California State University, Fullerton

California State University, Fullerton (CSUF, CSU Fullerton, or Cal State Fullerton) is a public comprehensive university located in Fullerton, CA. With a total enrollment of 37,677, it is the largest in the CSU, the largest comprehensive university in the State of California, and is the second largest university overall (just behind UCLA). At 5,349 students, the university also enrolls the largest graduate student class in the CSU and one of the largest in all of the state. The university offers over 240 degrees including 120 different Bachelor's degrees, 118 types of Master's degrees, 3 Doctoral degrees including a Doctor of Nursing and two Doctor of Education, and 19 teaching credentials.

CSUF is designated both as a Hispanic-serving institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISIs). The university is nationally accredited in art, athletic training, business, chemistry, communications, communicative disorders, computer science, dance, engineering, music, nursing, public administration, public health, social work, teacher education and theater. The University contributes, on average, over $1 billion to the California and local economy, sustaining nearly 9,000 jobs statewide.

CSUF's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Cal State Fullerton Titans. They are members of the Big West Conference.

Founding
In 1957, Cal State Fullerton became the twelfth state college in California to be authorized by the state legislature as a degree-granting institution. The following year, a site was designated for the campus to be established in northeast Fullerton. The property was purchased in 1959. This is the same year that Dr. William B. Langsdorf was appointed as founding president of the school.

The University was originally named Orange County State College. Classes began with 452 students in September 1959. The name of the school was changed to Orange State College in July 1962. In 1964, the name of the school was changed for a second time to California State College at Fullerton. In June 1972, the final name change occurred and the school became California State University, Fullerton.

2000s: Modern growth
The University grew rapidly in the 2000 decade. The Performing Arts Center was built in January 2006, and in the summer of 2008 the newly constructed Steven G. Mihaylo Hall and the new Student Recreation Center opened. In fall 2008, the Performing Arts Center was renamed the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center, in honor of a $5-million pledge made to the University by the trustees of the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Charitable Trust. Since 1963, the curriculum has expanded to include many graduate programs, including multiple doctorate degrees, as well as numerous credential and certificate programs.

Mascot
The choice of the elephant as the University’s mascot, dubbed Tuffy the Titan, dates to the early 1960s when the campus hosted "The First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History." The May 11 event attracted 10,000 spectators, 15 pachyderm entrants, a telegram from Richard M. Nixon, and worldwide news coverage.

Campus
Cal State Fullerton was built on the site of former citrus groves in northeast Fullerton. It is bordered on the east by the 57 Freeway, on the west by State College Boulevard, on the north by Yorba Linda Boulevard, and on the south by Nutwood Avenue.

Although established in the late 1950s, much of the initial construction on campus took place in the late 1960s, under the supervision of noted artist and architect Howard van Heuklyn, who gave the campus a striking, futuristic architecture (buildings like the Pollak Library south, Titan Shops, Humanities, McCarthy Hall). This was in response to the numerous Googie buildings in the Fullerton community. The library houses the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Collection.

The campus is also home to the renowned Fullerton Arboretum, located in the northeast section of the campus. It has gained nationwide fame in recent years for the Arboretum's highly successful efforts in breeding the Titan Arum plant, which the school sponsors in honor of its sports team, the Titans. In 2006, the Arboretum successfully bred four blooming specimens.

The campus has undergone many additions. Since 1993, the campus has added the College Park Building, Steven G. Mihaylo Hall, University Hall, the Titan Student Union, the Student Recreation Center, the Nutwood Parking Structure, the State College Parking Structure, Dan Black Hall, Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center West, Phase II Housing, the Grand Central Art Center, and Pollak Library North. In order generate power for the University and become more sustainable, the campus installed solar panels on top of a number of buildings. The panels generate up to 7-8 percent of the electrical power used daily on campus and are located on top of the Eastside Parking Structure, Clayes Performing Arts Center and the Kinesiology and Health Science Building.

Satellite campus
The University operates a satellite campus located in Irvine, California approximately 20 miles south of the original Fullerton location, the Grand Central Art Center in downtown Orange County (Santa Ana), and a Garden Grove Center.

Planned expansion
CSUF has announced plans in September 2010 to expand into the area south of Nutwood Avenue, to construct a project called CollegeTown, which would integrate the surrounding residential areas and retail spaces into the campus.

Academics
CSU Fullerton is the only campus in California that offers the Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in school nursing.

Cal State Fullerton's academic departments and programs are organized into eight colleges:
 * College of the Arts
 * Steven G. Mihaylo College of Business and Economics
 * College of Communications
 * College of Education
 * College of Engineering and Computer Science
 * College of Health and Human Development
 * College of Humanities and Social Sciences
 * College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Admissions and enrollment
Fall Freshman Statistics

As of the Fall 2013 semester, CSUF is the third most applied to CSU out of all 23 campuses receiving nearly 65,000 applications including over 40,000 for incoming freshman and nearly 23,000 transfer applications, the second highest in the CSU.

Rankings and distinctions

 * The 2009 edition of Princeton Review's "Best 296 Business Schools" publication highlighted the school's Mihaylo College of Business and Economics.
 * The Mihaylo College of Business and Economics is the largest accredited business school in the state of California and the fifth-largest in the United States.
 * The College of Business and Economics is one of five undergraduate business schools in California with an accreditation in accounting.


 * In 2009 at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, both winners of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship represented California State University, Fullerton's Department of Theatre and Dance. Also in 2001, a California State University, Fullerton student was a winning contestant.
 * Fullerton is the largest school in Orange County by student body population.


 * Fullerton was ranked No. 23 among regional universities in the West by U.S. News and World Report in its 2012 rankings which is up from No. 37 the previous year.
 * Fullerton tied at No. 6 for top public regional universities in the West with California State University, Chico and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in the U.S. News and World Report 2012 rankings. This is up from No. 10 the previous year.
 * Fullerton's grad school in Nursing-Anesthesia's Program was ranked No. 22 by U.S. News and World Report in the 2012 ranking.

Athletics
Cal State Fullerton participates in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference. They have 13 national championships in eight different sports. (1970, Women's Basketball (CIAW); 1971, 1972, 1974 Men's Gymnastics; 1971 Cross country team; 1973 Women's Fencing; 1989, Men's Bowling; 1979, Women's Gymnastics; 1979, 1984, 1995, 2004 Baseball; 1986; Softball). Their baseball team is a perennial national powerhouse with four national titles. The CSUF Dance Team holds the most national titles at the school currently, with 11 national titles from UDA Division 1 Jazz; 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012; as well as one national title from UDA in Division 1 Hip Hop. The Dance Team also holds multiple titles from United Spirit Leaders.

Student Recreation Center
In the spring semester of 2008, the Student Recreation Center opened. It is a $40.6-million, two-story, 95000 sqft facility created for recreational purposes. It consists of a 15000 sqft gym, a rock-climbing wall, a multimedia cardio room, indoor track and outdoor pools.

Student life
In 1960, CSUF became Orange County's first college to have a Greek system. Since then, the school has seen many different fraternities and sororities established on campus. In August 2011, the university added a $143-million housing complex, which included five new residence halls, a convenience store and a 565-seat dining hall called the Gastronome.

The Daily Titan, the official newspaper of the university, started in 1960.

Alumni
Cal State Fullerton alumni include an astronaut who has made two trips to space; politicians and Academy Award-winning directors, actors, producers and cinematographers; award-winning journalists, authors and screenwriters; nationally recognized teachers; presidents and CEOs of leading corporations; international opera stars, musicians and Broadway stars; and professional athletes, Olympians, doctors, scientists, researchers and social activists.

Titan alumni number more than 210,000. An active Alumni Association keeps them connected through numerous networking and social events, and also sponsors nationwide chapters.

Campus Shootings

 * On July 12, 1976, Edward Charles Allaway, a campus janitor with paranoid schizophrenia, shot nine people, killing seven, in the University Library (now the Pollak Library) on the Cal State Fullerton campus.
 * On October 13, 1984, Edward Cooperman, a physics professor, was shot and killed by his former student, Minh Van Lam, in McCarthy Hall.