Cal Poly Employees Eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine in SLO County
All current employees, including student employees, who want to be vaccinated can now sign up for San Luis Obispo County’s Vaccine Appointment Registry to get a first-dose appointment at one of the county’s three vaccine clinics. Employees can sign up online or by calling the County Phone Assistance Center at 805-543-2444 or 805-781-4280 (seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). University employees who live outside the county are still eligible for a vaccine at a county site based on their employment at Cal Poly. Employees will need to verify employment at the county site by showing a photo ID and a recent pay stub. If a pay stub is not available, employees can verify employment with a PolyCard that establishes your role at the university or with a Cal Poly badge specific to your job. If possible, fill out, print and bring the medical screening form to your appointment to help quicken the process. Review these frequently asked questions on Cal Poly’s vaccine page to help prepare for your appointment. In addition, several local pharmacies listed on recoverslo.org are also offering COVID-19 vaccines to the education sector, including Cal Poly employees. Contact these pharmacies directly for more information and to confirm they are providing appointments to higher education employees. Employees are highly encouraged to receive the vaccine when eligible but are not currently required to be vaccinated. Learn more about the vaccines and the vaccination process on county public health’s frequently asked questions page and the Cal Poly coronavirus website’s vaccine page for more information.
COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Check: Do mRNA vaccines affect my DNA?
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 whether certain COVID-19 vaccines impact someone’s DNA. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19, work by harnessing your cells to make a viral protein, and that protein triggers an immune response inside your body. This immune response includes producing infection-fighting antibodies specifically designed to protect you from getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 and developing symptoms of COVID-19. mRNA is not the same as DNA and cannot combine with DNA to change your genetic code. Additionally, mRNA is relatively fragile and only lasts in your cell for about 72 hours before degrading. mRNA vaccines do not affect or interact with DNA in any way, as mRNA from the vaccine never enters the nucleus of the cell, where DNA is stored. The Center for Disease Control’s mRNA vaccines webpage has more information. To learn more about vaccines available 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.
Professor Co-Authors Study Showing Humans Contribute to Nuisance Tidal Flooding
Human interventions in many coastal areas across the U.S. — including construction of piers and jetties and harbor dredging — have contributed to nuisance flooding, according to a study co-authored by engineering Professor Stefan Talke. The interventions have combined with rising sea levels in these areas to exacerbate the impact of climate change. While the so-called “sunny day flooding” might not be deadly, it can destroy property, overload stormwater systems, impact travel, and cost municipalities money, according to the study funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the journal Science Advances. “Any change to an estuary that alters the likelihood of flooding or erosion is potentially problematic since our infrastructure — from homes to sea walls — was built with a static, unchanging system in mind,” Talke said. Learn more about the study.
Help A&F Focus Forward and Win Prizes
After a challenging year, it's time to Focus Forward. But first we need to look back. On Wednesday, April 7, Administration and Finance will launch the next iteration of its annual customer satisfaction survey. Renamed Focus Forward, the survey will reach out to A&F constituents for feedback on the division’s services over the past year. Responses will provide us valuable feedback needed for continuous improvement. Open to all faculty, staff and students, Focus Forward will launch on April 7 and remain open through April 30. While the survey covers every unit and department within A&F, campus community members are being asked to complete the sections relevant to them. For every section that participants complete they will be entered into a drawing for an IPad Mini or more than 60 other prizes. More information on the survey, prizes and a link to participate are available at afd.calpoly.edu/survey.
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 [email protected].
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.
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.
Short SSO Outage Planned for March 21
A five- to 10-minute outage of Cal Poly’s single sign-on service (SSO) is expected at 7 a.m. Sunday, March 21, as Information Technology Services (ITS) prepares to perform an upgrade. During this time, the Cal Poly community will be unable to log in to the My Cal Poly Portal, email and calendar, Zoom, Canvas and any other services that require authentication with a Cal Poly username and password. The work being done on March 21 is in preparation for upgrading the SSO service and migrating it to the cloud in April. If you have questions, contact the ITS Service Desk online via Support Center, via email at [email protected], or by calling ext. 6-7000.
Account Requests Are Moving to Support Center
Beginning spring quarter, Cal Poly account requests, including the creation or renewal of temporary guest accounts and the creation of new shared department accounts, will be managed through Information Technology Services’ (ITS) virtual Support Center. The Support Center is an online portal that offers a user-friendly interface and streamlined forms where the Cal Poly community can request tech support or one of the many other services that ITS offers. It allows requesters to track the progress of their requests and receive automated updates via email. Previously, account requests have been managed through the Service Request System (SRS), accessed through the Technical Service Request link under My Apps in the My Cal Poly portal. A few specialized services, like software downloads and Common Management System (CMS) requests, are still managed in SRS as ITS takes a phased approach to improving the way students, faculty and staff access technology services. The ITS Service Desk can answer questions. Request support online via Support Center, via email at [email protected], or by calling ext. 6-7000.
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 Advisor Training Series to be Held in Spring
University Advising is offering a Faculty Advisor Training Series that introduces undergraduate faculty advisors to academic advising core competencies. The series includes:
- FA 101: Nuts and Bolts of Faculty Advising: April 16.
- FA 102: Assemble Your Faculty Advising Toolkit: April 30.
- FA 103: Building Student Success through Faculty Advising: May 7.
Learn more about the Faculty Advisor Training series. Anyone with questions can contact Christina Wolfe-Chandler, advisor training coordinator, at [email protected] or ext. 6-5735.
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 [email protected]. 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. Access the Zoom here. 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 [email protected].
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.
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:
- 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.
Marcy Maloney, executive director of ASI is retiring March 19. Maloney earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration and a master’s degree in education from Cal Poly. She joined ASI as a graduate assistant in 1988 and was given the responsibility to work on the final design efforts for the original Cal Poly Recreation Center, ensuring that no detail was missed and that members would have a comprehensive and high-quality experience. This opportunity engrained in Maloney the importance of empowering students and ASI’s responsibility to provide experiences that support the organization's vision of connecting students to their ultimate college experience. As the executive director of ASI for the past nine years, Maloney has been responsible for the overall strategic management of the organization, including its programs and managed facilities. She has worked closely with the ASI board of directors on principal student matters and was integral to the completion of the $72 million Recreation Center expansion project. Maloney’s impact at ASI and throughout campus will be felt long after she begins her retirement. Maloney plans to enjoy her retirement by spending time with friends and family, traveling when she is able, continuing her passion of teaching pilates, playing golf and enjoying the outdoors.
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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘The Muse Hour’ Returns for a Second Season Starting March 27
Cal Poly Arts has announced the return of its lauded virtual music and conversation series, “The Muse Hour,” for a second season. Produced in cooperation with Tacoma Arts Live in Washington and The Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa, the new five-part series opens at 7:30 p.m. March 27, with the new chapter in the hilarious one-man show “God is a Scottish Drag Queen Pandemic Edition,” from creators Mike and Chantelle Delamont. God, dressed in a floral power suit, comes out of quarantine to expound on everything — from washing your hands to booty smooches in an all-new, side-splitting hour of pandemic-style comedy. This event includes a prerecorded performance, followed by a live virtual and moderated Q&A session with Mike Delamont. Tickets to the second season of “The Muse Hour” are $11.50 per device, per event, and current VIP members at the $75 Cameo Level and up receive free access to all of “The Muse Hour” events. Visit calpolyarts.org for more information.
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 [email protected].
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.