Welcome back, Counselors!

Yep, it’s 2010!  WOW, time marches on whether we’re ready or not.  Speaking of marching on, it seems like we just marched right through that hectic Fall college application season and right to 2010.  We hope that you had a most enjoyable holiday season and a much deserved rest.  While some of you are undoubtedly still writing letters of recommendation and offering advice to students who may still be completing applications, we look forward to your interest and student inquiries for the upcoming class of 2011.  Presently, our Admissions Office staff is busy in preparation for our 2010 incoming class.  Your students will have an answer by April 1.  We wish them the very best with all their higher education endeavors. 

 As the Winter and Spring terms roll along, please keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming Cal Poly events and activities planned for both prospective and newly accepted students.  Our annual Open House will take place April 15-17.  Cal Poly’s Open House is the perfect event for students to inspect how the “learn by doing” education works at Cal Poly.  The Student Orientation, Advising & Registration program, SOAR, will be offered mid-summer to assist the new students with their registration for classes, and “Week of Welcome” (WOW - new student orientation), occurs the week prior to classes in September.  Accepted students can keep updated of these events by accessing their mycalpoly portal.  The mycalpoly portal is also the students’ connecting link to Admissions, Advising, Registration, and Financial Aid, as well as general information related to all things Cal Poly.  Similar information for the prospective student can also be accessed by interested students creating their own Cal Poly VIP page.  Their VIP page is their all-access connection to Calpoly.   

This is an exciting and emotionally charged time in the lives of our youth who are preparing for college entrance.  Let’s all take a moment to reflect on our chosen paths as counselors, to give as much as we can to those who need it the most, and save a minute for all.  More than ever, our students need our empathy, kindness, patience, toughness, and most of all …… our wisdom.    
 
Thank you for your continued support of Cal Poly!  We look forward to hearing from you soon.  Please enjoy this issue of the Mustang Messenger and take some time to read our briefs and utilize links to our web articles.  We won’t disappoint you!


Warm Regards,

The Cal Poly Admissions & Recruitment Staff

Cal Poly President Warren E. Baker Announces Retirement

After 30 years of dedicated service to Cal Poly and the California State University System, President Warren Baker will retire upon his replacement sometime in 2010.  President Baker is the senior President in the CSU and has compiled an extraordinary record of success that has helped place Cal Poly among the top university’s in the nation.  More about President Baker’s retirement in Cal Poly News and Events (please use below link with this italicized line)

Read news article here

Cal Poly Receives Record Number of Applications!

It’s not too surprising that in one of the toughest economic climates in decades that a record number of applications have been submitted to the California State University schools.  There were 610,000 applications filed by November 30, an increase of 28% over last year.  Cal Poly’s application pool hit 40,995, the most applications ever filed and an increase of 12 % over last year’s application pool.  More about fall 2010 applications (please use below link with this italicized line)

Read news article here

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Cal Poly In The News

Kiplinger personal finance magazine names Cal Poly as one of best public college values.

http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2010/January/Kiplingers.html

Cal Poly has been named one of America’s top colleges and universities by Forbes magazine.

http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases
/2009/August/Forbes.html

For the 17th year in a row, Cal Poly has been rated the best public-master's university in the West by U.S. News & World Report, in its 2010 America’s Best Colleges guidebook.

http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases
/2009/August/US_News_2010.html

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Quick Links:

Cal Poly Admissions, Recruitment & Financial Aid
http://admissions.calpoly.edu

CSUMentor Application
http://www.csumentor.edu

Cal Poly Quick Facts
http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/quickfacts.html 

Cal Poly Events
http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/eventsindex.html 

Poly View - Student Characteristics Fall 2008
http://www.calpoly.edu/~inststdy/polyview/pv_toc.html 

Cal Poly Financial Aid
http://financialaid.calpoly.edu/

Cal Poly Housing
http://housing.calpoly.edu/

Cal Poly 2009-2011 Catalog
http://www.catalog.calpoly.edu/

Cal Poly Profile

Link to Cal Poly
Encourage your students interested in Cal Poly to create a VIP page and explore Cal Poly 24/7.

Also- Create your own Counselor VIP page. Already have a VIP page? Log in here.

Cal Poly Admissions Office Counselor Contacts:

Central California	Northern California	Southern California
Tony Domingues	Melissa Pierce	Terrance Harris
tdomingu@calpoly.edu	mlpierce@calpoly.edu	tharris@calpoly.edu
805.756.5477	805.756.5817	805.756.2767

Out-of-State counselors may contact any of the above.

 

Roses Abound

Since 1949 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has teamed with Cal Poly Pomona to create a work of art presented at the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade. This year was no different. The parade theme was “a cut above the rest” and this year’s float from the Cal Poly campuses was titled “Jungle Cuts.” The float featured a jungle barbershop scene with all your favorite jungle animals. Jungle Cuts was recognized by the fans with the “Viewers Choice” award and recognized by the Rose Parade Committee with the “Bob Hope Humor Award.”  Pictures can be taken from the home stretch Rose Float web site, top photo. http://blogs.asi.calpoly.edu/list/RoseFloat/?cat=1

This project is a student and volunteer based project that shows the strength of Cal Poly’s learn by doing model. Students are responsible for constructing and maintaining the float structure, creating an animated element, some floral design, and so much more. Cal Poly SLO student Matt Mastro had this to say about his Rose Float experience. “It is a great program that requires a lot of commitment and teamwork to be successful. That is personally the reason I joined Rose Float. The sense of camaraderie during the building of the float rivals the camaraderie of many of the sports team I played on. Everyone shares a common goal and works week in and week out to achieve it. Cal Poly is typically an underdog in the parade because we are going up against over 40 other professional floats. We work so hard to show what Cal Poly students can achieve and what a Cal Poly education offers.”

For more on the rose float process and experience, check out the rose float club website: http://www.asi.calpoly.edu/rose_float

***Many ask about the correlation between Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Though Pomona was started as a “branch campus” to Cal Poly SLO, the two campuses began operating independent of each other in 1966.  Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona are separate campuses within the CSU that offer many similar degree programs. The Rose Float is the only item of note that is done jointly by the two campuses.

Tour Technology

Cal Poly has taken another step to expand the way we communicate with prospective students, parents, and the counselors that work with them. Cal Poly offers a general campus tour Monday-Friday at 11:10 a.m. except for campus holidays (a few additional exceptions exist). For many, they are unable to attend that tour. In response, Cal Poly Admissions began offering a GPS tour in summer 2008. The GPS handheld tours offer an opportunity to walk the campus and hear facts and tidbits along the way while watching a video.  The GPS rangers can be checked out during business hours, 8 a.m. -5 p.m., Monday through Friday.  For those who may attend campus on the weekends or after business hours, there is a new technology to take advantage of.  A campus tour is now available for download at the Apple App store. Currently, the tour is only available to those with an IPhone or IPod. The possibility of expanding this technology to other smart phones is being explored.

While the campus tours with our university ambassadors are still the preferred method of touring by most visitors, these added dimensions offer a variety of ways that those interested can get more information about the campus.

The filming, editing, designing, and implementation of the GPS ranger and IPhone tours were done by a group of Cal Poly students who work for the Associate Director of Admissions and Communication. Through the guidance and the hard work of Al Nunez and his students, Cal Poly is again on the cutting edge of communicating with its prospect pool.

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Excellent Job Placement Rates

Intro:  Cal Poly graduates can be found throughout the world making an impact in professions that affect all of our lives – from our health, culture, environment, to what we eat and drink.  The students benefit from a wide array of academic and extracurricular programs that lead to a great deal of opportunities that impact society.  Cal Poly offers students the experiences in which they discover how to succeed after graduation.  To find out more information, please visit the following website:

http://www.calpoly.edu/aboutcp.html#_grads

Cal Poly Names New Demonstration Lab

Intro: The Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Lab is the final component of Cal Poly’s new state of the art construction management facility.   The facility is part of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and will add a real-world element to the curriculum by focusing on the materials students will be working with or designing in the industry upon graduation.  To find out more information, please visit the following website:

http://construction.calpoly.edu/news-events/index.html#content

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The Mustang Messenger is published quarterly by the Admissions Office, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Tony Domingues, Editor
Senior Assistant Director
Admissions, Recruitment & Financial Aid