January 12, 2016 - Winter, Volume 1
  Announcements      Featured Stories       Featured Events      Achievements      Contact      
A Message from the Provost
Dear Colleagues,
  
Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed the holiday and winter break with your loved ones. 2016 is going to be an exciting year at Cal Poly Pomona.  The new year brings us changes, opportunities, as well as a few challenges. As the year unfolds, my commitment to you, is to keep you informed as to what is happening in Academic Affairs. 
  
One effort of communicating with you will be the launch of the Academic Affairs Corner; a newsletter produced through my office that will be sent to a community of 1,140 faculty and 350 administrators and staff, twice a quarter.  I hope you enjoy our first issue!  Although some of these stories may be featured in other campus news sources, my intention is not to replace those sources, but rather to use this as a channel to share timely information that focusing on the priorities in Academic Affairs.
  
We will soon be receiving more information about the University Strategic Planning Process that will be launched later this month. As part of this process we will be working on updating the Academic Plan in Academic Affairs.   I look forward to using the Academic Affairs Corner to keep you informed and to facilitate conversations and feedback every step along the way. 
  
As a valued member in Academic Affairs, I invite you to participate in this newsletter. You can submit a brief statement for consideration in our "Did You Know?" section. Send us something that you are proud of in your area that your colleagues may not know. Submission information can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.
  
My hope is that you find this newsletter informative and I look forward to highlighting all of the wonderful achievements that are happening in your areas.
  
Sincerely,
Sylvia A. Alva

Highlights in Academic Affairs
NOTHING IS CERTAIN BUT CHANGE

Last week I informed you that our colleague Dr. Claudia Pinter-Lucke plans to retire in March, finishing the chapter of a nearly 30-year career as an educator, academic leader and dedicated steward and champion of a very special place - Cal Poly Pomona.

Given the scope and complexity of her portfolio, I have been working with her and others to develop a transition plan.  After consulting with the President and the Academic Senate Executive Committee, I am pleased to announce that three individuals have accepted an opportunity to be a part of the transition team.  

Dr. S. Terri Gomez will serve as the Interim Associate Vice President for Student Success.  Dr. Larisa Preiser-Houy will serve as the Interim Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Programs. Dr. Daniel Lewis will serve as the Interim Vice President for Academic Quality and Assessment.  To learn more about their new interim portfolios, please see the PolyCentric story.

You may have also heard that Enrollment Management & Services will migrate to Academic Affairs on July 1, 2016.  This will allow for stronger partnerships between the divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. 
EXPANDING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH 
Join us at a Town Hall Meeting - Feb. 9

Last week the deans and other members of my leadership team got together to do some planning. We focused our conversation on the possibility of hiring new faculty around areas of strength and strategic opportunities for the campus. Affinity hiring, also known as faculty cluster hiring, has been shown to be an effective way to promote interdisciplinary research and to build on areas of institutional strength that add distinction and visibility to a campus. I look forward to engaging you in this conversation.  
 
Academic Affairs will be hosting a town hall meeting on Feb. 9 from 12 - 2 p.m. in the Bronco Student Center, Ursa Major.  I invite you to join us in this important conversation.  My office will be sending you more information via email.

AnnouncementsImportant and Timely Announcements
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Provost's Awards for Excellence 
To honor sustained accomplishments by faculty, nominations will be accepted starting Jan. 12 for the 2016 Provost's Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarly and Creative Activities, and Service.

Nominations may be submitted through Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. by any person or organization, including students, staff, faculty colleagues, administrators and the Alumni Association. Self-nominations are accepted. 

Visit the Provost's Awards website for more information. 
CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Special Projects for Improving the Classroom Experience (SPICE)   
The SPICE Program Committee 2016-2017 has announced a call for proposals for funding opportunities
supported by the Student Success Fee.  The funds will be available for use in AY 2016-2017. Applications are due on Feb. 23. 

To see the full calls for proposals and application portals, please go to the website for the program you wish to submit to:
For questions, please email the SPICE Committee at [email protected].   
FeaturedStories Featured Stories
Innovation Lab to Provide Incubator for Student Concepts
Students flush with ideas about goods and services they want to share with the world now have a space on campus dedicated to helping them take their vision from concept to store shelves.
  
This fall, the university launched the Student Innovation Idea Lab (iLab), a place that serves as a resource for students, faculty and the surrounding business community, and nurtures novel concepts and entrepreneurial student projects.
A semester conversion advising forum was held on Friday, November 20th  with over 100 participants representing all eight colleges and Student Affairs. 
  
The forum included presentations on summer sessions and bottleneck courses, the PeopleSoft Planner demo, the advising timeline, and advising models.  If you were unable to attend the forum, you are encouraged to visit the semester conversion website to view the video, PowerPoint presentation, as well as a list of forward thinking questions for your areas.
  
Portfolium is now live!  This new social media platform gives students and alumni novel ways of sharing their work experience, capstone projects and resumes in a setting that lets them network with peers and industry professionals.
FeaturedEvents Featured Events
Jan. 27
"All's Fair: Love, War and Politics," the duo will discuss their marriage and careers in politics on Jan. 27 as part of the Kellogg Lecture Series .
The investiture of Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D., the sixth president of Cal Poly Pomona, is Feb. 5 at Kellogg Gymnasium.
HOMECOMING
2016
Feb. 27
Registration is now open for the 201 Homecoming Celebration on Feb. 27. Faculty and staff, register for free today!

Achievements Let's Get Loud and Proud!
Congratulations!  
Aerospace Engineering Students Place 1st in International Design Competition
 
A nine-student team consisting of seniors from Cal Poly Pomona's Aerospace Engineering one-year-long Air Vehicle Design class placed first in an international design competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The team, led by Rachel Schultz and advised by Prof. Don Edberg, entered their "XC-30 Dart" design in the Next Generation Strategic Airlift Military Transport competition, besting teams from Delft University (Netherlands), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Georgia Tech, as well as other universities around the world. In addition to award certificates, the team was presented with a cash honorarium.
Receives Provost's Staff
Member of the Year
Doug Johnson was recognized as the Provost's Award Staff Member of the Year at Fall Conference for his service to the university.


Accepts ARI
Executive Director position
Plant Science Professor David Still has been appointed the new executive director for the California State University Agricultural Research Institute (ARI).

Did You Know?

Cal Poly Pomona's Department of Architecture boasts one of the most competitve admissions processes of any architecture program in the nation, with up to 2,000 applicants competing for only 120 undergrad openings.

Cal Poly Pomona  Contact 
Office of Provost and VP for Academic Affairs
 
(909) 869-4382
provost-vpaa @cpp.edu
http://www.cpp.edu/~academic-affairs 

SUBMISSIONS:   Do you have an accomplishment or something that you are proud of in your area that you would like to share with your colleagues?  Please email Andrea Frontino, [email protected] your submission. Space is limited, we may not be able to include all submissions.