Provost Communication, Monday, October 21, 2024

Good morning and happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend and were able to enjoy some of the activities with students and families during Lumberjack weekend. It was particularly fun to see students, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff enjoying The Beach Boys show. I also enjoyed hearing from alumni and donors how much they enjoyed the forest walk with Erin Kelly, the maker space tour with Lonny Grafman, and the Biomechanics lab by Justus Ortega. Thanks to all of the faculty, staff, and students who made Lumberjack weekend a success.

Engineering and Technology Groundbreaking

This past Thursday, October 17, 2024, we held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Engineering and Technology building. It was wonderful to come together with staff, faculty, community partners, and our construction and building teams. I was especially pleased to be able to “throw dirt” with President Spagna, Dean Eric Riggs, Eileen Cashman, and Dale Oliver among many others. For those of you who are watching the progress of the build, you can also tune into our YouTube channel which is live at the site here. 

Capital Campaign Success- 59.5 Million Dollars Raised

Also, last Thursday, the university celebrated the success of Cal Poly Humboldt's first capital campaign and the historic raising of 59.5 million dollars for the university. There were 10.7K donors, 44K total donations, and 294 new donor-funded scholarships. This amount significantly exceeded the initial and revised goals. Thanks to everyone who has donated or participated in supporting donor relations and activities.  

Reminder: URPC Budget Forum 101 Information is tomorrow Tuesday, October 22, 2024 

The University Resources and Planning Committee (URPC) of the University Senate, in collaboration with the University Budget Office, will be holding an Open Forum for the Campus Community tomorrow Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 11:30 - 1:00 pm in the SAC 131 the Banquet Room. The purpose of this forum is to introduce University budgeting concepts, processes, timelines, and the functions of the URPC. This will be followed by a presentation on the state of the budget at Cal Poly Humboldt as well as developments at the State and CSU system level that impact our campus budget. Lunch will be provided.

Questions can be submitted ahead of time at OAAVP@humboldt.edu. Please submit your questions by today Monday, October 21, 2024, by 12 pm.

Advising Assessment Information

Last year, through the leadership of Loren Collins, the university began a year-long university advising assessment conducted by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) to assist us in identifying our strengths and opportunities in the advising of our students. You can view the results of the assessment by clicking on the NACADA Review slides. Advising by faculty and professional advisors yielded many positives. Some of the recommendations offered include:

• Campus-wide communication plan

• Informal campus-wide purpose statement with integrated DEI principles 

• Create a transfer student onboarding experience

• Standardize expectations for faculty advising

• Create a system to track student advising (Slate in progress)

• Expand on early alerts and interventions

I am looking forward to using this comprehensive assessment to continue to improve the success of our students. Thank you to all who participated in this work.

Have a great Monday.

Jenn

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Jenn Capps, PhD 

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs 

Cal Poly Humboldt