“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” - W.B. Yeats

After four months, my understanding of the magic of Cal Poly and the Orfalea College of Business has grown significantly. Years of effort have created a virtuous loop driven by wicked smart students, faculty and staff dedicated to student success, a thriving alumni community that wants to help, and premier global companies that want to hire our students. Since summer we have created substantial momentum by:

For all of this progress, we are facing plenty of challenges. I know that maintaining the magic that exists here in our college will require significant work, but I also know that our effort is a worthy investment in the success of our learning community and the future of our students. I’m excited about working with you in 2015 to further our progress toward being the undisputable leader in experiential business education.

Sincerely,

Scott

Orfalea College of Business

T H E L O O PWINTER 2015

• Developing a new leadership structure and naming talented colleagues to key positions

• Hiring three new high-quality faculty to start in the fall of 2015• Engaging an architectural team to collect input on developing interior spaces

and raising $500,000 toward the project’s success (you’ll hear more about this in February)

• Hiring our first assistant dean for advancement and external relations • Cultivating a new M.S. in Data Analytics program with the help of Coraggio

Consultants and expertise from the likes of Google and Nike • Exploring a real estate program under the guidance of Point B Consultants,

who have spent time with faculty, students and employers• Launching the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs program that will enable 17

students to study at Draper University this winter• Hiring a new executive director of the Center for Accounting Excellence and

launching a search for an executive director for the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

• Hosting a dozen Executives in Residence during fall term, with similar plans for winter quarter

• Building new minors in accounting and entrepreneurship• Adding eight new members to the Dean’s Advisory Council from major

employers like Apple and Google

IN THE NEWS

BUSINESS STUDENTS STUDY AWAY AT DRAPER UNIVERSITY

This winter ten business students are participating in the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs program with Draper University and Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Students are taking accelerated entrepreneurship and ethics courses at Cal Poly for the first three weeks of the quarter with Orfalea College of Business faculty Tod Nelson and Tom Katona. For the remaining seven weeks, students will study away in Silicon Valley, building connections with entrepreneurial leaders and Cal Poly alumni in the region. http://goo.gl/g3sGjX

MARKETO SOFTWARE DEBUTS IN MARKETING CLASSROOMS

Marketing area faculty have announced a partnership with marketing software company Marketo to give students practical experience with automated marketing software. Professor Jeff Hess offered the first use of the software in his Strategic Marketing Measurement course this fall and will continue to evolve the curriculum in 2015. According to Marketo, this partnership with Cal Poly will serve as the foundation for the company’s strategy to create training programs focused on next-generation marketing technology for students throughout the U.S. http://goo.gl/QwBlKB

VITA PROGRAM PREPARES FOR TAX SEASON

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) is gearing up for a busy tax season. More than 90 IRS-certified accounting students will volunteer their time to prepare basic tax returns for residents of the Central Coast who make less than $53,000 a year. The clinic will be open in the Business Building (No. 3) from Jan. 30 through March 14. Students will also staff clinics in Grover Beach and Santa Maria. www.vita.calpoly.edu

ACCOUNTING CENTER WELCOMES SHERI BOSCARO

Sheri Boscaro will join Cal Poly as executive director of the college’s Center for Excellence in Accounting Education. The Accounting Center aims to sustain and enhance the resources of Cal Poly’s accounting program for students, faculty, alumni and future employers. The Accounting Center’s primary goal is to graduate 200 CPA-eligible students per academic year by 2017, roughly double the current amount. To accommodate more students, the center will gather support for additional tenured faculty fellowships and boost enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs. Boscaro brings more than 16 years of experience in accounting and leadership roles to the executive director position. http://goo.gl/YctNaH

STUDENT SUCCESS

MARKETING STUDENTS HELP STARTUPS, CORPORATIONS AND CAL POLY ORGANIZATIONS

This fall, marketing students provided valuable research and marketing strategies to local businesses and campus organizations. Teams in Lynn Metcalf’s BUS 454 class completed market research projects for Comevo, EveryTinyThing, MINDBODY Go, Cal Poly’s Solar Decathlon, Superior Solutions Manufacturing and The Cardboard Guys. Students in Joan Lindsey-Mullikin’s BUS 464 class partnered with Shell Oil to create and promote The Rational Middle screening event on campus. Stern Neill’s BUS 418 students assisted Cal Poly’s Office of Diversity and Inclusivity. And Jo Scholz’s BUS 418 students created sales development programs sponsored by Fastenal and Henry Shein Medical Supplies.

CAL POLY SCHOLARS PROGRAM EXTENDS TO BUSINESS STUDENTS

The Orfalea College of Business welcomed 21 freshmen from the Cal Poly Scholars program in the fall of 2014. The program, which launched in the College of Engineering in 2012, gives scholarships to underrepresented high school students who might not otherwise be able to attend Cal Poly. The program is specially adapted in the Orfalea College of Business to include a Freshmen Success Program through BUS 100 – Student Orientation and College Success, study abroad opportunities and incentives for four-year graduation. http://goo.gl/amWNzI

FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS VISIT PACK EXPO

In November nearly 30 industrial technology students traveled with staff and faculty to the Pack Expo trade show in Chicago, Ill. Cal Poly’s Packaging Program hosted an exhibitor booth in the educational pavilion, where students had the opportunity to meet with industry practitioners, promote the program, and explore the latest packaging technology trends displayed in other exhibitions. A team of Cal Poly students – alongside 11 other universities – competed in the Packaging Solution Student Competition in which students proposed a packaging solution for a real customer in the pet food industry.

FACULTY ACCOLADES

DOUG CERF NAMED ACCOUNTING AREA CHAIR

Beginning in 2015, Doug Cerf assumed the role of Accounting area chair. Doug, former interim dean of the Orfalea College of Business, played a key role in managing Scott Dawson’s transition as dean to the college last summer. He also currently serves as the interim executive director of Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and helps guide the potential hospitality initiatives on campus.

MICHAEL MARLOW’S RESEARCH MAKES HEADLINES

Economics Professor Michael Marlow’s article on the impact of government and market “nudges” toward healthier lifestyles has landed on the cover of Regulation, the Cato Institute’s quarterly journal. The article “Market Test or Government Guess?” is based on Marlow’s paper, “Weight loss Nudges: market test or government guess?” published in Sept. 2014. http://www.cato.org/regulation/winter-2014-2015

CAL POLY, STEVEN MINTZ RANKED FOR ACCOUNTING EDUCATION AND ETHICS RESEARCHCal Poly was ranked No. 32 overall for research in accounting education over the past six years in a 2014 survey published by Issues in Accounting Education. The ranking was due in large part to Professor Steven Mintz being ranked as a leading scholar in accounting education. The same survey also ranked Steven at No. 41 for scholars publishing in the field of accounting education since 2008. http://goo.gl/sF1Zgy

STUDENT SUCCESS (cont.)

LITC 5TH ANNIVERSARY

Cal Poly’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) celebrates its fifth anniversarythis January. To commemorate the event, program director Lisa Sperow will release a report detailing the impact LITC has made helping its clients resolve tax controversies with the IRS while educating the community about their rights and responsibilities as taxpayers. Cal Poly’s LITC is the only one of its kind in the region and the only non-law school academic clinic in the nation to participate in the United States Tax Court’s Calendar Call Program. Under the guidance of attorneys Lisa and Eddy Quijano, students have helped over 100 individuals and saved clients $542,204 from fall 2013 to fall 2014.

BUSINESS PROFESSIONALISM CERTIFICATE PROGRAM LAUNCHES

This winter the Orfalea College of Business is piloting a new Business Professionalism Certificate Program aimed at creating more career-ready graduates. The Business Professionalism Certificate will be awarded to students who attend five events in a series of career development workshops offered by the college’s advising center and Cal Poly Career Services. http://goo.gl/G3uKAt

BRENNAN DAVIS HONORED FOR MARKETING AND PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

Marketing Professor Brennan Davis was honored with the Thomas C. Kinnear/ Journal of Public Policy & Marketing Award at the annual American Marketing Association Educator’s Conference in 2014. The award honors articles that made the most significant contribution to the understanding of marketing and public policy issues within the last three years. Brennan coauthored the paper titled “From Nutrients to Nurturance: A Conceptual Introduction to Food Well-Being,” which proposed a shift from the “food as health” paradigm toward an understanding of “food as wellbeing.” http://goo.gl/9yiGTQ

LYNN METCALF NAMED CIE’S SENIOR FELLOW

Marketing area Chair Lynn Metcalf was named Senior Faculty Fellow of Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The CIE Faculty Fellows program supports faculty in developing entrepreneurial curriculum and research across colleges. Lynn will coordinate resources within the program, a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort to facilitate and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship across campus. http://goo.gl/4u8WNe

RETIREMENTS

Accounting lecturer Debbie Wacker has retired from her lecturing duties at Cal Poly after 26 years of teaching. Outside of Cal Poly, Debbie runs her own accounting practice and is en route to earning her master’s in tax from Golden Gate University.

After 26 years at Cal Poly, Richard Asplund has retired. Richard served as our LAN coordinator, an information systems lecturer, and all around tech wizard. We wish him a joyous retirement filled with lots of Hawaiian vacations.

Michelle Bissonnette will retire from her position as accounting lecturer after winter quarter. Michelle has been with Cal Poly for more than 16 years, and she has led CPAC since 2010. While Michelle will still remain active in her local chapter of CalCPA, she plans to use retirement to grow her vegetable garden and travel with family.

MANAGEMENT FACULTY COLLABORATE, BUILD INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Management area faculty have established fruitful collaborations internally and internationally. In 2014, Rami Shani, Stefano Cirella, Chris Zatzick, David Sikora and Jean-Francois Coget have collaborated on various papers and textbooks in the discipline. The relationship between Management area faculty and that of the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milan Italy has resulted in award-winning research and exchange program opportunities for graduate students. http://goo.gl/oqfIWS

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI

CAL POLY STARTUP BRINGS NATURE TO URBAN AREAS

Two Orfalea College of Business alumni have launched Z Living Systems, a startup that builds living walls in urban landscapes. Robert Zacks (B.S., Entrepreneurship, 2010) and Jasmine McDermott (B.S., Entrepreneurship, 2013) founded the business in 2013 through Cal Poly’s Center For Innovation & Entrepreneurship and its resources in the SLO HotHouse. http://goo.gl/v3Bu0g

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS: DANIEL LUCAS COVERS TRADERS MAGAZINE

Daniel Lucas studied finance at Cal Poly while in an exchange program from Germany in 2006. This fall, he covered Traders Magazine, discussing his role as a currency trader at MERK in the Bay Area. http://goo.gl/3bLPUA

ON THE HORIZON

PITCH PERFECT COMPETITION SEEKS STUDENT IDEAS

The Kennedy Library is launching its annual Pitch Perfect competition with $25,000 in prize money. Current students from all colleges are invited to develop and deliver a 60-second pitch video for a concept that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration throughout Cal Poly. The video submission deadline is Feb. 23, 2015. Selected videos will proceed to develop a full business plan in spring, with the grand prize winner announced in May. http://goo.gl/ONulI4

GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP OFFERED THURSDAYS IN WINTER QUARTER

The College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, the Grants Development Office, and Sponsored Programs will offer a workshop on grant writing from 11 a.m. to noon Thursdays this winter. The nine-week program began Jan. 8 in the Argricultural Sciences Building (No. 10), Room 204. The workshop is for faculty and staff interested in a hands-on overview of research or research administration. For more information, contact Sue Tonik at stonik@calpoly.edu or ext. 6-7241.

FORBES’ 30 UNDER 30 LISTS HONOR ORFALEA COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ALUMNITwo Orfalea College of Business alumni were named to Forbes’ Top 30 Under 30 lists for 2015. Jessica Becker (B.S., Entrepreneurship, 2011) was named to the healthcare list for founding InPress Technologies, a medical device startup aiming to curb postpartum hemorrhaging around the world. Jesse Dundon (B.S., Industrial Technology, 2007, M.S., Industrial and Technical Studies, 2008) was named to the advertising and marketing list for leading Hathway, a San Luis Obispo-based digital marketing agency. http://goo.gl/39Lx51

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR OUTSTANDING STAFF AWARD Staff employees, faculty members, and department or division heads are encouraged to submit nominations for the Cal Poly Outstanding Staff Employee award. The deadline to submit a nomination for the 2014-15 award is Friday, Jan. 23. To be eligible, nominees must be permanent, full-time employees of the university, corporation or ASI, who have completed at least three years of employment as of Dec. 31, 2014. More details and criteria are available online. http://goo.gl/oL6DVA

KENNEDY LIBRARY ANNOUNCES NEW FACULTY AWARD

A new faculty award, the Learn by Doing Scholar Award, has been established to acknowledge and inspire formal scholarship and research into Cal Poly’s signature pedagogy, Learn by Doing. Limited to Cal Poly faculty, the recipient will be awarded $2,000. In addition, $1,000 will be awarded to recognize outstanding applied research in Learn by Doing. Applications will be accepted from Feb. 15 to March 20. Recipients will be announced in the spring. http://goo.gl/NhMgBN

CAL POLY’S FIRST LEARN BY DOING CONFERENCE SEEKS PRESENTERS

“More Than a Motto: Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing Conference” is scheduled for May 15, 2015. The first annual event welcomes faculty and staff to present curricular, research and co-curricular examples of Learn by Doing in action. Presentation proposals are due by Feb. 2, 2015. http://goo.gl/BJ6pmv

ORFALEA IN SOCIAL MEDIA

facebook.com/calpolyorfaleacollege

twitter.com/orfaleacollege

instagram.com/orfaleacollegeofbusiness

Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business Alumni linkedin.com/groups/Cal-Poly-Orfalea-College-Business-79983/about Find your concentration’s subgroup on our page

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, Jan. 15th

& Friday, Jan. 16thCareer Readiness Forums

Friday, Jan. 16th

to Sunday, Jan. 18thStart Up WeekendIn Chumash Auditoriumup.co/communities/usa/slo/startup-weekend/5156

Friday, Jan. 30th Careers in Accounting Day10:00 a.m. in Chumash Auditorium

Tuesday, Feb. 3rd CIE Forum: Financing a Business6:00 p.m. in the PACcie.calpoly.edu/programs/entrepreneurship-forums/c/4.aspx

Friday, Feb. 27th Marketing Career Conference8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the PAC

Friday, Feb. 20th Central Coast Lean Summit In the PAC Auditorium

Economics & Finance Speaker Series experiments.cob.calpoly.edu/seminars/