Walter Buster named director

Supporting educators and honoring the memory of faculty member Silas Bartsch are the reasons Fresno Pacific University created the Bartsch Civic and Character Education Institute.

The institute’s mission is to help elementary, junior-high and high school teachers and administrators set good examples in a changing world. Challenges of society, such as shfting family dynamics and a growing gap between rich and poor, are everyday life for many students. Educators have the potential to reach all children and become positive role models.

A new music group connects the Fresno Pacific University campus and the surrounding community.

The FPU Community Concert Band is open to area musicians at a variety of levels as well as university students, faculty and staff. The amateur ensemble will perform symphonic wind band music in many styles.

Rehearsals begin August 27 and will be from 7-9 p.m. in room 103 of the Marpeck building on the campus. For more information call Wayne Huber, music faculty, at 559-453-2267.

Reports on art and real estate were given to the board of the Fresno Pacific University Foundation during regular meetings June 21.

The foundation entered into new marketing agreements for the university art collections. “We’re optimistic this will open options in national and international art sales,” said Mark Deffenbacher, foundation executive director.

Setting costs and honoring faculty were among the items of business conducted by the Fresno Pacific University Board of Trustees in regular session June 21-22 on campus. 

Tuition for 2003-04 was set at $17,370, up from $16,200 for 2002-03, the upcoming school year. Room rates in 2003-04 will range from $1,065-1,285 and meal plans from $450-1,495 per semester. The average increase of 6.5 percent in room rates was driven by higher utility and insurance costs.

Sunbirds were no strangers to the winner’s circle in 2000-2001, as a record 16 Fresno Pacific University athletes earned 31 awards from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC).

A Fresno Pacific University student is among the winners in the William Saroyan Story Writing Contest.

Elizabeth Renee Goularte received second place in the competition’s college division. Goularte, from Riverside, California, is a senior majoring in psychology. She won a $75 U.S. Savings Bond for her story on unexpected relationships.

Judges reviewed 259 entries in six age groups, ranging from first grade through college. The theme was “Experiences From My Life.”

Giving students a chance to go to college brought honor to an admissions staff member at Fresno Pacific University.

Dina Gonzalez, associate director for college admissions, received the regional service award for the Southwest from the National Association of Christian College Admissions Personnel (NACCAP). The presentation came during the association’s national conference May 21 at Azusa Pacific University.

Harold Haak was sent out with a song as president of Fresno Pacific University.

Honoring Haak’s love of music, university staff wrote new lyrics to “Thanks for the Memory,” which was sung to Haak during the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Dinner May 3. Haak ends his two-year term as president in June, and D. Merrill Ewert will become the university’s 10th president.

The new chief academic officer at Fresno Pacific University has the qualifications to advance the university.

Everything from empathy for family members to the desire for a new look for college motivated four women at Fresno Pacific University to give a part of themselves to help others.

Students Sarah Chapman, Benita Gonzales and Deborah Parrott and staff member Anita Cockrum donated to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the United States who suffer long-term medical hair loss. Cockrum donated 10 inches of hair, Gonzales and Parrott 12 inches each and Chapman 17 inches.