Impact Magazine 2023

Message from the Dean:

This past year, the College of Liberal Arts made signif-icant strides in advancing its vision of a liberal arts education sin fronteras: without borders, boundaries or barriers.

In January, Associate Dean Josh Machamer and I led a group of department chairs to visit partner institutions in the United Kingdom (University of Bir-mingham) and Germany (Hochschule der Medien) to strengthen ties and expand exchange opportunities for students in several majors. In an effort to remove barriers to a Cal Poly degree, we developed a new initiative in partnership with Allan Hancock College — the Cal Poly 2+2 Sociology Program. The pilot program, which is planned to launch in Fall 2024, will create a new pathway for transfer students wishing to complete a Cal Poly Sociology degree at the Allan Hancock campus in Santa Maria. The program is designed with a more flexible schedule, so that nontraditional students can experience Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing environment while balancing work and family responsibilities.

In May, we celebrated the opening of the James A. and Felicia M. Cashin Expressive Technology Studios in the new Frost Center for Research and Innovation, that will provide students with access to cutting edge immersive media technology to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of the arts, science and technology. And finally, we continued to grow the college’s Summer Undergraduate Research/Creative Activity Program (SURP), supporting the participation of 21 students in faculty-led projects this past summer.

After four years as dean, I continue to be optimistic about the future of the college and am grateful to each and every one of you for your dedication and support!

Best regards,
Philip Williams
Dean, College of Liberal Arts