Dean's Message

Dear Alumni and Friends,

 

Every day, I am impressed by the accomplishments of CAED students and by their desire to engage with the world. From their award-winning performance in national and international competitions, to their volunteer work helping people across the globe improve environments, they are passionate about creating places that transform communities and optimistic about the future. Our students ask important questions about how to integrate social, ecological, technical and economic imperatives, and how to make future generations better prepared when disaster strikes. Under the guidance of expert faculty, they explore ambitious goals in areas such as climate action planning, locally sourced construction, material recycling, water conservation, affordable housing, net zero systems and earthquake resistance. This work takes many forms as students engage across CAED’s disciplines and collaborate with external partners. Recent projects include a proposed wellness district for Midtown Ventura, new homes to replace those destroyed by the Weed fire, wall construction prototypes for a school in Tanzania, a PV system in Belize, and post-disaster reconnaissance in Nepal and Mexico City.

Another year of stellar rankings affirm the high quality of our programs for education in sustainable, adaptive and resilient design. I am especially proud to announce that this year’s DesignIntelligence surveys of deans and department heads at U.S. accredited schools ranked Cal Poly’s undergraduate architecture and landscape architecture programs as No. 1 in the nation among peers.

With the assistance of strategic planning expert Paul Hamalian (Construction Management, ‘88) Honored Alumnus and member of the Dean’s Leadership Council, the CAED created the 2017- 22 strategic plan in true Learn by Doing fashion. The yearlong effort, led by a core engagement team comprised of students, faculty and staff from across the college’s departments, included outreach to all members of the college community through workshops, stakeholder meetings, surveys and proposals from individuals. The result is a plan for fostering CAED community through actions that welcome, develop together and look forward. Read the complete text online at: caed.calpoly.edu/strategic-planning

As always, we extend our thanks to those of you who are able to generously share your experience in classes, on alumni councils, with student clubs and at job fairs, and for welcoming Cal Poly students to your workplaces and collaborating with them on projects. As innovative partners for faculty and extraordinary role models for students, you are key to our Learn by Doing success.

Our students travel far in pursuit of learning, and our alumni’s influence is far reaching, but there is no place like home...All roads lead back to SLO.

I look forward to seeing you at Cal Poly sometime soon,

Christine Theodoropoulos

AIA, PE