I Work at Cal Poly

by Sean Vahey

I work at Cal Poly,” I said, in response to a question from a woman I had just met at a social gathering.

“Oh! What do you teach?” she asked.

I figured my gray hair lent a certain distinguished appearance that implied professorship but I said, “I don’t teach, I work in Information Technology, supporting student success initiatives.”

“Oh.”

Apparently, there was an urgent need for her at the appetizer table, as this conversation ended shortly thereafter. Of course, that was okay with me, I’m a computer programmer and not well versed in the art of human communication.

The nature of that interaction is not uncommon and I find one aspect of it particularly interesting.

When I meet someone who tells me they work at a hospital, I do not assume they are a doctor or nurse. If I have an element of curiosity and thirty seconds available for an involved conversation, I say, “Oh, cool, what do you do there?”

I find it interesting, however, that when it comes to educational institutions, people unfamiliar with the details of such operations generally assume everyone employed there is directly – very directly – involved in instruction. It turns out, that is not the case. Cal Poly has a faculty and staff count of roughly 3400 with just about 1600 of those being instructors, lecturers, professors, and deans.

Cal Poly’s outstanding faculty dedicate their lives to deliver on the promise of the university. At Cal Poly, the faculty are not just quite adept at instructing and mentoring but also have real-life experience in the industries and businesses for which they are training the students. This informed and experienced leadership and mentoring results in industry-ready graduates for which Cal Poly is renown. That is a large part of what makes Cal Poly stand out among the campuses of the California State University system.

My working at the university has shown me that many of the non-instructor staff add substantial value to the final product of the university. I enjoy working with many dedicated individuals who work diligently and are very effective in their areas of responsibility.

I work in a small team of computer software professionals. We develop systems that collect data from various campus sources and transform the raw data into useful information. Administrators and faculty use that information to improve programs and services supporting student life on campus. While developing the systems, we partner with faculty to understand what they consider to be meaningful metrics and how to best express them. It is this collaboration that makes the systems we develop enhance educational outcomes.

The student success initiative is a large undertaking which focuses on the important goals of identifying areas of risk which impede a successful student career and determining how we might mitigate those risks and promote success. This is one undertaking, among many, that our small group performs to support the instructional mission of the university.

There are many other teams, some more visible than others, that support students’ educational careers. All these people “work at Cal Poly” but are not instructors. Staff members do their part so the instructional professionals can deliver high-quality services to their students.

It takes a lot more than instructors to provide an education to college students and we are all proud to do our parts. The energy and spirit on campus, seeing the annual in-flux and out-flow of eager and capable young minds, and knowing we are contributing to the outcome, are energizing to staff and it is quite satisfying playing a part in the process.

I work at Cal Poly. And I promote student success.