Kyle McCarty
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Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong expanded on his vision for Cal Poly in an interview with Mustang News on May 9, speaking about diversity, the university’s capital campaign, quarters vs. semesters, graduation rates and potential businesses on campus.
Armstrong gave a full presentation of his vision in a keynote presentation in the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center on May 2. In the speech, he called for the university to increase graduation rates, house more students on campus, increase enrollment, enhance public-private partnerships and increase diversity.
The impetus behind creating the vision was to allow students, faculty and staff to picture the future, Armstrong said. He decided on 2022 because it was far enough in the future to make the presentation about a vision rather than an immediate action plan. However, eight years is not too far in the future, meaning the university’s current population can feel affected by the changes, Armstrong said.
Diversity
Increasing diversity is one of Armstrong’s primary objectives.
“Continuing to get closer to the demographics of California’s college-ready population, that’s what I declare success,” Armstrong said.
Increasing diversity beyond just the student population is also a goal, Armstrong said.
“The other component of success will be having more diversity in our faculty and staff,” Armstrong said. “People like to see people like themselves in those role model positions, in front of the classroom and in leadership roles.”
Armstrong provided a number goal for the university’s Latino population. He would like to see Cal Poly become a “Latino-serving university,” which means a quarter of students would be Latino. Now, the Latino population at Cal Poly makes up less than 15 percent of the student body, Armstrong said.
The university is implementing pilot scholarship programs to increase enrollment of underrepresented groups at Cal Poly, he said. Students whose parents make less than $80,000, first-generation students and students of color, such as Hispanic or Latino students, accept admission to Cal Poly at a lower rate, he said.
The university has seen an increase in acceptances from these groups when they are offered scholarships, Armstrong said.
In his speech, Armstrong said he would like to see more recruitment at high schools with a significant number of students on public lunch programs. There are approximately 200 such high schools in California, and Cal Poly reaches out to approximately 30-40 percent of them, Armstrong said.
“We’re trying to reach out to them more, but it’s limited because it takes funding to have our personnel and recruiters visit the high schools,” Armstrong said.
Pub and hotel
Armstrong wants a pub or similar establishment to be built or started on campus by 2022. Armstrong said this goal goes hand in hand with his objective of creating a residential community and increasing the number of upperclassmen living on campus.
“Maybe it’s a hotel, maybe it’s a facility near the stadium, or just somewhere on campus that we’ll be building a restaurant, or a sports bar or a pub,” Armstrong said. “We can’t expect juniors and seniors to live on campus if we don’t have all the components of a mature residential society.”
At a Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) meeting in April, Armstrong mentioned the idea of having a hotel conference center that could function as a business and a learning opportunity on campus.
“Since I’ve arrived, we’ve had various people in the hotel hospitality business indicate that Cal Poly needs a program of this nature, and that the Central Coast needs a program of this nature,” Armstrong said.
The university is investigating the feasibility of creating a hotel conference center by consulting with faculty, deans and a third-party consultancy that is preparing a report on the financial viability of such an endeavor.
“We believe that part of it will pencil out,” he said. “We believe there is a demand for additional hotels in the San Luis Obispo area and in this county.”
Armstrong said before construction of a hotel conference center can begin, it would have to be determined that the development enhances student success and makes financial sense.
Capital campaign
Cal Poly is currently implementing a fundraising campaign, seeking to raise $500 million. The campaign has been underway for three years, Armstrong said. So far, the campaign has raised approximately $110 million.
Armstrong said he will work with colleges and departments on campus to prioritize how the money will be spent, and that it will be used to enhance each department’s priorities.
Donors frequently specify the department or program they would like to give their money to, Armstrong said.
Admission numbers and graduation rates
Cal Poly’s incoming freshmen make up the most selective class in Cal Poly history.
“We had a higher number of students come in last year than we expected, so this year, we had to adjust,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said Cal Poly will not sacrifice quality and class sizes to increase enrollment. He saw the university’s increasing selectivity as unfortunate because Cal Poly has to turn away a lot of good students.
“I know how much our alumni, our employers and how much the state of California appreciates and values Cal Poly grads,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said graduation rates have been steadily increasing, and hiring advisors and faculty using money from the Student Success Fee has driven increased graduation rates. Using PolyPlanner, a student course-planning tool, will also increase graduation rates going forward, Armstrong said.
However, Armstrong said he is not hung up on students finishing their degrees in four years. He noted majors such as engineering and architecture — which have higher unit requirements, as well as opportunities that require students to take time away from the university — don’t allow students to finish in four years.
“What really hangs me up is the students that don’t finish,” Armstrong said.
Quarters vs. semesters
Armstrong said he is in support of the quarter system for Cal Poly.
Armstrong decided to create a task force to investigate the issue. He initially thought the semester system would be better for Cal Poly, but his opinion changed after working with the task force, he said.
“That’s not what our group said with regard to Cal Poly; they said quarters are better for Cal Poly,” Armstrong said. “Why? The variety of the courses and the pace.”
Armstrong said he believes if the university continues to push the change to semesters into the future, it may never have to make the change at all.
The expense required to switch to the semester system is “an insurmountable hill,” Armstrong said. The cost would be a major distraction to alumni and would take momentum out the university’s fundraising campaign, Armstrong said.