Sonoma State has lost roughly 1 in 5 candidates in their recruitment process over the past year due to the cost of housing. The employee housing project was created in hopes to provide rental rates that will meet various income levels across campus.

The proposed Snyder Lane expansion project is going in the direction of implementing a traffic signal. This option includes widening Snyder Lane to four lanes north of the middle school, but returns to a two lane configuration south of Crane Creek bridge. The estimated cost of the construction is approximately $2.5 million. 

“At Sonoma State, we are proud that we have improved four-year first-year graduation rates by 5 percentage points in the last two years to 34.8%. Our 2025 goal is 54% so we have more work to do to help more students graduate in four years,” Provost Lisa Vollendorf said.

Serrato was involved in a hazing related death while attending Fresno State in 2012, where one of his pledges died from excessive drinking caused by hazing. Serrato plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hazing and providing alcohol to a minor causing death in 2014.

“Philip Dhanens is always in the back of my mind, he is the driving force behind everything that I do when it comes to working with our students, because the night that he passed away I pledged to him and his family that I would not let his death be in vain.”

In the academic year 2015-2016, Sonoma State had 63 students study abroad for a full academic year and the number has dramatically increased since. In 2016-2017, the number of students grew to 89 students, an increase of 26 students. The growth of the program comes from support of faculty, academic departments, and students’ desire to live and study in a different culture.

Low voter turnout among young adults has been an ongoing issue for many years and college campuses around California are encouraging students to register. One of the ways college campuses are combating this issue is by establishing a competition between all CSUs, UCs, and Community Colleges in California to see which campus can get the most students to register. The competition is called the “California University and College Ballot Bowl.”

“We believe the best system for our campus is the one we have now,” Gullixson said, “Which includes having emergency phone stations strategically located throughout the University, with blue lights and panic buttons, having safety escorts who are available 24/7 and, most of all, having live police officers on patrol throughout the campus.”

Thompson spoke about the student loan crisis and how the average student graduates with $25,000 in student loan debt. Thompson, a member of the blue dog coalition -- a caucus that was formed for fiscal responsibility -- said that congress needs to discover new ways to keep college tuition costs down while increasing government grants. “I think how they are handling the student loan crisis is despicable. It affects our community and our economy,” Thompson said.

Congressman Mike Thompson, from the 5th district of California, will be interviewed by David McCuan, Professor of political science at Sonoma State University, about hot political topics on Sept. 10 in Ballroom A.

After a nationwide search, Sonoma State University President, Judy Sakaki, has named David Dougherty as the new Chief of Police for the university. Dougherty has worked at Sonoma State’s since 2005. “I initially joined University Police Department as an officer for a variety of reasons, including the opportunity to make Sonoma State University a great place for people to work, learn, live, and visit, and to use my role as a police officer to serve the community.”