From awards to projects and partnerships, a lot has happened this past year, and on Thursday, Oct. 20, A&F leadership brought the entire division together to celebrate the accomplishments and share their insights on the year ahead.
Leaping Forward was the theme of the morning as more than 200 colleagues from around A&F gathered to share a moment of conversation, relaxation and fun over breakfast.
Cindy Villa was joined on stage by Associate Vice President, Facilities Management and Development Mike McCormick and Assistant Vice President, Strategic Business Services Dru Zachmeyer. They laid out plans for the year ahead and gave updates on some of the upcoming major projects, including student and faculty and staff housing.
Gov. Newsom has challenged the CSU and UC Systems to increase enrollment to serve more California students. Cal Poly has reached — or nearly reached — its capacity regarding physical space, McCormick said.
“The Housing Future Plan calls for the replacement of the North Mountain Residence Hall with newer, more modern facilities, and adding roughly 3,000 new beds,” McCormick said. “This will expand our total bed count to more than 10,000 no later than the 2032-33 academic year.”
Work is also underway to increase housing options for staff and faculty.
“The Cal Poly Corporation is leading a faculty and staff housing program that will add nearly 200 housing units on the parcel of land at the corner of Slack Street and Grand Avenue, with the potential of another 200 homes on Cal Poly land near Highway 1,” McCormick said. “These projects will help us keep our friends and colleagues at Cal Poly, enhance the campus community, and support long-term sustainability impacts.”
Another significant change coming to campus this next year is the implementation of CSUBUY, a procure to pay process for campus purchases.
“Along with support from the CSU, this implementation, with a proposed go-live date of summer 2023, will create standardized procurement processes that allow for the elimination of manual touchpoints and steps and will result in efficiencies through automation, risk mitigation and cost savings,” Zachmeyer said.
Following the address, Villa shared a short video about the importance of the work done by A&F colleagues and offered her appreciation and praise.
“The work that we do every day to support the campus and its community is not possible without you,” she said.