Cal Poly Physics Professor and Students
Explore Mysteries of the Universe in Italy
A Cal Poly physics professor and his students are among teams of international scholars trying to solve one of the biggest mysteries in particle physics. Thomas Gutierrez is among more than 150 leading international scientists taking part in the research. Gutierrez is the principal investigator of a recently awarded $340,000, three-year National Science Foundation grant. Researchers hail from U.S. universities including UC Berkeley, UCLA, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins and Cal Poly, as well as top European and Asian educational institutions. The research facility is the largest underground laboratory in the world devoted to neutrino and astroparticle physics.
Joy Pedersen Named
Interim Dean of Student Affairs at Cal Maritime
Cal Poly Dean of Students Joy Pedersen will serve as the interim dean of student affairs at Cal Maritime effective Dec. 1 until July 1. During this time, David Groom will serve as interim dean of students at Cal Poly. He can be reached at [email protected]. The dean of students serves as the point of contact for student crisis intervention and is responsible for directly supporting student success and well-being.
Learn more about the dean of students’ office
Enterprise Risk Management
Takes Home National Innovation Award
The Enterprise Risk Management team won the EHSQ Digital Innovation Award at the Verdantix Environmental Health and Safety Innovation Awards Americas 2024. The international honor recognizes the team’s commitment to workplace safety and environmental responsibility through transformative technology. Environmental Health & Safety Director Nilay Gami accepted the award, recognizing the EHS team, Facilities Operations and Housing for embracing AI tools that assist employees in reducing their ergonomic risk. Bill Pennington, vice president of Research at Verdantix, praised Cal Poly for its innovative approach and hoped Cal Poly’s success would inspire others to embrace technology and drive positive change.
Submit Nominations
2024-25 Outstanding Staff Award
Staff employees, faculty members and department or division heads are encouraged to submit nominations for the Outstanding Staff Award. The deadline to submit a nomination for the 2024-25 award is Friday, Jan. 17. To be eligible, nominees must be permanent, full-time employees of the university, corporation or ASI, who have completed at least three years of employment as of Dec. 31, 2024 (10-month employees are eligible). Employees represented by bargaining Unit 3 (faculty), former recipients of the award, and student assistants are not eligible.
View the criteria and nomination form
Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Winter Professional Development Opportunities
The winter quarter lineup of professional development offerings for campus educators from the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology is now live! Offerings include: Artificial Intelligence Buffet, Assignment and Assessment Design, Building Toward Equity, Creating Accessible Course Materials, Examining Whiteness, Inclusive Course Design: Implementing the UDL Guidelines, Introduction to Equitable and Inclusive Teaching, Creating a Blended/Hybrid Course, Writers' Sprints, and Cultivating Connections Part 2. Learn more on the CTLT Workshops web page.
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Last Chance to Donate
Mustang Holiday Gift Drive
There are just three days left to contribute to the Mustang Holiday Gift Drive, supporting local children and families in need. Pick up a gift tag at one of the campus’s Giving Tower locations—Recreation Center Lobby (No. 43), second floor of the UU (No. 65) or outside the Mustang Success Center (No. 52, Room D37)—or donate online through the Center for Service in Action’s direct giving link. The CSA has fulfilled 267 of the 428 requested gifts so far. Please drop off newly purchased, unwrapped gifts by Friday, Dec. 6, at the CSA office (No. 113, Room L119).
Donate to Mustang Holiday Gift Drive
Registration Open
Winter with ASI
Exciting news! Registration for ASI winter quarter programs is NOW OPEN! You can expect new and returning offerings from ASI Fitness, ASI Aquatics, ASI Poly Escapes and more. Registration at the ASI Craft Center will open at 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6. Another quarter brings exciting opportunities to elevate your time on campus.
Cal Poly Choirs – Dec 6
Eighth Annual ‘Holiday Kaleidoscope’
The choirs’ “Holiday Kaleidoscope” concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in the Performing Arts Center. Cantabile, Chamber Choir, PolyPhonics and University Singers will collaborate with local music groups including the Paso Robles High School Choir and the Cabrillo Madrigal Singers from Lompoc. A Cal Poly Orchestra of 30 students will perform with the choirs on several selections and accompany festive carols for a singalong with the audience. Cal Poly’s popular a cappella groups Take it SLO and That’s the Key will each perform a set.
Visit the Music Department’s Website
Performance – Dec 7
Arab Music Ensemble and Chookasian Armenian Concert
The Arab Music Ensemble will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Performing Arts Center, with the Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble: John Chookasian on clarinet, Barbara Chookasian on lead vocals, Ishmael on kanun, Paul Ohanesian on oud, and Mark Toomajian on dumbeg. There will be a suite of Arab art and popular music, choir works and contemporary dance pieces. There will also be traditional and popular Armenian music genres with solos, and the ensembles will join to perform “Ah Ya Zayn” (“Oh Beautiful”), a folksong arranged by AME Director Ken Habib.
Visit the Music Department’s Website
Three Cal Poly Bands Present Bandfest – Dec. 8
'The Fast and the Furious’ Concert
The Mustang Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra will perform at Bandfest at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9 in the Performing Arts Center. The concert is inspired by composer John Mackey’s hair-raising “Redline Tango” depicting the experience of redlining an engine that the Wind Ensemble will play. The Wind Orchestra’s set will include “Honey Boys on Parade,” which recalls the dazzling circus marches of the 1910s, and Mustang Band will close the concert with arrangements of popular music and Cal Poly school songs that the group performs for Cal Poly Athletics events.
Visit the Music Department’s Website
Holiday Festival and Sing-Along – Dec 21
SLO Master Chorale’s Messiah
Join SLO Master Chorale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 in the Performing Arts Center for their annual Holiday Festival performance featuring the great choruses from Handel’s ever-popular masterpiece, “Messiah.” Experience the magic of the Forbes Pipe Organ, played by Cal Poly University Organist Paul Woodring. Hear traditional carols and arrangements for chorus, organ, and orchestra with a guest appearance from Los Angeles’s Westwood Brass. It’s a family tradition!
Civic Ballet of SLO – Dec 13-15
'The Nutcracker’
Civic Ballet of SLO’s annual performance of “The Nutcracker” returns with four performances happening Dec. 13–15 at the Performing Arts Center. For over 40 years, the Civic Ballet of SLO has presented this holiday classic. Lori Lee Silvaggio’s “The Nutcracker” is filled with all the pageantry, magic and wonder that have made this one of the most enduring holiday traditions around the globe. Featuring a full live orchestra, sterling production values and San Luis Obispo County’s finest dancers, this is a ballet experience you won’t want to miss. This event has a senior (65+) and youth (under 12) discount.
Ring in the New Year – Dec 31
SLO Symphony’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’
SLO Symphony presents ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ a New Year’s Eve Pops concert featuring pianist Maxim Lando at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 at the Performing Arts Center. Lando will perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 10.” The concert also will feature Michael Abels’ “Global Warming,” referencing thawing of international relations in the 1990s, and film composers’ music including John Williams’ “A Hymn to New England,” selections from Williams’ “Home Alone” score, and Alan Silvestri’s “Polar Express Suite.” The symphony will celebrate the arrival of the New Year with the East Coast Ball Drop countdown.