Vaccine Access Expands for More Cal Poly Employees
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department has made several hundred COVID-19 vaccine appointments available to Cal Poly employees this week as part of its effort to vaccinate the education sector. This includes appointments beginning as early as Wednesday, March 10, at county-operated vaccination sites. Cal Poly urges all employees to please check their email regularly and look for PolyAlert text messages for appointment access information if they want to take immediate action when it's their turn to be vaccinated. We encourage those waiting for appointment access to be patient and know they will be notified as eligibility continues to expand. Cal Poly continues to follow its prioritization groupings to share appointment access as equitably as possible — beginning with employees who have more contact with others and, thus, a higher risk of exposure. An email to all employees outlined those groupings and is listed on the coronavirus website's campus updates page. The groupings consider generalized risk factors in consultation with SLO County Public Health and in consideration of state guidelines. An on-campus task force representing faculty, staff and student stakeholders worked to equitably organize a process for sharing access with the campus community. Visit the Cal Poly COVID-19 vaccine webpage to learn more about the priority groups and notification process. Employees are highly encouraged to receive the vaccine when eligible but are not currently required to be vaccinated. The county public health department’s recoverslo.org website also has information about the vaccines themselves, safety, efficacy and more.
Annual Service Awards Announced
The Annual Service Awards is a Cal Poly presidential event recognizing the accomplishments of state, Corporation and Associated Students Inc. (ASI) employees who have completed employment milestones of 10 or more years of cumulative service to Cal Poly. Employees with milestone service anniversaries in 2020 will be recognized this year. Although San Luis Obispo County has progressed to the red tier of operations based on the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” an in-person luncheon will not be held this year, as the well-being of our campus community is of the utmost importance. However, honoring the dedicated members of our Cal Poly family is important. Recipients will receive their service award certificate and service pin by mail in the coming weeks. View a listing of service award recipients, and congratulations to all awardees.
COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Check: Are the Vaccines Safe?
Welcome to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Check, weekly insights on the COVID-19 vaccines presented by Campus Health and Wellbeing. This week’s fact check addresses concerns about the safety of the vaccines currently available. All the research to date indicates that the FDA authorized COVID-19 vaccines (from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) are safe and highly effective. All three of the vaccines have undergone large-scale phase three clinical trials, which showed all are close to 100% effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. Based on these trials, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines demonstrate 94%-95% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. And, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine demonstrates 66% efficacy in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 worldwide. All vaccines are continuously monitored by the CDC and FDA for problems and potential side effects as rollout continues. Millions of doses of vaccine have been deployed to date, and data continuously analyzed in the real world indicate that these vaccines are safe, prevent severe disease and death, and likely lower transmission of the coronavirus. The known and potential harms from becoming infected by the coronavirus outweigh potential safety risks of the vaccine. To learn more about vaccine and the rollout in SLO County, visit the RecoverSLO.org website’s frequently asked questions page. Look for more COVID Vaccine Fact Check posts in future editions of the Cal Poly Report.
Spring Quarter Student Testing Compliance Enforcement Begins March 29
The university will begin enforcement of ongoing testing and compliance requirements for students beginning, Monday, March 29. As a reminder, students are required to test twice per week (about three days apart) by following the testing schedule outlined in the COVID-19 Info tab on their portal. Students who are not in compliance will receive three consecutive days of warnings before they lose access to Email/Office 365, Zoom, Canvas and other Cal Poly applications and services that may impact their ability to attend class or report for on-campus employment. Non-compliant students will also receive a blue campus pass as part of their daily screenings that limit their access on campus. Visit the Testing Compliance page to learn more about how this may impact your classroom practices and/or office operations.
Save the Date: Celebrate Cal Poly Virtual Spring Commencement on June 12
Save the date for Cal Poly’s Virtual Spring Commencement 2021 celebration on Saturday, June 12, featuring six academic college ceremonies. These virtual ceremonies will feature messages from campus leaders and alumni, the conferral of degrees and graduate name reading. Please note that if public health conditions allow, a special in-person event will be held for graduates only (no guests or spectators allowed on campus) on June 12-13. Decisions about holding this event will be made in May, and if it is held, it will be live streamed for families and supporters to view from their locations outside of San Luis Obispo. All academic college, department, cultural, club and organization celebrations will remain virtual. Faculty and staff are invited to sign up to receive Spring Commencement 2021 emails to stay informed and updated as new information becomes available. If you have any questions, contact the Commencement Office at commencement@calpoly.edu.
Staff and Faculty Spring Parking Permits Available on March 22
Spring parking permits will be available for purchase online beginning Monday, March 22, and are valid starting March 29. Winter quarter parking permits expire March 26. Faculty and staff can purchase permits online and update their vehicle information using their parking account. Parking permits are required for parking on campus during the spring academic break. Visit Transportation and Parking Services staff page for more information on staff parking.
Faculty and Staff Invited to Join New Book and Learning Circles in Spring
Employee and Organization Development has announced the spring 2021 Book and Learning Circles, where participants can engage in enriching conversations and connect with peers across campus. Book Circles involve reading a book over the course of three to five sessions. The books are “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, who explores how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system; “The Self Care Prescription: Powerful Solutions to Manage Stress, Reduce Anxiety & Increase Wellbeing” by Robyn L. Gobin, which will help participants create a personalized self-care plan and learn techniques for building the life they want to live; and “Lead from the Outside,” in which author Stacey Abrams, former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, uses her hard-won insights to break down how ambition, fear, money and failure function in leadership and challenge those ready to make change. Learning Circles involve watching a video, listening to a podcast or reading an article and participating in a discussion during a single session. In “What makes us feel good about our work?” Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. In “The Great Migration and the power of a single decision” journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson shares how a single decision can change the course of history as journalist. In the third Learning Circle, “Delivering Employee Feedback,” Todd Dewett explores how to create a culture driven by meaningful feedback and deliver coaching and suggestions to help your team move forward. To view full descriptions and register to attend, visit the Book and Learning Circles webpage at learnandgrow.calpoly.edu.
Creating Accessible Course Materials Workshop to be Held April 5 to May 2
A four-week fully online workshop will provide tools and strategies to guide faculty in creating accessible course materials. Participants will create:
- An accessible Canvas Page.
- An accessible Word document.
- An instructional video with captions.
- An Accessibility Action Plan for your course.
Time commitment is seven to 10 hours per week, 28-40 hours total, depending on prior skills and experience. A $500 stipend is available for eligible participants. Contact Pam Dougherty with any questions at padoughe@calpoly.edu. Learn more and register at Creating Accessible Course Materials.
Service-Learning Town Hall to be Held March 18
Faculty members whose teaching and learning involves service-learning and/or working with the community may want to identify their course with one of the Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) attributes. In accordance with CSU Chancellor’s Office initiatives, Cal Poly’s Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) and the Center for Service in Action (CSA) will hold a virtual town hall meeting at 11:10 a.m. March 18 to discuss how faculty can self-assess their course. More information about the CEL Attribute for Faculty is accessible here. Featured speakers include CTLT’s faculty liaison for service-learning, Anurag Pande (Civil and Environmental Engineering), and service-learning faculty fellows Sara Bartlett (Psychology and Child Development) and Karen Muñoz-Christian (World Languages and Cultures), who will describe the process of self-assessing their courses. There will also be opportunities for faculty to discuss and self-assess their own community-based learning courses. For further information, contact Anurag Pande at apande@calpoly.edu.
Career Education Canvas Modules Available to Embed in Courses
As faculty plan for spring quarter, they are reminded that Career Services offers career curriculum in Canvas modules, which faculty can embed in their courses. The modules were developed by a team of professional career counselors, in consultation with the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Career Services Advisory Council, faculty and students. The following modules are currently offered:
- Networking.
- Interviewing.
- Discovering Career Possibilities.
- Navigating Your Job/Internship Search.
- Resume and Cover Letter.
Each module is designed to be delivered asynchronously and includes several customizable components, such as readings, videos and activities. Faculty are encouraged to complement the material in modules by having a career counselor visit the class synchronously as well. Gain access to curriculum modules or learn more.
Ninjio Information Security Video ‘Dangerous Communique’ Now Available
Watch this month’s information security video from NINJIO to learn why it is important to be careful when opening email attachments, especially if they’re unsolicited. In this episode, Richard’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he enables macros in a spreadsheet sent to him, with potentially disastrous consequences. Learn what happens and how to protect yourself. All NINJIO training videos are available on the Cal Poly Learning Hub under the Staff and Faculty Training tab on the My Cal Poly Portal. Emeritus community members can watch them on the Information Security Office's Microsoft Stream.
Teaching with Compassion Symposium Offered March 11
A symposium titled Teaching with Compassion will be offered from 11:10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, March 11. Janine Schipper, a sociology professor at Northern Arizona University, will share insights and activities from the book, “Teaching with Compassion: An Educator’s Oath to Teach from the Heart,” that she co-authored with sociologist Peter Kaufman. In this interactive conversation, participants will explore tools and strategies for developing humanistic teaching practices and fostering a culture of care and compassion in the classroom. Schipper's research and teaching focus on environmental sociology and contemplative studies, and she facilitates workshops on compassion and mindfulness practices. The Zoom link is https://calpoly.zoom.us/j/89778299390. A Cal Poly email address is required to join the symposium.
Do-It-Yourself Video Captioning Training Available to Campus Members
The Disability Resource Center (DRC) offers monthly DIY video captioning trainings via Zoom for faculty, staff and/or their student assistants. The next training will be held from 3-4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Attendees will learn how to use various automated transcription tools to create accurate closed captions for videos uploaded to YouTube. Visit accessibility.calpoly.edu to register for this training and to request accommodations as needed. Once registered, you will automatically receive a Zoom link for the training. Questions? Email John Lee at jlee245@calpoly.edu. This training session will have live captions and transcripts available.
Cross Campus Collaboration Courses Allow Professional Development with CSU Colleagues
Many professional development workshops provided by Employee and Organization Development and the Chancellor’s Office that were formerly in person are now offered online. This provides a unique opportunity to extend learning beyond campus borders and offer a new way to share professional development across the CSU. Click the links below to view descriptions and register for the workshops. Registration is limited and on a first-come basis. Don’t delay. Classes in March include:
- Respect in the Workplace, 10:30 a.m. to noon March 10.
- Exposing Hidden Bias, 9-10:30 a.m. March 11.
- Positive Psychology, 1-3 p.m. March 16.
- Self-coaching, 1-2:30 p.m. March 16.
- Avoiding Bias in Hiring, 1-3 p.m. March 24.
- Branding Yourself, 2-3 p.m. March 24.
- Giving and Leveraging Feedback for Success, 1:30-3 p.m. March 25.
- The Art and Science of Building an Organizational Culture, 10:30 a.m.-noon March 26.
- Virtual Facilitation, 1-4 p.m. March 29.
Margi Braden is retiring from Campus Dining after nearly 16 years as a venue manager. Braden came to Cal Poly in 2005 after managing a number of waterfront restaurants in Morro Bay. She spent her first 14 years on campus managing the old Vista Grande Café where her friendly demeanor and gregarious personality worked well with her staff of seasoned chefs and supervisors as well as newly hired student staff. In 2016, when construction started on Vista Grande, she moved to the newly renamed 805 Kitchen to help manage Campus Dining’s main dining hall. In the new location, she continued the daily list of tasks: checking temp logs and time cards, scheduling supervisors and WOW events, managing budgets and nightly special events, as well as all numerous other things. Ever the extrovert, she excelled in this role. “We always had such an awesome staff of cooks, supervisors and students,” she said. “That’s what I loved the most — the people, the staff, the students.” Now the Los Osos native is spending more time catching up with her grandkids, hiking with friends and searching for whales and fish with her husband on their boat.
Professor W. Terrence “Terry” Spiller will retire at the end of winter quarter after nearly 30 years of making — and teaching — beautiful music in the Music Department. He served as department chair from 2004-19. He earned his doctorate from USC in 1991, the same year he began teaching at Cal Poly during its first year offering the new music major degree program. It was also then that he met newly hired colleague Alyson McLamore, who had just completed her doctorate at UCLA. Despite their collegiate rivalry, they were married in 1994. During Spiller’s years of teaching, administrating and concertizing, he had many notable experiences. He performed with vibrant and talented students of Cal Poly's ensembles and his colleagues in some extraordinary halls: the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., with the Cal Poly Symphony conducted by David Arrivée; the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with the Cal Poly Wind Ensemble conducted by Christopher J. Woodruff; and Smetana Hall in Prague with the Wind Ensemble conducted by William V. Johnson. In 2010 he was honored with the College of Liberal Arts Richard Keller Simon Faculty Recognition Award for Outstanding Service. Spiller will continue to teach piano part time in the department for a while. Fishing, travel and reading books are on his horizon. He is grateful for the central role that Cal Poly has played — and continues to play — in his life. Sign Spiller's virtual card.
Newly Available Home for Purchase in Bella Montana
A well-appointed home recently became available for purchase at Bella Montana. The must-see unit at 647-B Paseo Bella Montaña (La Valle) is 1,314 square feet with three generous bedrooms, two bathrooms, a spacious two-car garage, convenient indoor laundry, an abundance of natural light, magnificent views of Bishop Peak and Cerro San Luis and a beautiful outdoor courtyard. Surrounded by beautiful coastal foothills, Bella Montana offers an opportunity to own a home in San Luis Obispo, one of the most livable cities in California. The nearby location offers an enhanced lifestyle as homeowners enjoy more time for the things they love: a hike after work, lunch at home, or more time with family. The home is ideally located in a 5.3-acre planned housing community that was designed and crafted with Cal Poly employees and their families in mind. Located within walking distance of campus, shops and restaurants, Bella Montana encompasses 69 individually owned homes on Highland Drive near iconic Highway 1.
Cal Poly Symphony’s Virtual ‘Soloist Showcase’ Set for March 12
The Cal Poly Symphony will present its annual Soloist Showcase through a virtual presentation at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 12. The symphony held auditions in November for student soloists from a variety of majors for the opportunity to be featured in the showcase. The winners were computer engineering major Kiran Manikonda on clarinet and double civil engineering and music major Grant Smith on piano. Manikonda will play Gioachino Rossini’s “Introduction, Theme and Variations,” and Smith will perform the first movement from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor. The program will also include two movements from Gordon Jacob’s “Old Wine in New Bottles,” performed by the winds and brass of the orchestra, and Edvard Grieg’s “Two Elegiac Melodies,” performed by the strings. There will be a live Q&A session immediately following the recorded performance with Music Professor and conductor David Arrivée, the soloists and other students. Tickets are sold at the Performing Arts Center, ext. 6-4849. For more information, visit the Music Department calendar website.
‘Floor Plan’ to Start Streaming March 13
The Theatre and Dance Department will present “Floor Plan” by Cal Poly’s Orchesis Dance Company. Streaming begins on March 13 and will play through the rest of this academic year. “Floor Plan” takes viewers on a tour of a house inhabited by dancers. Room by room, movers utilize the space through gesture and the partnering of furniture and walls before leading the audience to the next doorway where another performer awaits. Through video editing, the individual areas within each dancer’s house will unify into one unique structure as exhibited on an actual blueprint. Choreographers include Cal Poly faculty and students plus local and out-of-state guests with the entire creative process occurring through virtual communication. Learn more.
Cal Poly Choirs to Present ‘Breathe in Hope’ Virtual Concert on March 13
The choirs will present “Breathe in Hope,” a virtual winter concert that will feature a variety of selections on the theme of perseverance and hope at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 13. PolyPhonics will perform music by Camille Saint-Saëns and influential African American composer Adolphus Hailstork. The University Singers will present music by André Thomas, plus Ernst Toch’s celebrated “Geographical Fugue.” Dale Trumbore’s “Breathe in Hope” will be performed by the Cal Poly Women’s Chorus. The piece is based on a Facebook post in response to the killing of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. The Cal Poly Chamber Choir will present a special mass with movements from a variety of Renaissance composers that showcase the development of the genres in that period. Scott Glysson conducts the Cal Poly Choirs, which are accompanied by Paul Woodring. Tickets are sold at the Performing Arts Center, ext. 6-4849. For more information, visit the Music Department calendar website.
Cal Poly Wind Bands Virtual Concert Rescheduled to March 14
The Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra’s virtual concert titled “Community” has been rescheduled to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14. “Music has the ability to bring together minds and souls,” Director of Bands Christopher J. Woodruff said. “For this concert, the members of the Cal Poly Wind Bands explore the connections between individuals that make us part of a larger whole, whether they are performing in person or remotely. We are excited to have this performance recorded in the Performing Arts Center’s Miossi Hall, which offers the student musicians an acoustical experience that brings out the best possible musical communication.” Compositions by Katherine Bergman, Percy Grainger and Rossano Galante will be performed. Woodruff and Associate Director of Bands Nicholas P. Waldron will conduct the concert. Tickets are sold at the Performing Arts Center, ext. 6-4849. For more information, visit the Music Department calendar website.
‘Feats of Filmmaking’ Airs on Cal Poly Arts Website March 17
For the past two years, Cal Poly Arts, in partnership with the Performing Arts Center, has presented a wildly popular series of evocative speakers from National Geographic Live. During this pandemic closure, Cal Poly Arts is continuing that tradition with a new four-part, virtual speaker series. Each 60-minute virtual event will include stories and visuals; live, moderated conversation; and audience Q&A. Tickets are $16.50 per device, per event. The second event in the series, “Feats of Filmmaking,” airs via the Cal Poly Arts website at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, and introduces two filmmakers renowned for capturing extreme feats of adventure in some of the world’s most remote and inhospitable environments. Based out of British Columbia, Bryan Smith brings stories of adventure to the screen from the South Pacific’s deepest canyons to the frozen waters of Niagara Falls. Keith Ladzinski takes on the seemingly impossible — including chasing tornadoes, hanging from massive natural arches, and swimming with alligators — to document the endeavors of the world’s most elite adventurers.
Event Postings
Events.calpoly.edu is a new platform that shines a spotlight on high-profile special events at Cal Poly and throughout our community, focusing on the wide and diverse range of activities on and around our campus. This site is designed to help our colleges, programs, departments and facilities promote exciting events that can be seen by a selected audience. It will update regularly and include events happening in the next 30-45 days. It is not a calendar of all events, and it does not include student club events. Here are some links to help you navigate:
Submitting an Event to Events.calpoly.edu
To submit your event for consideration, please send the event title, date, time, duration, ticket information, intended audience(s) and image (1600 bpi wide) to event-submission@calpoly.edu.
University Events Calendar
To find a listing of all events — such as performances, lectures, workshops and more — visit our Master Calendar.
Scheduling/Booking Venues
25Live: Space and Event Scheduling can help you schedule or book a venue for an upcoming on-campus event.