Dear Warrior Community and Friends,
Nothing compares to the excitement and energy that the return to fall classes brings to our beautiful campus. Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons because I love the idea of returning to school or to campus to experience the joy of meeting new people and engaging in the love of learning. Welcoming new and returning students to Stan State each fall is always a highlight for me.
I had the opportunity to do so this last week while greeting students who moved into on-campus housing for the new academic year. Our campus community has been working diligently to make sure students feel at home, welcomed and safe and are ready to start the year off with great expectations for success.
As we kicked off our “Weeks of Welcome,” I enjoyed greeting the Class of 2026 at our annual Convocation. In addition, it was great to see many faculty, staff, students and community members at my Fall Welcome Address. We are officially back in significant numbers, in person. We are excited to welcome 9794 students to campus this fall. This includes 1,046 first-year students and 1,309 transfer students. An estimated 88 percent of our students will be taking at least one of their courses on campus. This is a positive indicator that we are reinvigorating what it means to be a truly engaged community of student learners and faculty here at Stan State who, alongside our incredibly dedicated staff, love to interact with, get to know and support our remarkable students.
As a culmination of campus welcome activities, we look forward to inviting prospective students, current students and their families to campus on Oct. 22, for Stan State’s Warrior Expo. This is sure to be an exciting new tradition on our campus to celebrate Warrior Pride.
Rankings and Accomplishments
The 2022-23 academic year is already off to a great start with Stan State ranked highly by several prestigious publications.
- EdSmart ranked Stanislaus State No. 4 among “Best West Coast Colleges” for academic quality, affordability, student satisfaction and post-graduation earnings.
- MONEY Magazine placed Stan State at No. 10 on its list of “Best Colleges in the West” and No. 19 on its list of “Best Colleges in America Ranked by Value.”
- Stanislaus State has been recognized for providing students with exceptional economic mobility and return on investment. Public policy think tank, Third Way ranked Stan State No. 6 on its list of the top ten schools in the nation that offer the most economic mobility.
- The Princeton Review this week named Stan State one of the “Best 388 Colleges for 2023” in the nation for the 17th consecutive year.
- And our School of Nursing has also received notable accolades, being ranked the No. 1 Accelerated BSN program in the nation by EdSmart, and No. 26 on the Nursing Schools Almanac list of the 100 Best Nursing Schools in California!
University Leadership Updates
The start of the academic year often brings leadership transitions. I am excited to share with you several new leaders who have joined Stan State. Rose McAuliffe joined us in July as the vice president for Business and Finance and chief financial officer. Ms. McAuliffe has more than 25 years of experience in finance, higher education, investments and government combined. She comes to us from California State University, Sacramento where she served as the associate vice president for budget, planning and administration and chief budget officer. Prior to Sacramento State, she was the chief of financial planning, policy and budgeting at CalPERS where she managed the system’s multi-billion-dollar budget and financial operations.
Terence Pitre is the new dean of the College of Business Administration. Dr. Pitre joins us from Bowling Green State University where he served as chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems and as the Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Family distinguished endowed professor. His many accomplishments include leadership in college and departmental accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as well as leading his former department and college through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brad Porfilio is our new dean of the College of Education, Kinesiology and Social Work. Dr. Porfilio joins us from our sister campus, San José State University, where he was a tenured professor and director of the Ed.D. in Leadership Program. Prior to this, he was the associate dean of Research and Faculty Affairs at Seattle University.
Bill Potter is serving as the interim dean of the College of Science. Dr. Potter possesses a wealth of institutional knowledge including nearly 13 years as chair of Stan State’s Department of Psychology and Child Development.
Community Outreach
Our plans to increase access, enhance facilities and energize the student experience at our Stockton Campus are evolving.
It was extremely gratifying to receive $54 million to support capital improvements, along with $1 million in recurring funding to expand enrollment at the Stockton Campus by 115 full-time students every year. In addition to five new faculty joining the campus, new and returning Stockton students will see upgrades to facilities that include the student lounge, recreation room and library, new signage, food service similar to offerings in the recently renovated Vasché Library and a soon-to-be-completed food pantry.
This is just the beginning of facility enhancements that are taking place at the Stockton Campus. A Stockton Campus Master Plan will commence this fall. This will include design to update Magnolia Mansion and enhancements to replace the Acacia Court facility.
As we continue to build the Stockton Campus infrastructure, we are also moving forward with community outreach and engagement efforts. We partnered with UC Merced and brought 41 high school students from Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties to our campuses as part of The 1300 Campaign to enroll young men of color at Stan State or UC Merced over the next five years. And, last month, the Black Faculty and Staff Association, Warrior Cross Cultural Center and Admissions and Outreach Services partnered with Victory in Praise Church in Stockton to bring 25 middle and high school students to campus as part of an initiative expanding our outreach with faith-based organizations to connect with students of color. In addition, we established a new partnership with the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP, which is phasing in two schools in Stockton. Classes began Aug. 8, and during the first two weeks of the school year, KIPP held their classes at the Stockton Campus Acacia Court building.
Leading up to the November elections, we are partnering with the Stockton Business Council, San Joaquin Delta College and University of the Pacific this September to sponsor candidate community forums to increase awareness and understanding of the issues impacting our shared communities.
I’m proud of the work we are doing to make our University a place where we all belong, and I look forward to our continued efforts to position students, their families and our alumni for future success.
Water Conservation
If you’ve been to campus recently, you probably noticed the browning of our landscape. This is intentional. With the ongoing drought, our water reclamation system is being modified to help the campus reduce our overall water consumption and to build a more sustainable future. As part of these efforts, we are watering the grass less, strategically watering to preserve our trees and specific program-related areas. Additionally, we are installing more drought-tolerant plants throughout the campus grounds.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting on these updates and accomplishments, I look forward to a year of continued community engagement and collaboration.
You can hear more about the topics above in my Fall Welcome Address. I also encourage you to stay abreast of University events and news by subscribing to Warrior Wire — a monthly electronic newsletter for alumni and the community.
Wishing you great success this fall, and I hope to see you on campus.
Go Warriors!
Ellen Junn, Ph.D.
President