Twenty-eight Stanislaus State students — 12 graduate assistants and 16 undergraduate assistants — have been awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 from the University’s Student Engagement in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (SERSCA) Program.
The grants allow the students to work alongside faculty and engage in meaningful activities, such as research, creative projects and professional development. Projects the students are working on cover a wide range, from financial analyses to psychological studies to genetic research on ground squirrels.
Mia Alvarez’s turn on stage during the Stan State music department’s fall performances came on Oct. 25, when Daniel Afonso led the mixed, chamber and jazz choirs in Snider Recital Hall.
That doesn’t mean the junior from Fresno, a choral music education major, wasn’t present for the other department shows.
“You always see music students at these concerts,” Alvarez said. “Every time I come off stage, there’s a music major in the hallway saying, ‘great job.’”
Sometimes, she’s the one offering the congratulations.
For a sixth consecutive year, Stan State’s ongoing commitment to enhancing the lives of its students has been recognized by CollegeNET, which has ranked the University No. 8 in the nation on its Social Mobility Index (SMI).
“It’s not just about recycling,” said Wendy Olmstead, former commercial operations manager at Stanislaus State. “All life is interconnected, which requires us to conduct ourselves through the lens of economic, environmental and social sustainability.”
In a nutshell, that’s Olmstead’s mission as part of her new role as the University’s sustainability coordinator.
“Sustainability is really a concept, so what I’m doing is bringing that concept to life,” she said.
James Octaviano Green likes to use his middle name whenever he can, because it’s the name of his grandfather, and he’s proud of it.
The resident of Hickman, who graduated from Hughson High School, is making his parents proud by pursuing his college education and exceeding their expectations with his eye on graduate school, thanks to the McNair Scholars Program.