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Everywhere you look, Learn by Doing is in full view at the Cal Poly campus. More than
just a motto, Learn by Doing is the heart of this university. Since its founding in
1901, Cal Poly has evolved from a vocational school of 20 students into a premiere comprehensive
polytechnic university of over 18,000 students. We have more than 2600 faculty and staff,
with a special hands-on approach at the very core of the curriculum.
Classes emphasize active learning and feature real-life laboratory and field work in state-of-the-art
facilities. With a total of 9,700 acres, Cal Poly is one
of the largest landholding universities in the country. Cal Poly uses the land in more
than 5 million square feet of facilities to actively support the education of our students.
The expansion of on-campus housing now accommodates nearly 7,000 students—more than 30 percent
of our enrollment. Cal Poly's Master Plan was approved by the
board of trustees in 2001 to chart the course for development over 20 years. The plan raised
the enrollment ceiling by 20 percent to a headcount of nearly 21,000 students, and expanded
our focus from the campus core to adjacent ranch land to the west.
We have strengthened the academic core by creating four campus centers: the central
district, northwest and northeast satellite centers, and the residential center. Vehicle
traffic and parking has been limited to the outer edges to make the university more pedestrian-
and environmentally-friendly. We are achieving our goals of making the university
more sustainable. In 2010-11 approximately $7 million was invested in efficiency improvements.
Despite the addition of thousands of on-campus residents, energy use per square foot is lower
today than it was 10 years ago. Under the Master Plan, all major capital building
renovations will be built to LEED certification or equivalent, and we will convert one existing
building to achieve LEED status or equivalent every three years. Between the buildings already
LEED-certified, and those under construction or in the process of LEED certification, over
one third of the campus will soon be LEED-certified. We are proud of the 15 projects Cal Poly has
completed in the last 12 years. They are as follows.
It's an exciting time of growth and achievement at Cal Poly. WE are well on our way to fulfilling
the goals of the Master Plan, and look forward to getting started on the next projects—including
the Academic Learning Center, the Learn by Doing Center, and additional student housing.
These projects, along with those completed since the approval of the Master Plan, will
benefit future generations of students, faculty and staff.