Special Visit 2025

Steering Committee

 

The Steering Committee is meeting monthly to help guide the production of the special visit report, to review WSCUC best practices, and to prepare for the visit in fall 2025.
 

Membership

Name	Title	Division
Melissa Furlong	Executive Director of Admissions and Enrollment Development	Strategic Enrollment Management
Daniel Grassian	Senior Vice Provost	Academic Affairs
Andrew Morris	Executive Director Accreditation Liaison Officer	Academic Programs and Planning
Maureen O'Connor	Executive Assistant to the Associate Provost	Academic Innovations and Programs
Jamie S. Patton	Associate Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion	Student Affairs
Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti	Associate Vice President for DEI Academic Initiatives	Office of University Diversity and Inclusion
Teshia Roby	Associate Provost	Academic Innovations and Programs

Working Group 1: "Continued progress on initiatives intended to increase student diversity and belonging"

 

Group Co-Leads

• Melissa Furlong, Executive Director of Admissions and Enrollment Development
• Alexis Melville Burrell, Director, Cal Poly Scholars

Membership

Name	Title	Division
Kelly Bennion	Associate Professor, Department of Psychology & Child Development; BEACoN Faculty Fellow, Office of University Diversity & Inclusion; Associate Director, University Honors Program; UNIV 100 Coordinator, Cal Poly Scholars	Academic Affairs; Office of University Diversity and Inclusion
Gerrie Hatten	Executive Director	Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
Jane Lehr	Professor, Ethnic Studies and Women's, Gender & Queer Studies; Director, Office of Student Research; Director of Research Engagement, College of Liberal Arts	Academic Affairs; Division of Research
Beth Merritt Miller	Assistant Vice Provost	University Advising
Christina Sholars	Coordinator, Black Academic Excellence Center	Student Affairs
Roger Wang	Director, Educational Opportunity Program	Student Affairs

 

Relevant WSCUC Standards

1. Defining Institutional Mission and Acting with Integrity
2. Achieving Educational Objectives and Student Success
3. Assuring Resources and Organizational Structures
4. Creating an Institution Committed to Quality Assurance and Improvement
    

Relevant Criteria for Review (CFRs):

1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 2.10, 2.13, 2.14, 3.1, 3.10, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.5

 

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Main Task

This section of the Special Visit report will include an inventory of initiatives designed to increase student diversity and equity, as well as the development of, and assessment using, metrics measuring the success of these initiatives.

 

Important Topics to Be Studied and Addressed

Programs, Initiatives, Units that focus on diversity and equity within three categories:

1. Recruitment and Orientation
2. Sense of Belonging
3. Academic Success and Research

Guiding Questions to Be Researched

1. What are the metrics that Cal Poly uses to define success in the university initiatives that are intended to increase student diversity and equity?
2. What data needs to be generated in order to employ these metrics successfully?
3. What might this data enable the campus to do better?
4. What university-level measures (i.e., campus climate survey, strategic plan) can be used to strengthen these student DEI initiatives? How will we "close the loop"?

Main Forms of Evidence to Be Consulted:

1. Correlation between participation in specific student initiatives and yield rates, persistence and graduation rates, and equity gaps disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, first-generation status, Pell eligibility (if possible), and college.
2. Focus group data

 

Working Group 2: "Progress in development of integrated and cohesive DEI plan"

 

Group Lead

• Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, Associate Vice President for DEI Academic Initiatives, Office of University Diversity and Inclusion and Office of the Provost

Membership

Name	Title	Division
Farah Al-Nakib	Associate Professor, Department of History	Academic Affairs
Jerusha Greenwood	Chair, Academic Senate; Professor, Department of Experience Industry Management	Academic Senate; Academic Affairs
Dawn Janke	Executive Director, Office of Writing and Learning	Academic Innovations and Programs
Sarah Macdonald	Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Teaching, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology	Academic Innovations and Programs
Beya Makekau	Assistant Vice President for Strategic Planning and Networks	Office of University Diversity and Inclusion
Cat Placencia	Director of Housing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion	Student Affairs

 

Relevant WSCUC Standards

1. Defining Institutional Mission and Acting with Integrity
2. Assuring Resources and Organizational Structures
3. Creating an Institution Committed to Quality Assurance and Improvement
    

Relevant Criteria for Review (CFRs):

1.2, 3.4, 3.10, 3.11, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.8

 

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Main Task

This section of the Special Visit report will address the issues of how to expand and integrate DEI planning across Cal Poly's divisions.

 

Important Topics to Be Studied and Addressed

1. Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) project
2. CSU Black Student Success Initiative

Guiding Questions to Be Researched

1. What progress has been made in DEI planning across the university?
2. What obstacles have there been to DEI planning?
3. How can division- and unit-level DEI planning be integrated and become more impactful?
4. What are the metrics that the units will track? How will success be defined using these metrics?
5. How will the results of these measures be shared publicly?

Main Forms of Evidence to Be Consulted:

1. Division and unit action plans
2. GI 2025 and graduation/retention equity gaps
3. Course- and instructor-specific equity gaps
4. Cluster hires
5. HSI planning: Executive report
6. CSU Black Student Success Initiative: specific goals that align with DEI action plans