medical Society and ASI this fall to install a wellness-to-go vending machine in the Resnick Student Union. Students can now access over-the-counter medications, hygiene supplies and harm-reduction kits for free or at a low cost, even outside of the operating hours at the pharmacy within the Student Health and Counseling Center. The vending machine is the first of its kind serving a student population in Fresno County. 

This fall, our Center for Essential Needs secured a $500,000 grant from the CSU Chancellor’s Office to support students’ housing security. Diana Karageozian, lead clinical case manager at the Center for Essential Needs, said, “Homelessness has a devastating impact on a student’s ability to focus on their studies, pursue their aspirations and build a future. This grant will provide critical support to help students find stable housing quickly, so they can stay focused on their education, not on where they will sleep tonight.”

video by Edgar Carrillo

The center also worked closely with Fresno State’s Amendola Family Student Cupboard to ensure students had access to healthy food, distributing nearly 500 meals during national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week in November. 

The Student Cupboard, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this fall, partnered with the division’s communications coordinator, Technology Services and the California Climate Action Corps at Fresno State to launch Bulldog Bites — an opt-in channel on the Fresno State mobile app that notifies students when there is free food available to them on campus. Since its launch in November, Bulldog Bites has seen nearly 600 students opt-in to receive notifications. 

Building blocks for academic, personal and professional success 

With their essential needs met, students are more capable of focusing on their academic success as well as personal and professional development. 

This year our students visited the Learning Center over 27,3000 times, to participate in tutoring, Supplemental Instruction (SI) and Academic Success Coaching. 

Students who attended SI services weekly earned a mean final grade of 3.34 compared to non-SI attendees at 2.35, while Academic Success Coaching services produced an 85% retention rate for first-time freshmen who were placed on academic notice. 

Students showed an increase in utilization of the Career Development Center and its services, with a 21.73% increase in attendance for the Career and Internship Fairs held in the fall, 5.24% increase in visits to the Clothing Closet and 93.7% increase in visits to the Career Café. 

In total, the Career Development Center connected with nearly 7,600 students at Career and Internship Fairs, the Graduate Program Information Fair, Career Fair Prep Carnival, advising appointments and classroom presentations. 

Additionally, the Career Development Center partnered with the US Department of Health and Human Services to offer students career development opportunities in medicine, public health and social services. 

Students regularly took part in activities through the Student Recreation Center throughout 2024. The Student Recreation Center saw:

  • over 133,200 total visits. 
  • over 1,720 attendees for group fitness classes. 
  • over 700 participants for intramural sports. 


The Student Recreation Center also partnered with Fresno State’s Wayfinders program to provide employment opportunities to students with disabilities, as well as Student Involvement and the Student Health and Counseling Center to offer yoga classes throughout the Fall semester. 

Click here to read the third installment of Student Affairs’ 2024 celebration.

by MARISA MATA

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Share your story

Do you have news you would like to share with the community? Let us know! Contact our Communications Coordinator Marisa Mata at 559.278.6560 or marisamata@csufresno.edu to get started!

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