<\/p>\n
Students walk by a new gateway sign at the entrance to Fresno State at Maple and Shaw avenues.<\/p>\n
CRAIG KOHLRUSS<\/p>\n
Fresno Bee Staff Photo<\/p>\n
The Fresno State Foundation bolstered its board of governors on Tuesday, adding five new members while voting to implement term limits and include appropriate university representation in addressing recommendations<\/a> from a highly-critical advisory review of its governance and operations by the California State University chancellor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The five all have deep ties to the university, or San Joaquin Valley: John Amendola, CEO of Valley Wide Beverage; Ed Dunkel Jr., president of Precision Civil Engineering; Tracy Kashian, senior vice president with Lance-Kashian & Company; Tim Rios, head of strategic relationships and specialized programs for Wells Fargo; and Frank Roque, owner of Panoche Creek Packing.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important to get new board members, to get new ideas, get new energy, new circles of influence,\u201d Foundation board chairman Christopher Morse said. \u201cWe all know different people in town, and the five people that we brought on, though they have some commonality and some crossover, they also hit different industries, different sectors of our community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe only want people who are energized by being part of Fresno State, that it\u2019s meaningful to them. They want to give back to our community, not just Fresno State, but the whole Central Valley and this engine we call Fresno State, which drives the economics of the valley.\u201d<\/p>\n The Foundation was under fire since January, when CSU Audit and Advisory Services released a 32-page report on its review, which was conducted at the request of university president Sa\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez-Sandoval.<\/p>\n The board, led by long-time member and chair Vinci Ricchiuti, fought several of the recommendations<\/a>, including term limits and changes to board composition. But Ricchiuti and four other long-time board members termed out at the end of the fiscal year and were not invited back by Jim\u00e9nez-Sandoval, who was granted that authority in 2022 when the board voted to eliminate term limits that had been only loosely enforced.<\/p>\n