California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
| File:Calpoly seal2.gif | |
| Motto | Discere Faciendo (Latin: "To Learn by Doing") |
|---|---|
| Type | Public Land-Grant University |
| Established | March 8 1901 |
| Endowment | US$186 million (2006)[1] |
| President | Warren J. Baker |
Academic staff | 1,203 |
| Students | 18,475 |
| Undergraduates | 17,488 |
| Postgraduates | 987 |
| Location | , |
| Campus | Suburban, 9,678 acres (39 km²) |
| Colors | Green and Gold |
| Nickname | Mustang |
| Affiliations | California State University Big West Conference Great West Football Conference |
| Mascot | Musty the Mustang |
| Website | www.calpoly.edu |
| File:Calpolylogo.gif | |
| See Cal Poly's quickfacts [2] | |
California Polytechnic State University, commonly called Cal Poly, is a public university located adjacent to San Luis Obispo, California, USA. Cal Poly is part of the 23-campus California State University system, and it is the second largest land-holding university in California.[2] The university offers a full spectrum of degrees from seven colleges, but it is best known for its engineering, agriculture, architecture, business and printing programs. There are over 117,000 living alumni of Cal Poly, and in fall 2006, 17,777 people were enrolled.[3][2]
Cal Poly is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Cal Poly is one of three California State Universities that participate in the Big West Conference. Cal Poly is known for their "learn by doing" philosophy.
History
Overview
Cal Poly was established in 1901 when Governor Henry T. Gage signed the California Polytechnic School Bill. The California Polytechnic School was built adjacent to San Luis Obispo and held its first classes on September 30, 1903, offering secondary (high school) courses of study. The first incoming class was 20 students. The school continued to grow steadily, except during a period from the mid 1910s to the early 1920s when World War I led to drops in enrollment and drastic budget cuts forced fewer class offerings.
In 1924, Cal Poly was placed under the control of the California State Board of Education. In 1933, the Board of Education changed Cal Poly into a two year technical and vocational school. The institution began to offer Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1940, and was renamed the California State Polytechnic College in 1947 to better reflect its higher education offerings. In 1960, control of Cal Poly and all other state colleges was transferred from the State Board of Education to an independent Board of Trustees, which later became the California State University system.
The college was authorized to offer Master of Science degrees in 1967. From 1967 to 1970, the school’s curriculum was reorganized into different units (such as the School of Science and Math, the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the School of Architecture, which was created in 1968). Cal Poly's FM radio station, KCPR, also began as a senior project in 1968. The state legislature changed the school’s official name again in 1971 to California Polytechnic State University. Since the 1970s, the university has seen steady enrollment growth and the construction of many significant buildings on campus. Cal Poly celebrated its centennial in 2001, and kicked off a $225 million fundraising campaign, the largest fund raising effort ever undertaken in CSU history. The Centennial Campaign raised over $264 million dollars from over 81,000 donors, more than tripling the university’s endowment from $43 million to $140 million. Cal Poly’s endowment is in the top 10% of higher education endowments nationwide. Cal Poly was ranked 268 out of 746 colleges and universities ranked in the Chronicle of Higher Education's endowment rankings of 2005.
Relationship with Cal Poly Pomona
Cal Poly Pomona began as a satellite campus of Cal Poly in 1938 when a completely equipped school and farm were donated by Charles Voorhis of Pasadena, California and his son Jerry Voorhis. The satellite campus was initially called the Voorhis Unit. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation then donated a 812 acre (3.3 km²) horse ranch in Pomona, California to Cal Poly in 1949. Located about one mile from the Voorhis campus, the two became known as the Kellogg-Voorhis unit. The Kellogg-Voorhis unit broke off in 1966, becoming the fully independent Cal Poly Pomona University. Since 1949, the San Luis Obispo and Pomona universities have cooperated on creating a float for the Rose Parade. The float program is one of the longest consecutive running self-built entries in the parade, as well as the only "self built" floats designed and constructed entirely by students year-round on both campuses.
Football team plane crash
On October 29, 1960 a chartered plane carrying the Cal Poly football team, hours after a loss to Bowling Green State University, crashed on takeoff at the Toledo Express Airport in Toledo, Ohio. Eighteen of the forty-eight people on board were killed, including sixteen players, the team’s student manager, and a Cal Poly football booster. Cal Poly alumnus John Madden’s fear of flying is commonly attributed to the crash, although he has often said it stems from claustrophobia. Madden, who played football for Cal Poly from 1957-58 and was coaching at the nearby Allan Hancock Junior College at the time of the crash, knew many former teammates aboard the plane. Among the survivors were quarterback Ted Tollner, who went on to become head football coach of the University of Southern California and San Diego State University.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1961, LA County Supervisor Warren Dorn and Bob Hope provided a "Mercy Bowl" in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum between Fresno State and Bowling Green State to raise a memorial fund for the survivors and bereaved families. The event raised about $200,000. As of 2006, memorial plaques for the crash can be found on campus at Mott Gym and the Mustang horse statue. A permanent memorial plaza opened with the new Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The memorial has 18 copper pillars, one for each of the team members who died in the crash. Each copper pillar rises to the height of the player honored, and is adorned with a plaque about that player's life.
Female admissions
Cal Poly opened as a coeducational school, and it had 40 men and 12 women in its incoming class of 1904. However, in 1930, females were barred from the entire school. Female students were again admitted in 1956 (27 years later). The university remains coeducational today.
Organization
As of 2007, the president of Cal Poly is Warren J. Baker who has been the president since 1979.[4]
Cal Poly Corporation
The Cal Poly Corporation is a separate non-profit 501(c) corporation operating in concert with the university. Its primary role is to furnish non-academic services for the university such as eateries, the bookstore, and endowment administration. This arrangement is relatively common at many of California's public universities. The corporation was founded in 1941, and it was known as the Cal Poly Foundation until February 1, 2006.
Campus
Cal Poly owns more land than any other California university with the exception of UC Berkeley. There are 9,678 acres (39 km²) in total. The lands are used for student education, mainly agriculture. The lands include the main campus, two nearby agricultural lands and two properties in Santa Cruz County.
Expansion
The Cal Poly Master Plan calls to increase student population from approximately 17,000 students to 20,000 students by the year 2020-2021. In order to maintain "Learn by Doing" philosophy and low class size classes, the master plan calls for an increase in classrooms, laboratories, and professors.
Current construction
- Bella Montana Faculty/Staff Housing
- Will provide inexpensive housing for future and current Cal Poly Faculty and Staff, in order to promote expansion of Cal Poly Faculty and reduce automobile traffic in Cal Poly. (CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED in August 2007)
- Housing Administration
- Will provide larger building for an expanding housing administration due to the increasing on-campus students. This is due to the construction of Poly Canyon Village apartments. (CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED in September 2007)
- Poly Canyon Village
- The largest single housing project on any campus in America. They are apartments which will double the amount of students living on-campus, lower price of surrounding housing, and decrease automobile traffic in Cal Poly. The project also aims to include retail space and become the "hub" of Cal Poly. This on-campus housing is designed for second year students. First phase of housing will be open in Fall of 2008.
- Engineering/Architecture Renovation and Replacement
- Include a new building which will provide 46,000 square feet of space of classrooms, laboratories, and rooms for student related needs/activities.[5]
Commuting
Campus parking is somewhat limited. In its most recent survey of available parking spaces on campus, the Cal Poly University Police reported 2,615 general purpose parking spaces, 1,635 dorm resident spaces, and 6,621 total spaces.[6] In its facilities Master Plan, the university admits that while more parking spots will be added, the actual ratio of parking to students will decrease since enrollment is expected to increase sharply.[7] To resolve the disparity, the Master Plan calls on the university to reduce the demand for individual vehicle parking. As part of that plan, the university has constructed additional dorms and has tried to make campus life more enjoyable. However, many students would prefer not to live on campus for a variety of reasons, including the campus-wide ban on alcohol and mandatory meal plan. Recently, the school launched a public information campaign called "Options", which seeks to educate students on commuting alternatives, though it is not clear that the campaign has had any effect.
Bicycle racks are available throughout the campus, but the off-campus student population is mostly centered in areas either close enough to walk or areas judged to be too far to ride a bicycle. The city's SLO Transit bus system provides service to and from campus. Since the buses are partially subsidized by student tuition, Cal Poly students can ride for free.
Academics
Colleges
The university currently offers bachelor's and master's degrees in seven colleges:
- College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
- College of Architecture and Environmental Design
- Orfaela College of Business
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Liberal Arts
- College of Science and Mathematics
Ranking
According to U.S. News & World Report's 2008 America's Best Colleges report, Cal Poly is ranked #1 in the Western United States for public schools whose highest degree is a master's. The College of Engineering was also ranked the #1 public undergraduate school (#4 overall) in the nation whose highest degree is a master's. Specific engineering programs were ranked:
- Electrical Engineering: #1
- Computer Engineering: #1
- Mechanical Engineering: #1
- Industrial Engineering: #1
- Aerospace Engineering: #2
- Civil Engineering: #2
In a 2006 poll conducted by the leading architecture and engineering journal DesignIntelligence, Cal Poly was voted the number three architecture school in the nation. The landscape architecture program was ranked in the top ten.[10][11]
Cal Poly’s City and Regional Planning graduate program ranked highly in the Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs.[12]
Admissions
Cal Poly has a highly competitive admissions process. For the fall of 2007, Cal Poly received a record number of applications for the 13th year in a row. They had over 35,000 students apply with only 4,700 spaces available. The average high school GPA of admitted freshmen was 3.80. The average SAT 1 score was 1235 (based on reading and math scores only).[13]
Students are required to declare a major when they apply for admission and each candidate is judged against others applying to that major. Because of this, there are differences in the percentage of students admitted between majors. To prevent students from applying for an easy major and transferring to another major, the transfer process has been made difficult.
Tuition
The fall 2007 tuition for the average student was US$1,563 per quarter.[14]
Endowment
Cal Poly’s endowment more than tripled during its Centennial Campaign from US$43.1 million to US$140.1 million. It is now the largest in the CSU system, representing one-fifth of all endowed funds in the 23-campus system. Growth is attributed to gifts and prudent stewardship.
Student life
Residence halls
There are four styles of residence halls on the Cal Poly campus. The five North Mountain halls are the oldest on campus and were constructed during the 1950s. The Sierra Madre and Yosemite halls were finished by 1968, the six Red Bricks were built in the 1960s, and Cerro Vista was completed in 2003. Construction on a new on-campus apartment complex, Poly Canyon Village, began in 2006.
Each of the residence halls represent a different living community on campus. The six red-brick halls are the Living-Learning Program halls for the different colleges of Cal Poly. The five North Mountain halls are organizationally a part of the engineering Living-Learning Program. The Sierra Madre and Yosemite halls are the First-Year Connection Program halls and focus on freshman-oriented transition programs. All buildings house students of all majors. The Cerro Vista Apartments is the Sophomore Success Program community and helps students transition into independent living. The total on-campus population is 3,600 (as of 2006), but will grow to over 6,300 after the Poly Canyon Village Apartments are completely opened in fall 2009.
Greek life
Since 1949, Greek organizations have been present at Cal Poly. The Greek community consists of three governing councils at Cal Poly: Cultural Greek Council, Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association.
Athletics
Cal Poly fields 20 varsity sports. The school's mascot is the Mustang. Sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I. Cal Poly athletics generally compete in the Big West Conference, with football and wrestling being the exception. Cal Poly's wrestling team is a member of the PAC-10 Conference. Prior to joining Division I in the mid 90's, the school won 35 national championships.[15] Football plays in the Great West Football Conference. Their football team is notable for being the first Great West Football Conference participant in the Division I-AA (now known as FCS) playoffs. The Mustang Maniacs are Cal Poly's spirit group. They support the team both away and at home. The team also plays the University of California, Davis in the annual Horseshoe Classic for the Golden Horseshoe (trophy). The Mustang basketball team had its most successful year in 2007, when the team came within one win in the Big West basketball tournament of getting into the NCAA basketball tournament
Fight Song
Cal Poly Fight Song (a.k.a. Ride High You Mustangs)
Ride High You Mustangs,
Kick the frost out, burn the breeze,
Ride High You Mustangs,
The bow wows we'll knock to their knees
Hi Ki Yi
Ride High You Mustangs
Chin the moon and do it right
Ride High and cut a rusty
Fight! Fight! Fight
See also
- List of California Polytechnic State University alumni
- Alex G. Spanos Stadium
- Center for Coastal Marine Sciences
- Leaning Pine Arboretum
- Mercy Bowl
- Cal Poly Mustang Band
Notes
- ^ "General Endowment Information" (PDF). California Polytechnic State University. 2005.
{{cite web}}: Text "accessdate 2007-01-21" ignored (help) - ^ a b c "Quick Facts". Cal Poly. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
- ^ "Simply the Best". Cal Poly. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
- ^ "Cal Poly President Earns Top CEO Leadership Award". Cal Poly. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- ^ Cal Poly Campus Master Plan Cal Poly Facilities Planning and Capital Projects, July 7, 2007
- ^ Parking Lot Survey Cal Poly University Policy Department, January 20, 2006
- ^ Cal Poly Campus Master Plan Cal Poly Facilities Planning and Capital Projects, March 21, 2001
- ^ "America's Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ "Cal Poly Simply the Best". Cal Poly. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ "Architecture School Ranking". DesignIntelligence. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Cal Poly's Architecture and Landscape Architecture Programs Move Up in National Rankings". Cal Poly. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs". Planetizen. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Cal Poly, the Profile" (PDF). Cal Poly. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ Cal Poly Student Accounts, Fee Payment Policy
- ^ "The Official Website of Cal Poly Athletics". Retrieved 2007-04-07.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help)