The Strategic Planning Steering Committee is currently working on updates for the University Strategic Plan, such as online programs, as it continues to further develop strategic initiatives and goals for Cal Poly Pomona.
The plan is made up of five strategic initiatives: deliver quality programs that promote integrative learning; discovery and creativity; enhance student learning development and success; prepare students for the future of work, human, and civic engagement; strengthen economic vitality and impact; and advance organizational development and employee excellence.
The five initiatives are further explained in detail through the listed goals, objectives and outcomes.
“There are tons of us. We are all working on this and using (the strategic plan) to guide the work that we do to help this institution, this university, to achieve the vision and the mission that we’ve set forth,” said Laura Massa, associate vice president for academic programs and accreditation liaison officer. “We are working to track these things and it is making a difference in how we plan and direct our work.”
through and access both sides of the structure.
Michelle Quintero | The Poly Post
The Steering Committee consists of appointed faculty members from the Academic Senate, staff, students, administrators and the external community.
The university’s original strategic plan was created in 2011. It is derived from the Academic Strategic Plan, which is made up of strategic plans of individual colleges, departments and divisions, according to the university website.
In January 2015, CPP President Soraya M. Coley announced the first steps of the 2017-2021 University Strategic Plan, which has now been extended to 2025.
Since Massa joined the Bronco family in summer 2018, she has been working with her team to create multiple programs.
Massa and her team are in the process of developing the first fully online master’s program in dietetics through the College of Extended University. At this moment, it is under review through the Academic Senate. If successful, the online program could become university-wide; however, a date has not been set yet.
In the summer, Massa also applied for and was awarded a Title V grant of $2.68 million over five years that will help build a graduate resource center that will include workshops, training, academic support, advising and more.
The Title V grant assists in helping colleges and universities improve higher education for Hispanic students across the United States.
Trevor Ridley, a fifth-year applied mathematics student, believes many aspects of the Strategic Plan fit the needs of the university community.
“I think (the plan) has a lot of ideas that sound great on paper, but I feel that it may be hard to truly get the ball rolling with some of them,” Ridley said.
“Overall, I think this is a push in the right direction for increasing student success, in their education and careers and happiness while students are attending Cal Poly.”
As a commuter school, many students, including Ridley, feel that the campus lacks involvement and community engagement.
Ridley appreciates that the strategic plan is making efforts toward encouraging students to become involved and to find a belonging such as expanding campus traditions and experiences.
The General Education (GE) program is also in the works of being revitalized as a part of the plan updates.
This is to ensure that students can develop and understand the purpose of GE classes and are exposed to a more polytechnic education. The GE program will work towards the eight elements of an inclusive polytechnic university, which include collaborative learning, creativity, discovery and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving.
The Strategic Plan also accommodates semester conversion and the California State University’s (CSU) Graduation Initiative 2025, which aims to increase graduation rates by more than 15%.
According to the Strategic Plan, progress is being measured in several ways.
Some include student participation, retention and graduation rates of freshmen and transfers, faculty and staff participation, corporate and community partnerships and more.
Reports are received on a semester basis from the divisions and an annual report on the work of the plan will be published for the community in summer when the academic year is over, according to Chief of Staff Nicole Hawkes.
For more information about the strategic plan, visit cpp.edu/~strategicplan/.