Chris Fiorentino, director of the Jan & Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, is program host of KFSR's Fresno State Service In Action
. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. (90.7 FM and streaming via www.kfsr.org).
 
What is the mission of the program?  
Each week we get to tell the stories of the great people - students, faculty, staff and community partners - who help make Fresno State one of the nation’s leaders in learning through service. These are the folks that make possible the over 1 million hours of service Fresno State contributes to the community every year, and their stories are inspiring!

What is the main subject matter of the program?
Community service and service-learning initiatives at Fresno State 


Why are you passionate about the subject matter?
It makes me feel really old saying it, but I've worked in higher education for about 30 years. Add that to my own time as a college student and we are talking about around 35 years being deeply engaged in higher education. In all those years, I've never seen a more profound tool for positively impacting a student's personal, professional, and academic development than engaging them in service. Plus, we all know that our region and the entire world faces lots of challenges. Service is a great way to address those challenges and to improve our world in a substantial way.
 
Examples of topics covered by the program?
Fresno State's commitment to service and the culture of service at the university:

Service-Learning
Fresno State Blood Drives
Camp Kesem and the Make the Magic Fundraiser
International Service-Learning - Fiji
Nutrition 166S (service-learning)
VITA (Volunteers In Tax Assistance) program
Community Service Scholarship Program
Humanics@Fresno State
John D. Welty Award for Excellence in Community Service
Richter Center Student Leaders Program
Spring Into Service Event
Jumpstart Fresno
Faculty Spirit of Service Award Honorees
School of Nursing's Community Health Mobile Unit
International Service-Learning - Tanzania
Alternative Spring Break Program
Service Recognition Reception
Volunteer of the Year Award
Touch the Community Project
Service-Learning Coaches program
Scholars In Service
Food Recovery Network
Friends for Civic Engagement
Every Neighborhood Partnership
ASI Community Revitalization
Service Internships
Lowell Community Development Center - Sociology Department's Efforts to Battle Slum Housing in Fresno
Be The Match
International Service-Learning - Madventurer

Shows that will air before October:
Community Service Opportunities Fairs
Smittcamp Family Honors College Service Project
Construction Management Service-Learning Classes
Greek Organizations and Service

Websites or social media that are associated with the program?
Website: kfsr.org/public-affairspsas/fresno-state-service-in-action
Facebook:  facebook.com/FSServiceInAction

How long has the program been on the air?  
Launched January 2017 
 
What path brought you to KFSR?
The people who are involved in service efforts at Fresno State are some of the best people around! They are happy, hard working, selfless people who are making a huge difference in our community. I just wanted to tell the story about their amazing efforts. KFSR Station Manager Julie Logan had the same idea and when we finally talked about the possibility of such a show, we knew this opportunity was too good to pass up!

 
What do you like most about hosting the program?
Even though I'm the director of the Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning and am familiar with just about all the topics covered by the show, I always learn more about the projects, the people who make them possible, and the impact service has on our students, our faculty and staff, and on our community. It is a lot of fun and I learn a lot!

How do you choose the guests for your program?
Since the university provides over 1 million hours of service to the community each year, and because there are great examples of community service and service-learning all over campus, it is what I would call a "target rich environment." We are just doing the best we can to feature a wide variety of people and projects from all across campus and the larger community. We've done about 33 different shows since we started in January and we are just scratching the surface of all the possible stories we will tell!