downtown fresno blog

Posted by Kim Leonard

I almost gave this post the title of “Dreams really do come true!!!!!!!!!” but I have a strict rule against more than three exclamation points at any given time, and I wanted to keep my poker face a little longer before I blurted out how excited I am about this.

So here it is: DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE! FRESNO STATE HAS A DOWNTOWN PROGRAM AND I CAN’T CONTAIN MY JOY ANY LONGER!!!!!!!!!

Let’s back up a little- last year this story popped up in the Collegian, Fresno State’s student newspaper: “Bitwise to host extension courses in spring 2015”.

So that was really thrilling. I mean, we always, always talk about how much we want to see more collaboration with Fresno State and downtown. And then someone in our office proclaimed, “THERE’S A URL.”

What is it about a web address that suddenly means things are about to get real, real fast? The mere existence of fresnostatedowntown.com rocked our world.

Then we had Fresno State President Joseph Castro as one of our keynote speakers in our annual State of Downtown address, which was a beautifully affirming moment where we knew things were on the right track.

And while our eyes were turned toward Bitwise South Stadium, BAM! Fresno State was infiltrating downtown from another angle and setting up shop over at M Street Arts Complex with their Graduate Art Studios. So that was another hugely encouraging, “Fresno State really does believe in downtown!!!” moment.

Bitwise is still rather under construction and it’s hard to wait. Trust me, I know. Which is why these next few developments I’m going to share actually had me skipping through the office. First, our President and CEO Aaron Blair posted this (and he’s probably reading this like “Kim, why on earth do you screen cap my Facebook again? Fired!”) and I was STOKED.

Like a URL, banners make it real. Banners completely lining the south end of Van Ness until you hit the 41 make it extra-super-special real. Fresno State is all in. They’re really doing this. We’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of their Division of Continuing and Global Education around these parts.

And even though the building isn’t quite ready yet, they’re already starting courses for the program. No, you won’t be sitting in a classroom amidst bulldozers and hardhats (even though that would be awesome)- instead these course will be held at the University, but it’s now or never, folks! Get involved and begin building up your professional toolkit- a course on protecting your intellectual property is coming up on August 5th.

As they prepare to grow and bring the program downtown, they’re looking into what courses people would be interested in taking. Fill out this quick survey to let Fresno State know what you’d like to get from their downtown location. After all, when education is concerned, you’re the consumer. You’re the one who will benefit from these programs, not Fresno State or downtown. (Just kidding, we’re totally gonna benefit from this!)

Aaaaaaand say it with me, in unison now: “Fresno State DOWNTOWN!”

Doesn’t it feel good?