Background: Beginning in the early 1990s, Cal Poly developed and implemented a series of planning initiatives that addressed all aspects of the University including the content and delivery of the curriculum, the number and composition of the student body, and the efficient and effective use of resources and physical facilities. The unifying concept of all these initiatives has been the emphasis on ensuring the quality of our educational programs and providing a means to assess that quality. A consistent message in this activity is that Cal Poly is an engaged learning community, connected to a clear sense of its distinctive strengths and polytechnic mission.

These initiatives include:

- The University Strategic Plan that was developed in the early 1990s and revised in 1995, which provides a broad framework for planning Cal Poly's future.
- Visionary Pragmatism, 1995, a learning outcomes centered report that establishes the framework for curriculum reform and development.
- The Cal Poly Plan, 1996, an action plan that guides the strategies for maintaining the focus of the polytechnic emphasis of the University, lessening student time to graduation, and strengthening accountability.
- Cal Poly's Centennial Campaign Plan, launched in 1998, which aims to support the goals of the University's colleges and units consistent with their strategic plans.
- The 1998-2000 WASC accreditation effort that gives the University the opportunity to review what it has accomplished and reflect on where it is headed; and to affirm Cal Poly's direction in response to the needs of California and the nation.

WHEREAS,     Over the last decade Cal Poly has instituted a series of initiatives that have anticipated and/or
                           paralleled the objectives listed in the CSU's Cornerstones Project; and WHEREAS, The efforts
                           put forth by the students, staff, faculty, and administration of Cal Poly to develop and carry
                           out the mandates of these initiatives have been considerable; and

WHEREAS,     The Chancellor's Office should be responsible for overseeing that the combined efforts of each
                          campus meets the goals set forth in the Cornerstones Report; and

WHEREAS,     Chancellor Reed in his remarks to the Board of Trustees at its November meeting affirmed that the
                          strength of the CSU is in the diversity of its campuses; therefore, be it

RESOLVED:     That Cal Poly continue to carry out the programs and goals that it has already established through
                          its various planning initiatives; and, be it further

RESOLVED:     That Cal Poly continue to refine and develop new planning initiatives to ensure that its programs,
                           practices, and policies continue to address the needs of the students and the State in the coming
                           years; and, be it further

RESOLVED:     That the Chancellor's Office support the endeavors of Cal Poly and the other campuses as they
                           establish and implement their individual strategies of meeting the principles of the Cornerstones
                           Report; and, be it further

RESOLVED:     That each of the campuses identify their local processes for assessing progress towards achieving
                           the Cornerstones principles, and that they report the results of their assessments to the Chancellor's
                           Office and to the other campuses of the CSU.

M e m o r a n d u m
 
 

To:     Myron Hood                                                                                    Date: January 6, 1999
          Chair, Academic Senate

From: Warren J. Baker                                                                                Copies: P. Zingg
            President
 
 

Subject: Academic Senate Resolution AS-510-98/CIC (Resolution on Cal Poly's Implementation of Cornerstones' Objectives)

I am pleased to accept this Resolution on Cal Poly's Implementation of Cornerstones' Objectives. The resolution appropriately acknowledges campus initiatives and activities that complement Cornerstones. It also recognizes how Cal Poly has anticipated many of the issues and concerns that led to the development of Cornerstones.

I look forward to working with the Senate and our entire community in the further development of the Cornerstones' initiatives after the CSU Board of Trustees adopts it.