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News Briefs CELEBRATING MUSIC: CONCERT UNDER THE STARS Cal State Fullerton hosted its signature fundraising event, Concert Under the Stars on Sept. 21, with more than 3,500 campus and community members enjoying casual, open-air dining, lively musical entertainment and a fireworks spectacular. Gross proceeds of approximately $260,000 in table sales and donations were generated. The program, “I Believe in Music,” featured CSUF’s popular performing group The Preeminents, as well as alumni whose credits include Broadway and national touring productions. Taking the stage for their alma mater were Brooke Aston ’02, Jennifer Hubilla ’02, Emily Mitchell ’00, Erin McNally ’02, Louis Pardo, Kate Peters ’79 and Brad Standley ’05, plus College of the Arts faculty members Eve Himmelheber ’95 and Mitch Hanlon.
TITAN STUDENT UNION EXPANSION APPROVED Cal State Fullerton has been given the green light to proceed with an expansion of the Titan Student Union that will radically change the face of the 37-yearold building. The California State University Board of Trustees approved the $20 million project in September. It will be funded by existing cash reserves from the facility and Associated Students, Inc. “The TSU was built in 1976 to support a student population of 21,500,” said Kurt Borsting, director of Titan student centers. “This project will expand this important University facility – currently 140,000 square feet – and also will include renovation of existing space.” The design phase will take 18 to 24 months. TITAN
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CSUF RATED NO. 4 IN NATION FOR BEST VALUE When it comes to “Best Bang for the Buck,” Cal State Fullerton leads the pack in California and is No. 4 in the nation, according to Washington Monthly. The magazine’s latest set of rankings, published in its September-October 2013 issue, “is based on the economic value students receive per dollar” at the nation’s universities and colleges. Cal State Fullerton is spotlighted in the magazine’s “Standout Best-Bang-forthe-Buck Schools” and lauded for maintaining a “better-than-predicted graduation rate for its students while offering relatively small class sizes (only 10 percent of classes have more than 50 students).” The magazine points to the use of data to track student performance and intervention by deans and academic
advisers as “one key to CSUF’s success.” Among 1,572 institutions ranked elsewhere by the magazine, just 349 landed on the new list and most are public institutions. The top-ranked institution is Amherst College, followed by City University of New York’s Queens College and Baruch College, in the No. 2 and 3 slots, respectively. Cal State Fullerton moves up to No. 3 when ranked among institutions awarding predominantly master’s and bachelor’s degrees. The “2013 Best Bang for the Buck” is described by Washington Monthly as an “exclusive list of the colleges in America that do the best job of helping nonwealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.”