California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Motto	Latin: Instrumentum Disciplinae
Motto in English	Application of Knowledge
Established	1938 (as Cal Poly Voorhis Unit in San Dimas, California)[1]
Type	Public University Space grant college[2]
Endowment	US$27.6 million[3]
President	J. Michael Ortiz[4]
Provost	Marten L. denBoer[5]
Academic staff	1,845[6]
Students	&000000000002048400000020,484[7]
Undergraduates	18,625[7]
Postgraduates	1,859[7]
Location	Pomona, California, United States
Campus	Suburban, 1,438 acres (5.8 km2)[8]
Newspaper	The Poly Post
Colors	Green and Gold          [9]
Athletics	NCAA Division II, CCAA 12 varsity teams
Nickname	Broncos
Mascot	Billy Bronco[10]
Affiliations	AASCU California State University.
Website	www.csupomona.edu
All enrollment figures are as of fall 2009

The California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, often referred to as Cal Poly Pomona (see naming), is a public university located in Pomona, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnics in the 23-member California State University system.

Cal Poly Pomona began as a satellite campus of the California Polytechnic School (today known as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) in 1938 when a completely equipped school and farm in the city of San Dimas were donated by Charles Voorhis and his son Jerry Voorhis. The satellite campus, initially called the Cal Poly-Voorhis Unit, grew further in 1949 when an 813-acre horse ranch in the neighboring city of Pomona became part of the school grounds. The ranch belonged to retired businessman Will Keith Kellogg who had originally deeded it to the University of California in 1932. Cal Poly Pomona, then known as “Cal Poly Kellogg-Voorhis Unit”, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo continued operations under a unified administrative control until they became unaffiliated in 1966. Cal Poly Pomona has transitioned from an agricultural two-year technical college with an inaugural enrollment of 110 all-men students into a master’s university currently offering multiple educational programs in 9 academic units while having a coeducational enrollment of over 20,000 students as of fall 2009. Cal Poly Pomona is one among a small group of polytechnic universities in the United States having a curriculum emphasizing the study and application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

U.S. News & World Report's 2011 issue of "America's Best Colleges" placed the university as the 4th most ethnically diverse master’s public university in the west and 8th with most international students. The demographic composition of the student body is 29.7% Asian American, 27.2% Hispanic American, 25.1% White American, 3.9% African American, 0.3% Native American, and 8.5% ethnicity unreported or unknown. Cal Poly Pomona has over 1,000 visa-bearing international students who comprise 5.3% of the total student body.

Once known strictly as a commuter school, in recent years Cal Poly Pomona has undertaken an effort to increase its academic standings while also evolving into a more traditional university. The university has raised admissions standards, increased on-campus student residences, built new facilities and expanded its undergraduate research opportunities. Its sports teams are known as the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos and play in the NCAA Division II as part of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Broncos sponsor 12 varsity sports and have won 14 NCAA national championships.

History

Name

In addition to its official names of "California State Polytechnic University, Pomona" and "Cal Poly Pomona",^[11] the university is commonly referred to by other names. Among local residents, it is often called by the shortened form "Cal Poly",^[12] which does not fully distinguish it from its sister CSU campus in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly Pomona has rejected such usage for official university documents.^[11] Though not official, "Poly", "CPP", "CSPU" or simply "Pomona" are also commonly used to refer to the university. While Cal Poly Pomona is part of the California State University, it is improper to refer to the campus with names such as "CSU Pomona"^[13] and "Cal State Pomona".^[14]

Origin of polytechnic schools in California

The history of the university dates back to the first campus in San Luis Obispo, California. On March 8, 1901, California Governor Henry Gage signed the California Polytechnic School Bill that established an institution that today is known as the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo).^[15] On September 30, 1903, the school started teaching high school-level classes to its first class of 20 students. In 1924 full institutional control was shifted to the California State Board of Education. In 1933 the institution’s academic level was changed to that of a two-year technical or vocational college and in 1942 to a Bachelor’s-granting university. After a long period of financial struggles due to World War II, in 1947 the university changed its name to California State Polytechnic College to better reflect the education level of the institution.^[16]

Los Angeles County

In 1925 industrialist and food manufacturer Will Keith Kellogg, known for pioneering the process of making baked cereal, purchased 377 acres (1.53 km²) of land in Pomona for $250,000^[17] and turned it into a horse ranch to start an Arabian horse breeding program, which today remains the oldest in the United States and the fifth largest in the country.^[18] Kellogg's ranch eventually became so well-known around the area that even some Hollywood stars took time to frequent it.^[19] The first building erected contained the horse stables and it used to be located where the university plaza currently stands. On May 17, 1932 a crowd of more than 20,000 spectators converged on the ranch to witness Kellogg’s donation of his Arabian Horse Ranch, which had grown to 750 acres (3.0 km²), including 87 horses, to the University of California system.^[20] In return for the generous grant, the University agreed to keep the Arabian horses and to continue the Sunday Horse shows. During World War II, on October 28, 1943 the ranch was taken over by the U.S. War Department and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount).^[21]

In 1928, a retired automotive executive named Charles Voorhis founded a college specializing in educating young, underprivileged male students in . The school opened its doors to 110 male students.^[22] Voorhis was known for having donated over $3 million to various charitable institutions. It operated until 1938 when the Voorhis School for Boys was acquired by the state of California and later became part of the California Polytechnic School in San Luis Obispo, and in 1949, Kellogg's ranch was acquired as well.^[23]

In 1933, Julian McPhee assumed the presidency of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. McPhee was known for his firm fiscal policy and he is often credited for saving the University during the years of the great depression.^[24] Plagued with financial problems, Voorhis was forced to close his doors only ten years after he had opened his facility. The demise of the facility gave McPhee the opportunity to expand Cal Poly Pomona. In August 1938, Charles Voorhis and his son Jerry Vorhiss donated their facility^[25] of Pasadena, California. The satellite campus was initially called the Cal Poly Voorhis Unit.^[26] as a gift to the California Polytechnic School.^[27] In the same year, McPhee’s request for the land was approved and the entire horticulture program was moved from San Luis Obispo to the new Southern California campus.^[28]

Old Kellogg horse stables are now University Plaza building 26

However, further expansion was halted by the onset of World War II. The southern Cal Poly campus was closed when the majority of its students were called into active duty and the former Kellogg ranch was transformed into an Army remount station. After the war, the ranch faced an uncertain future, but in 1949 the 813-acre (3.29 km²) W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch was deeded to the state, a proposal to which Kellogg foundation agreed, provided the Sunday horse shows returned.

In 1956, the first classes were held on the campus in the present-day science building. Six programs in agriculture, leading to four Bachelor of Science degrees, were offered. In the class of 1957, 57 agricultural majors were the first graduates of Cal Poly Pomona. By 1959, the curricula of the college included six degree programs in the arts and sciences and four in their nationally recognized engineering program.

Independence

The Kellogg mansion

Cal Poly Pomona broke off from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1966, becoming a separate campus of the California State University system.^[29][30] The independent campus becomes the "California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis", and the 16th campus in the CSU system.^[17] Since 1949, the Pomona and San Luis Obispo universities have cooperated on creating a float for the Rose Parade. Today, the long-running float program still boasts floats designed and constructed entirely by students year-round on both campuses.

Many changes occurred in 1961 which affected Cal Poly Pomona radically. One of the changes included in the Master Plan for Higher Education established the California State College System with its own Board of Trustees, and 329 women enrolled at the University for the first time.^[17] In that same year, the Legislature enacted Education Code Section 22606, which identified the primary function of the State College as “...the provision of instruction for undergraduate students and graduate students, through the master’s degree, in the liberal arts and sciences, in applied fields and in the professions, including the teaching profession.”^[31]

The Legislature recognized the special responsibility of this institution as a “polytechnic college” by adding Education Code 40051 which authorized the college to emphasize “...the applied fields of agriculture, business, home economics, and other occupational and professional fields.”

In 1966, the California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis, was established as a separate institution from the San Luis Obispo school. Both campuses were awarded full university status in 1972. On June 1, 1972, the campus name was officially changed to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

In 1998, the university rescinded an offer to give an honorary degree to President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe after protests from students, staff, and faculty.^[32]

The college has gone through tremendous growth in the last fifty years, with the construction of the CLA Building and new College of Engineering facilities and the addition of innovative programs such as the Center for Regenerative Studies and the I-Poly High School. Cal Poly Pomona's biggest project, as of 2008, is a $58.5 million library expansion dubbed “Phase 1 – The Next Chapter”. This phase will add 101,853 sq ft (9,462.5 m²) and will provide interior renovation to the first three floors of the existing six-story building as well as a 24-hour research lab and a full-service Starbucks coffeehouse.^[33] According to university spokesperson Uyen Mai, "At this time the university is focused on the renovation of buildings 1 and 3 to create more classroom space. We're also in the early phase of design for new student housing to accommodate another 800 students as well as a new building for one of our biggest colleges, the College of Business." In addition, the school just completed its first parking structure adding 2,378 new parking spaces.^[34] Currently, Cal Poly Pomona is a nationally and internationally recognized institution with approximately 19,800 students and 2,640 faculty and staff members.

Campus

Panorama of the CLA Building at Cal Poly seen from the engineering meadow. The Japanese garden is at the lower left of the image.

Cal Poly Pomona is situated in Pomona, California, a largely suburban city part of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. The city of Pomona is located in the eastern portion of Los Angeles County and borders the neighboring county of San Bernardino to the east. The university’s 1,438 acres (5.82 km²) campus^[35] make it the second largest in the California State University system,^[36] a figure which includes various facilities scattered throughout Southern California such as a 53-acre (210,000 m²) ranch in Santa Paula, California, 25-acre (100,000 m²) at Spadra Ranch,^[37] and the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences in West Los Angeles. In addition, the main Pomona campus is home to a 31-hectare (0.31 km2) ecological reserve known as the Voorhis Ecological Reserve.

Although part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the university is in close proximity to two other large metropolitan and culturally-defined regions, the Inland Empire and Orange County. The university has a local-serving area, defined as an geographical region surrounding the campus, roughly bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains to the north, the city of Chino Hills, Interstate 605 to the east, and Interstate 15 to the west.^[38] Cal Poly Pomona's campus buildings vary in age and style from the Mission Revival Kellogg Horse Stables and the Kellogg House (suggesting the Spanish colonial heritage of Southern California) built in the 1920s; the modernist box-like portion of the library completed in 1969; to contemporary dormitories, engineering, science and library-expansion facilities completed in the early 21st century. Leisure and recreational locations include a Rose Garden dating back to the Kellogg Ranch years, a 58,000 square feet (5,400 m²) Japanese Garden built in the Summer of 2003 and designed by landscape architecture professor emeritus Takeo Uesugi, and the Kellogg House designed by prominent architect Myron Hunt^[39] (who also designed the Rose Bowl and The Huntington Library). Kellogg’s House features grounds which were initially landscaped by Charles Gibbs Adams^[39] but were later completed by Florence Yoch & Lucile Council.^[40] At the center of the campus and atop Horsehill is the Collins College of Hospitality Management and Kellogg West, a conference and hotel center and home of the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch, a facility run by students and faculty. At the north edge of the campus is the Voorhis Ecological Reserve, which serves as a wildlife corridor and home to Coastal Sage Scrub and Coast Live Oak trees. Contrasting some of this architecturally prominent facilities, there are various portable buildings on campus which are used to accommodate the growing population of recent decades. Cal Poly Pomona houses the International Polytechnic High School; a college preparatory high school entirely comprised of portable buildings and located on what used to be a parking lot. As of June 2008, financial auditor KPMG valued Cal Poly Pomona's capital assets at $307.9 million US Dollars.^[41]

Cal Poly Pomona's dominant landmark is a futurist-style administrative facility known as the CLA Building which was designed by Antoine Predock and opened in 1993. The building’s peculiar shape (standing out by a triangular-shaped “skyroom” atop its eight-story tower ^[42]) has become a symbol of the university; in addition, its close location to film studios based in the Hollywood borough of Los Angeles have prompted its inclusion in motion pictures such as Gattacca and Impostor. Nevertheless, the CLA Building has been suffering from various problems since its completion. The building suffers from water leakage, and connections and beams at the building do not meet California earthquake safety standards. CLA Building is located atop the San José Hills Fault and its structural stability has been put to question in the event of a major earthquake as it holds the second-highest seismic “risk score” of all CSU buildings with as score of 72.94/100. The building needs so much work and investment to overcome its major flaws that university officials have contemplated razing it.^[43]

Academic and research facilities

The W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center is an academic and research facility serving one of the 22 terms and conditions to the donation of the Kellogg ranch by maintaining Kellogg’s purebred Arabian horses and their breeding program. Another academic facility highlighting the Kellogg legacy is the Horse Stables (also known as University Plaza) which houses a small research library specializing in equine studies along with offices for student services and various campus organizations such as the annual Cal Poly Rose Float.

One of the most prominent academic buildings, standing centrally located within the core campus, is the 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m²) Cal Poly Pomona University Library. This central library houses over 3 million items and serves as the most important center for scholarly pursuits on campus. Built in 1961, the library underwent a major renovation and expansion completed in the summer of 2008 at a cost of over $46 million dollars.^[44]

Conceived in 1995 by then University President, Bob H. Suzuki, and initially financed by NASA and the Economic Development Administration, the Innovation Village is a 65 acre public/ private partnership research/ business facility at the southern edge of the campus. Later phases were jointly developed by real estate development firm Trammell Crow. Major tenants include the American Red Cross, Southern California Edison, and the NASA Commercialization Center^[45]. It's mission is to act as a bridge between academic research and private industry^[46]. The project is currently at the halfway mark of building and leasing 1 million square feet of entitled building space. Once complete, it is estimated that the project would employ 2000 to 3000 people and provide half a billion dollars of economic benefits to the local, regional and state economies. ^[47].

Campus sustainability

The university has actively sought to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage on campus. In November 2007 Cal Poly Pomona became a signatory member of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.^[48] Among other things, this committed the university to ensure that within one year, it would purchase or produce at least 15% of the institution's electric consumption from renewable sources. The university is also a member of the California Climate Action Registry.^[49] and lists on The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges.^[50]

Cal Poly Pomona's institute for sustainability education is the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. The center was built adjacent to an old landfill and conducts research in the areas of sustainable technology and agriculture. As an example of Cradle to Cradle Design, it uses solar-powered dormitories, aquaculture ponds, and organic gardens while providing an environmentally-sustainable housing accommodation for 22 graduate students. The center is part of Agriscapes, a 40 acre research project that showcases environmental and agricultural sustainable practices including methods to grow food, conserve water and energy and recycle urban waste. Agriscapes is home of the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch which sells locally and campus grown foods and products. The Cal Poly Pomona campus also contains a rainforest greenhouse, a California ethnobotany garden, and an aquatic biology center collectively known as BioTrek which provides environmental education to all academic levels.

Organization and administration

Cal Poly Pomona is one of two polytechnics^[57] in the 23-member California State University system.^[58] The CSU system is governed by a 25-member board of trustees, including one faculty trustee, one alumni trustee, and two student trustees, and has authority over curricular development, campus planning, and fiscal management.^[59][60] The university system is currently governed by Chancellor Charles B. Reed, who assumed the office in 1998.^[61]

The chief executive of the Cal Poly Pomona campus is President J. Michael Ortiz.^[62] Ortiz's compensation for fiscal year 2008-2009 was $292,000.^[63]

Cal Poly Pomona is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)^[64]

Endowment

Cal Poly Pomona's financial endowment was valued at $27.6 million in NACUBO's 2009 ranking.^[3] In late 2008, Cal Poly Pomona embarked on a 5-7 year fund-raising campaign.^[65] During the campaign, an anonymous donor provided a $12 million gift.^[66] In 2010, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation awarded a $42 million endowment to increase educational access to underrepresented communities and military veterans, making it the largest cash gift in the history of the CSU.^[67]

Academics

The main entrance of the library following the renovation.

A campus of the California State University, Cal Poly Pomona is governed by the Trustees of the California State University, currently headed by chancellor Charles B. Reed. As outlined by the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, Cal Poly Pomona "offer[s] undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education."^[69] Cal Poly Pomona promotes a "learn by doing" philosophy, where an essential part of the curriculum is hands-on application of knowledge.^[70]

Cal Poly Pomona's polytechnic approach, and learn-by-doing philosophy, encourages students in all programs to get real-world experience and skills necessary to join the workforce upon graduation.^[71] Polytechnic universities in the United States tend to emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs.^[72] In addition, the university is among six other institutions of higher education in California that have been designated a "Center of Academic Excellence" by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency (NSA).^[73][74] and a "University of Excellence" according to the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.^[75] Some departments (including engineering and architecture) continue to follow the originally mandatory requirement for an undergraduate senior/research thesis to graduate.

Rankings

Cal Poly Pomona's CLA Building and with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background

Cal Poly Pomona ranked 7th among public Western Colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2011 issue of "America's Best Colleges", and 32th when the category includes both private and public universities.^[76] U.S. News & World Report also ranked Cal Poly Pomona as 4th in ethnic diversity, 8th in least indebtedness, 8th in most international students, 6th in lowest acceptance rate, 4th in freshmen retention rate, and 10th in highest graduation rate for public Western colleges.^[76] The report also listed Cal Poly Pomona as 45th in economic diversity, and 59th awarding need-based aid for both private and public universities in the West.

Cal Poly Pomona is ranked and tied for 11th overall for top undergraduate engineering programs in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. Five out of the top eleven schools are public schools. This makes Cal Poly Pomona the 5th best public school for undergraduate engineering. Cal Poly Pomona's Civil Engineering program, which is the third most impacted program on campus,^[77] is ranked 7th overall in the nation for top undergraduate Civil Engineering programs.^[78] Three of the seven schools are private schools. This makes Cal Poly Pomona the 3rd best public school for undergraduate Civil Engineering. Cal Poly Pomona is 10th overall for top undergraduate Electrical Engineering programs^[79] and 8th overall for top undergraduate Mechanical Engineering programs in the nation.^[80] Also, Cal Poly Pomona's undergraduate Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering program ranks 4th in the nation.

According to Planetizen, Cal Poly Pomona's Urban and Regional Planning Programs without a Ph. D. ranks 2nd in the nation. For Best Urban and Regional Planning Programs with a Ph. D., Cal Poly Pomona ranks 7th amongst all public and private universities in the West Region. Planetizen also ranks Cal Poly Pomona 21st in the nation for Best Urban & Regional Planning graduate programs.

The leading architecture magazine, called Design Intelligence, ranks Cal Poly Pomona 17th (1. Harvard, 2. U. Penn...8. University of California, Berkeley) in the nation for Best Undergraduate Landscape Architecture program and 15th for Best Graduate Landscape Architecture program (1. Harvard, 2. Virginia Tech.). Design Intelligence gives "High Distinction" to Cal Poly Pomona's Landscape Architecture Program. Design Intelligence considers Cal Poly Pomona's Architecture Program as "one of the best in the world."

Princeton Review’s “Best 296 Business Schools” has Cal Poly Pomona's College of Business Administration graduate business programs the "best in the country amongst all private and public schools."

According to Planetizen: Graduate Urban Planning (22nd in the nation, 6th in the West Region), Zoning Administration (6th in the West Region). According to Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education: Hospitality Management (3rd in the nation). According to Project Connect (a survey that was created by a market research firm called Carnegie Communication): 3rd highest rated regional university in the West, 8th most popular among students.^[76]

In the academic year 2009/2010 Cal Poly Pomona featured on Forbes magazine list of "America's Best Colleges" among the 600 best public and private universities in the nation at number 365.^[81] In the 2009 "PayScale College Salary Report" conducted by Payscale.com, Cal Poly Pomona ranked 19th among public universities in the country with graduate's starting median salary of $51,600 and a mid-career median salary of $92,400.^[82]

Admissions

Cal Poly Pomona's admissions process is selective. The California State University lists Cal Poly Pomona among five of its institutions with the strictest admission standards.^[85] The average high school GPA of enrolled fall of 2009 freshmen was 3.36.^[86] The average SAT Reasoning Test score was 1060 (out of a possible 1600, based only on reading and math scores).^{[86][87][88][89]}

For fall 2008, out of 24,530 first time freshman applicants, 12,952 were admitted with an admissions rate of 53%. Of those admits, 2,640 enrolled as first time freshmen, according to the Cal Poly Pomona Office of Institutional Research, Assessment & Planning (IRAP).^[90]

For the 2009-2010 academic year, the university reduced the Tier 1 admissions area (the area in which the CSU Eligibility Index is used to guarantee admissions and roughly bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains and Chino Hills to the north and south and the 15 and 605 freeways to the east and west) from 78 to 44 neighboring high schools.^[92] Applicants from outside the local area (Tier 2) are rank ordered by eligibility index and granted admission based on a year specific cutoff score.^[92] For 2010-2011 academic year, Architecture, Animal Science, Animal Health Science, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and undecided are considered impacted majors. As such, applicants are rank ordered by eligibility index regardless of local admissions area and are accepted as space permits.^[93] For the 2010-2011 academic year, Tier 1 applicants may no longer be guaranteed admissions based on the CSU Eligibility Index and may be subject to similar criteria as Tier 2 applicants.^[94]

For some fields of study, the university requires prospective students to declare a major when applying for admission, as certain majors such as Architecture, Civil Engineering, Animal Science and Animal Health Science have stricter admission standards than others. To prevent students from applying for an easy-to-get-into major and transferring to another major, Cal Poly Pomona makes it troublesome to change to those majors.^[95]

Student life

Housing

Residential suites

There are three styles of residence halls on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. The first to be built are the six residential halls located on University Drive. The four older red-brick halls are named Alamitos, Aliso, Encinitas, and Montecito and provide room for 212 students each. The remaining two gray halls were constructed later and consist of Cedritos and Palmitas and have room to accommodate 185 students each.^[96] The University Village apartments and Campus Suites offer apartment-style living to non-freshman students as an alternative to the campus dormitories. About 32% of first-year students and 9% of all undergraduates live in college housing.^[97]

"The Suites" are the product of more recent on-campus residential developments. Phase I of the construction of the suites, housing 420 students, completed in 2004 and a second phase is set to open in 2010.^[98] The total on-campus population is 3,200 (as of 2009),^[99] but will grow to over 3,822 after the Phase II of the Residential Suites are completely opened in summer 2010,^[100] making it one of the largest student housing programs in the California State University system.^[101]

In an effort to reduce commuting and raise academic standards, starting on the 2010-2011 academic year, freshmen from outside the Tier 1 Local Admissions area (the area roughly bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains and Chino Hills to the north and south and the 15 and 605 freeways to the east and west), will be required to live on campus.^[94]

Bronco Student Center

The Bronco Student Center

The Bronco Student Center is a student activity center for meetings, conferences, meals, recreation, and shopping for students and alumni on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona, California. This is where ASI student government offices are located, as well as other various student run departments like facilities and operations, Recreation, Programming and Marketing (RPM), Business Services, Games Room Etc. (GRE).

Campus media

Campus events are covered by the student newspaper, the Poly Post. A rival newspaper/e-letter The Pomona Point formed in 2007 to satirize articles written in the Poly Post as well as to provide humor for students who are familiar with buildings, events, and ideas seen on campus. The Bronco Sports Show is a quarterly television broadcast capturing the highlights and statistics from Bronco Athletics along with other featured events around the campus. PolyCentric^[102] is the university's official online magazine. PolyCentric features news, announcements of campus events, spotlights on various departments, and resources for faculty and staff. A web site also provides a comprehensive archival search for past articles and photos.

Bronco Pep Band

The Bronco Pep Band is a student-run band at Cal Poly Pomona. The band is a group within the athletic department. It follows the tradition of other student-run bands in the sense that it focuses on its members individuality. The band attends athletic events during the year to encourage the school's athletic teams and audience support/involvement. The pep band is entirely voluntary and all students at Cal Poly Pomona or anyone else in the area are free to join.

Greek life

Greek Life at Cal Poly Pomona consists of 18 fraternities and 11 sororities governed by the Greek Council.^[103]

International Students

Cal Poly Pomona has over 1,000 visa-bearing international students. The majority of them come from Asia, but many others also come from Mexico, Russia, Morocco, Germany, and Zimbabwe.^[104]

Rose Parade float

Cal Poly Pomona together with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has participated in the Tournament of Roses since 1949; winning the Award of Merit in their first year. In the period from 1949–2005, the floats have won 44 awards. This joint program is one of the longest consecutive running self-built entries in the parade, as well as the only "self built" floats designed and constructed entirely by students year-round on both campuses. The Rose Float tradition continues today and marks the partnership between the two Cal Poly campuses.

Bronco Express and BroncoLink

Bronco Express is a campus shuttle system run by Parking & Transportation Services which allows students to navigate around campus with ease.^[105] BroncoLink allows both students and staff to be able to use the Metrolink system as an alternative to driving on campus .^[106]

Athletics

Voorhis Vikings

Voorhis Vikings baseball team

Before the university moved from San Dimas to Pomona, the college had a handful of athletic teams named the "Voorhis Vikings". They were composed mostly of homeless and orphaned boys of all races who were cared for at the Voorhis School during the ten-year period it operated.^[107] Despite this historical background, the university's current athletic programs are named the Broncos.

Cal Poly Pomona Broncos

Cal Poly Pomona varsity teams compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association of NCAA Division II. Teams are known as the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos and field twelve sports for men and women for the fall, winter, and spring quarters. Fall sports for men are cross country and soccer. Fall sports for women are cross country, soccer, and volleyball. The winter sport for men and women is basketball. Spring sports for men are baseball, tennis, and track and field. Spring sports for women are tennis and track and field.^[108] The Broncos most recent national championships came in 2010 Division II basketball tournament when the university's men's basketball team defeated Indiana University of Pennsylvania 65-53 in the title game. The Broncos are currently the most successful program in their the CCAA, having achieved 60 CCAA^[109] and 14 NCAA National Championships.

Athletic mascot, the Broncos

Cal Poly Pomona national championships

Over the years, 369 Cal Poly Pomona athletes have earned All-American honors in their respective sports, including 90 in men's track and field alone.

Two notable sports facilities serve as home venues for Cal Poly Pomona sports. The Bronco baseball team plays home games at Scolinos Field on campus, named after the baseball coach who led the team to three national championships. The volleyball team plays at Darlene May Gymnasium on campus. This facility was named after the women's basketball coach who led her team to three national championships.^[110] The women's basketball team rarely plays in the May Gym preferring to play in the larger Kellogg Gym (seats 5,000) with the men's team.

Cal Poly Pomona has not had a football team since 1982. The university canceled their football program because of operating expense.^[111] From 1983-1991 they did field a club football team playing some of the local Universities, such as Azusa Pacific, University of La Verne, University of Redlands, Claremont Mckenna College, Pomona-Pitzer, Cal Lutheran, University of San Diego, University of California at Santa Barbara, and Caltech which also had a Club team. Cal-Poly's Club Team also played a lot of local Semi-Pro Football teams and a couple of Junior College teams such as Victor Valley College.

Notable faculty and alumni

More than 109,000 alumni have graduated from Cal Poly Pomona over the course of its history.^[112] Some notable alumni include Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker;^[113] Olympic medalists Chi Cheng^[114] and Kim Rhode;^[115] California State Senator Jim Brulte,^[113] U.S. Representative Richard Pombo^[116] and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis;^[113] former professional football player and NFL head coach Jim Zorn,^[117] soccer player Jonathan Bornstein,^[118] guitarist and business executive James Williamson,^[119] BMX rider Dave Mirra,^[115] and all-time PBA Tour titles leader Walter Ray Williams, Jr..^[120]

Glenn Davis

Richard Neutra

Hilda Solis

Forest Whitaker

See also

• California State University
• California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
• California Master Plan for Higher Education

References

Sources

• Gerth, Donald (2010), The People's University: A History of the California State University, University of California, Institute of Governmental Studies, ISBN 0877724350, http://books.google.com/books?id=v4J-QwAACAAJ&dq=0877724350&ei=gZrPS-LFEJHmlATh3KHPCA&cd=1 

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website

Academics Colleges: College of Agriculture • College of Business Administration • College of Education and Integrative Studies • College of Engineering • College of Environmental Design • College of the Extended University • The Collins College of Hospitality Management • College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences • College of Science High School: International Polytechnic High School (I-Poly High School) Athletics Sports: Cal Poly Pomona Broncos • Voorhis Vikings Spirit: Fight Song Rivalries: Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes • UC San Diego Tritons Conferences: California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Life ASI, Inc. • Bronco Pep Band • Cal Poly Universities Rose Float • Greek Life • Housing • PolyCentric • Poly Post People Cal Poly Pomona Alumni Association • List of (Alumni • Faculty • Presidents) Campus Facilities: Arabian Horse Center • BioTrek • Bronco Student Center • CLA Building • Innovation Village • Japanese Garden • Neutra VDL Studio and Residences • Red Cross • Rose Garden • University Library Research: Arabian Horse Center • Desert Studies Center • Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies • Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI) • U.R. Bronco Instrumentum Disciplinae