The California State University Office of the Chancellor has awarded Stanislaus State $30,000 for use in the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty.

The grant, written by Jason Myers, associate vice president for faculty affairs, Shradha Tibrewal, director of the Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (FCETL) and the President’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion (PCDI), will go toward two programs. 

When Edward Erickson arrived at Stan State, a blackboard hung on the wall in the front of the classroom, and he wrote on it with chalk to teach his students economics.

Now, 50 years later, Blackboard is an online teaching portal he’s using during the global COVID-19 pandemic to continue imparting his knowledge to students.

One thing hasn’t changed, though, for Stan State’s 2020 Outstanding Professor.

“Economics matter. You look at the world today, and you see it does matter,” Erickson said.

Demonstrating pride in serving first-generation students from the region, Stanislaus State announced the inaugural cohort of Stanislaus State President’s Central Valley First-Generation Scholars.

The first recipients are: Jose Aguirre III (Atwater), Melana Cook (Modesto), Harman Kooner (Turlock), Guadalupe Marquez (Atwater), Alexis Martinez (Los Banos) and Nathan Rohani (Turlock). The six recipients represent two counties – Stanislaus and Merced – within the six-county region served by Stan State.