Samantha Bautista, director of the Start Program, serves as president-elect of the California College Personnel Association, the California state chapter of the American College Personnel Association. In this statewide leadership role, she represents higher education professionals dedicated to advancing student affairs, leadership development and equity.

Bautista is beginning a three-year leadership term (2025–28) as president-rlect, president and past president. She helped coordinate the CCPA Fall Institute 2025 and leads planning for the 2026 Fall Institute, which will be hosted at Fresno State for the first time, continuing to provide opportunities for professional growth, collaboration and inclusion across California’s colleges and universities.

Dr. Sharon Benes, professor in the Department of Plant Science, received a $98,835 grant from UC Merced for her project, “Field Monitoring and Soil Salinity Mapping in Support of HYDRUS modeling at the San Joaquin River Improvement Project.”

Dr. Margaret Ellis, associate professor in the Department of Plant Science, received a $20,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for her project, “Acquisition of Goods and Services.”

Dr. Susan Henderson, chair of the Department of Accountancy, was featured in a spotlight interview in the Fall 2025 issue of CBA Update, the newsletter of the California Board of Accountancy.

Dr. Lisa Herzig and Dr. Jamie Levitt, faculty in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, participated with students in a "Food Culture of Ireland" study abroad program during summer 2025.

Over the course of 10 days, participants explored a wide range of topics, including sustainable food services, cheesemaking, farming, fermentation and gut health, fishing, public food and farm markets, smokehouse management, and vegetable and vegan food production and processing.

The group also visited the world-famous Butter Museum and nearby cultural and natural landmarks such as Blarney Castle. They participated in cooking classes at the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School and attended sessions on Ireland’s Great Famine and The European Union’s Healthy Cities program.

The impetus for the trip was for Fresno State students from different food and nutritional sciences backgrounds to come together and learn about Ireland and the EU’s modern and historic background in related topics.