Over 80% of engineering students believe year-round operations will harm Cal Poly, according to a survey of engineering students from the Engineering Student Council.
One anonymous electrical engineer responder said, “I will leave Cal Poly if this is implemented.”
The council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the concerns students shared, drawing around 25 students. The meeting was only scheduled to take one hour, but it ended up lasting nearly double that, and only ended because the room needed to be locked.
Students’ top two concerns were regarding internships and club activities. Students fear that students will miss out on internship opportunities if they have to attend Cal Poly over the summer. Freshman ambassador for Engineering student Council Kyle Morgan rhetorically asked, “How am I getting a summer internship if I don’t have a summer?”
Engineering club leaders also shared concerns regarding their operations. Most engineering clubs revolve around a big, annual competition. This conflicts with year-round operations because a portion of the club’s members wouldn’t be present during their competition and clubs won’t have their leadership for one out of the school’s three semesters. This is an especially big issue for engineering clubs that require key contributors to build their club’s project, such as Racing Club’s car.
Students shared many other concerns including: the lack of AC in buildings for the summer semester, students’ social lives being disrupted due to summer quarter being smaller or friends having different semesters off and off-campus housing leases.
College of Engineering Interim Dean Robert Crockett was present at the meeting, and did his best to answer questions from students, all though that was not the original plan for the meeting. He described the development of year-round operations as “writing the rules as we go along.” He also mentioned a “lack of communication” with Cal Poly administration due to a lack of mandates.
He later clarified this statement in an emailed response saying, “There has been lots of communication between upper administration and the colleges.”
He also explained that he views the lack of mandates as a positive.
“Cal Poly does not see implementing YRO as a one-size-fits-all solution, and CENG really does have an opportunity to maintain the best of what we already do while creating additional opportunities that take advantage of the YRO format,” Crockett wrote in the email.
Crockett did try his best to address student concerns by offering potential solutions, although none that were set in stone. Some potential solutions he offered include: student co-op programs, study abroad programs, and ‘study abroad at the hangar.’
Students expressed doubt regarding the viability of these programs. Dartmouth was offered as an example of a school with successful year-round operations, although it was pointed out that they have a student population of about 6,700 students total, and only 4,500 undergraduate students. To emphasize the massive amount of infrastructure needed to support this, President of Cal Poly Racing Riya Mehta asked, “where are they going to get 2,000 co-ops?”
Regarding any on-campus programs, such as ‘study abroad at the hangar,’ Mehta noted that they would require more space and faculty than currently available. On top of that, multiple students did not seem enthused by the idea of spending their semester off working at Cal Poly.
Engineering Student Council Co-President Lakshana Viswa said, “Through this survey, Engineering Student Council is working to raise awareness and ensure that engineering student voices are heard as we collaborate with administration to make this transition as smooth and thoughtful as possible.”