Cal Poly is officially converting the university’s academic calendar to 15-week semesters for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 academic school years, according to an email sent by the Office of the President on Friday.
With this change, Cal Poly is holding off on implementing year-round operations (YRO) until the 2028-2029 academic school year.
This will assist the university in successfully shifting to the semester system while also achieving YRO, according to the email. These changes are being implemented while Cal Poly awaits a decision about the Cal Maritime-Cal Poly integration, which will be announced later this month.
Cal Poly’s quarter-to-semester system conversion is in response to the university being the sole California State University (CSU) school that still runs on the quarter system.
Cal Poly initially proposed a plan to be operational year-round in 2023 to increase enrollment and fulfill a multiyear governor compact to increase the CSU’s budget.
The proposition has already been delayed twice. Originally, it was intended to begin operations this academic year. YRO was then planned to start in the 2026-2027 academic year, with Cal Poly fully operational for the entire year with 14-week semesters.
“This two-year transition will allow faculty to teach their courses as proposed for semester conversion while providing necessary time to prepare for and meet future calendar changes,” Armstrong wrote in his email.
Armstrong mentioned that when the university is operational year-round, tenured track faculty will not have to teach all semesters in the school year. The university will also implement shorter semesters within YRO, which Armstrong said is comparable to what is currently in place for summer quarters.
“This will allow faculty who are willing, eligible, and available, to have additional opportunities to benefit from two semesters as well as a compressed session for additional compensation,” Armstrong wrote.
Faculty express concerns at recent town hall meetings
Armstrong’s decision came after various on-campus faculty and student town hall meetings throughout the month of October, where he fielded questions and concerns from the Cal Poly community.
“As a professor, I support going to semesters,” biology professor Christy Strand told Mustang News after the Oct. 17 faculty town hall. “We’ve been doing a lot of work, and going to two semesters and a shorter summer session is what we’ve been planning for.”
While Strand supports the idea of YRO, she believes it is not compatible with the semester system.
CFA San Luis Obispo President Lisa Kawamura claimed during the meeting that Armstrong has still not met with them about professor workload concerns under the new year-round plan.
“We cannot be ignored, and we will not be ignored,” Kawamura said.
History professor Cameron Jones claimed YRO is a plan “to just make more money” without considering the effects on student learning.
During the faulty town hall, Armstrong argued that utilizing campus facilities year-round will benefit the school financially in the long term.
“I’m not promising a bed of roses, that we won’t have budget reductions or anything else,” Armstrong said. “But I can tell you, growth is extremely positive for us and puts us in a much more resilient perspective.”
Armstrong said he has been firm on his decision for YRO since 2019.
“In my [2019] convocation speech, I said, ‘We’re going for it,’” Armstrong said. “‘We need this, this is what we’re going to do.’”