California State University, Fresno (USA)

California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) was founded as the Fresno State Normal School in 1911. In 1956, Fresno State moved its campus to its present location in the northeast part of the city. Fresno State College became a charter institution of the California State University System in 1961. In 1972 the name was officially changed to California State University, Fresno. Fresno State enrolls over 20,000 students. Fresno State places strong emphasis on civic engagement, and its vision is to become “California’s premier engaged university, nationally recognized for our teaching, learning, transformational scholarship, and dynamic leadership which engages faculty, students, staff, and community in mutually beneficial and respectful collaboration benefiting the region and society as a whole.” Fresno State’s website>>

Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning

The Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning program promotes the value of community service to students, faculty, and staff.  CESL represents the university in activities that establish service-oriented partnerships with other educational institutions and the community we serve. CECSL is dedicated to engaging the entire campus in creating a better community through service and learning. The CECSL coordinates a variety of programs, including the implementation of Service Learning courses, JUMPSTART Fresno, and Fresno READS. Learn more about the CECSL>>

Service-Learning at Fresno State

One plank of Fresno State’s strategic plan is to “work towards integrating a significant service-learning component into the educational experience of each student.” Fresno State offers over 150 classes per year that utilize service-learning approaches, involving upwards of 4,000 students. The result is that nearly 60,000 hours of community service is provided annually through these courses. Equally important is the fact that student learning and development is enhanced, improving and expanding educational gains. Learn more>>

Fresno READS

As part of the “America Reads” Challenge to mobilize an army of tutors to ensure that every child can read by the end of the 3rd grade, California State University, Fresno has developed the Fresno Reading Enrichment and Academic Development through Service (Fresno READS) project. This project recruits, trains, and places hundreds of students, faculty, sta,ff and general community members as Fresno READS Mentors – reading tutors for children in Kindergarten through third grade. By focusing on the combined efforts of several existing programs and the development of new programs, the Fresno READS project serves to raise the reading and academic abilities of hundredsof children each year in the Central San Joaquin Valley. Learn more>>