To foster new international relationships and offer greater opportunities for their students, Fresno State and the Chapingo Autonomous University of Mexico signed an agreement to establish the exchange of students, professors and research in the areas of agriculture and English.
On Friday, Sept. 18, Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro signed a memorandum of understanding with his Chapingo counterpart, Dr. Jose Sergio Barrales Dominguez, in front of campus officials and media at the Smittcamp Alumni House. Javier Alejandro Ruiz Hinojosa, Chapingo Autonomous University head of academic exchange and international affairs, and Vicente Sánchez Ventura, consul of the Fresno Mexican Consulate, were also part of the ceremony.
Earlier in the day the group attended an agricultural business class, toured the campus and met with Sandra Witte, interim dean of Fresno State’s Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. Chapingo offers one of Mexico’s highest-regarded agriculture and green energy curriculums that includes agricultural economics, agricultural industries, forestry, irrigation and rural sociology courses.
Increasing the global reach of the Jordan College was a key point in the 2014 campus report by the President’s Commission on the Future of Agriculture. The meeting was made possible by the Fresno Mexican Consulate and the Mexico-U.S. Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research created in May 2013 to grow the two nations’ academic exchange.
Fresno State’s campus farm features 20 enterprises that include wine, table and raisin grape vineyards, vegetable and field crops, fruit and nut trees and dairy, beef, pork, poultry, sheep and horticulture units. The Jordan College’s curriculum also includes seven departments and three research centers – the California Water Institute, the Institute for Food and Agriculture and the Viticulture and Enology Research Center.
This week the Fresno State campus begins its National Hispanic Heritage Month celebration with the first of 20 events on Monday, Sept. 21. More information is available athttp://www.fresnostatenews.com/2015/09/hispanic-heritage-month-calendar-now-available/.