California State University, Dominguez Hills has been awarded a third Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue its efforts to elevate the caliber of math and science teachers in local middle and high schools. This new $800,000 grant serves as a second phase of the university's existing Noyce Scholars Program for undergraduate math and science students interested in teaching, which was funded by the first NSF-Noyce grant in 2008. One other Noyce grant, awarded to the university in 2010, established the CSU Dominguez Hills Master Teacher Fellows, a graduate-level program for current science teachers in Los Angeles Unified School ... Read More
Features
McNair Scholar Gabriel Jones: In his Element in Environmental Research
It would be fair to say Gabriel Jones wants to help save the world. But he's not doing it wearing a cape. The senior majoring in anthropology with a minor in geography at California State University, Dominguez Hills is working toward making positive changes in environmental justice and policy based on research. A lofty goal to be sure, but with the opportunities that being a scholar in the Ronald E. McNair Program at CSU Dominguez Hills provides him, he is well on his way to the education he will need to ensure his ability to attain that goal. Named after the late African-American physicist who perished in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, the post-baccalaureate ... Read More
CSU Trustees’ Award Recipient John Bagnerise: Recapturing a Future Nearly Lost
Just when many 21-year-old undergraduates are about to begin their last academic term, John Bagnerise was starting a much different sort of term–an 18-year-to-life sentence at Folsom State Prison. He spent the next 22 years incarcerated in some the toughest prisons in California for a crime for which he was present, but did not commit. “I had to convince a parole board that I was suitable to be a part of society and could readjust to a world that had become foreign to me,” said the determined 49-year-old. And convince he did, but not before 12 years–when he became eligible for parole–and another decade of pleading his case to parole boards would pass. Now six years out of prison, ... Read More
ASI President Gavin Centeno Centers on Student Engagement
Gavin Centeno believes that student engagement enriches the college experience. As president of Associated Students, Incorporated (ASI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills, he leads the way. And he delivers his message to students every chance he gets. Over the summer, he shared his message of student involvement with incoming Toros during new student orientations (NSO). He recalled that it was through high school advisers and mentors that he learned the value of becoming engaged in college and NSO was an opportunity for him to influence students to do the same. Centeno, a senior majoring in public administration, asserted that being engaged on campus develops habits that ... Read More
Jenny Greer: Volunteerism Started while Student Results in Award
Recent CSU Dominguez Hills alumna Jenny Greer ('13, B.S. geology; environmental science) was honored as Outstanding Volunteer by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC), which since 1988 has successfully preserved 1,600 acres of open space on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The award was presented at the PVPLC's annual Volunteer Appreciation luncheon in July. "I had no idea I was going to be given an award," Greer said. "Cris Sarbia, the stewardship manager, surprised me when he went in front of the crowd and proceeded to explain some of the various projects I had been working on throughout the year. I was embarrassed but thrilled that I was being acknowledged for doing what I ... Read More