Over 200 Cal Poly Pomona students presented at the 9th Annual Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activities (RSCA) Conference this year, which was held virtually for the first time.  The March 6 conference, hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), welcomed over 530 attendees made up of student presenters, families, faculty, staff, moderators, judges, volunteers, and alumni keynote speakers. “The students and their faculty mentors went above and beyond in conducting research during a pandemic and sharing their results on an unfamiliar platform. The quality of their work is fantastic, and their resilience is inspiring,” said Professor Winny Dong, faculty director of the OUR. The conference was made up of …

Navigating the college experience can be daunting for new students; a mentorship program launching this fall, Bronco Navigators, aims to help. Bronco Navigators will help incoming freshmen and transfer students find their way at Cal Poly Pomona by linking them one-on-one with continuing students who will share their background, interests, and aspirations. Mentees will regularly connect with their mentor throughout the academic year and use an online platform for discussion guides and goal setting. The program will help students, especially those from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds, navigate many aspects of the college experience, from work-life balance to networking. Students can also reach out at any time to their mentor with …

The Department of Interdisciplinary General Education (IGE) hosted alumna Rebecca Mikhaylov as its Professor for a Day. Mikhaylov talked to students about her journey from IGE to her position as an assistant section manager at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena at the March 11 event. Professor for a Day, held annually, gives alumni an opportunity to speak in a classroom setting. The program celebrates alumni achievements and gives current students the opportunity to learn how their education applies to the real world. This year’s format was held virtually on Zoom.   Mikhaylov, who holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, manages JPL’s Payload and Small …

Scott W. Dunn, an alumnus and longtime supporter of the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center, died on March 22. He was 68. Mr. Dunn (’78, agricultural business management) had served on the President’s Arabian Advisory Committee since joining the panel in April 2012. The committee was created to support the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center and consists of members who are Arabian horse experts. As a committee member, Mr. Dunn was integral in planning the center’s 75th anniversary celebration in 2013. However, Mr. Dunn’s connection with the horse center began much earlier. His father, Norman Dunn, was the center’s director for the more than 20 years and was responsible for …

Cal Poly Pomona is engaged in a comprehensive and strategic effort to reopen campus safely, according to presentations by campus leadership at the spring Campus Conversation. Broadcast via webinar on April 8, President Soraya M. Coley and senior campus leadership shared the latest information on the breadth of campus preparation and laid out the campus’ strategy for robust in-person activity on campus, with a particular emphasis on the Fall 2021 semester. Over the past month, Los Angeles County has moved from the most restrictive tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy to the second least restrictive category, and on April 6, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that if …

For some trying to get a COVID-19 vaccination appointment for themselves or their loved ones, navigating the online system to sign up, driving to the site and making it through the line — the process can feel a little daunting. That anxiety was eased for Cecilia Santiago-González, in large part, because she was able to get her mother, Rosa, an appointment at a place she knows well – Cal Poly Pomona. Since Feb. 5, the campus has served as a  mass vaccination hub run by a consortium of health organizations and led by Kaiser Permanente. So far, 204,000 people have been vaccinated at the site. Even though the hub …

Dennis Loo, a longtime sociology professor, journalist and activist, died March 6 at La Jolla Scripps Memorial Hospital. He was 69. Loo, who suffered from multiple system atrophy for many years, died peacefully in his sleep. As the Honolulu, Hawaii native left this world, he was listening to Hawaiian music played on a cell phone by his nurse. He is survived by his wife Barbara and son Stefan. Upon graduating from Punahou School, Loo traveled 5,000 miles east to attend Harvard University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in government. It was at Harvard that his career as a journalist and activist began, having been exposed to …

Dedicated spaces for studying and reliable internet access are basic student needs during virtual instruction. Now, due to newly released guidelines by the LA County Public Health department, Cal Poly Pomona is addressing this need by offering on-campus study spaces in lecture halls 1001 and 1002 in the College of Business Administration (Building 162). “We learned of instances where students had been driving to campus to park their car to access WiFi, or didn’t have a quiet space to do their course work,” said Leticia Gutierrez-Lopez, associate vice president for student health and wellbeing. “As soon as LA County moved in to the red tier and lifted some restrictions, we …

From doctored videos of political speeches on social media to unsubstantiated claims about the presidential election results to conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19, it seems 2020 was a wild ride for everyone consuming media and trying to determine fact from fiction. A new pop-up course coming in the fall focuses on media bias and aims to help students understand the psychology of why people believe in misinformation and conspiracy. The offering, the third pop-up class the Office of Academic Innovation has hosted, is titled “Lies, Damned Lies, and Politics: Confronting the Threats of Misinformation, Conspiracy Theories and Polarization” (CPU 1540). Marketing Assistant Professor Randy Stein, Political Science Associate …