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It is important that "learning by doing" at Cal Poly Pomona be set in an appropriate theoretical framework, if only to distinguish it from a "tech school" mentality. Central to the "learn by doing" motto of our campus is the notion that applications of theory and research are worthy educational resources and that knowledge is constructed in, and should be contextualized through, social applications. The sciences have the oldest tradition of experimental research involving reflection upon observation, with attendant emphases on how to notice that results may differ from expectations in ways that may require discerning practitioners to derive new conclusions about the natural world. However, the applied arts of engineering and design -- as well as the humanities and social sciences -- also have developed commitments in these areas.

For example, a couple of decades ago individuals in the field of philosophy raised an international call to place knowledge within an existential context and to move away from rarified, self-enclosed arguments in order to develop a knowledge base of "applied ethics" whose aims included (and still include to a large extent) the study of driving issues of the day as well as the enduring moral dilemmas of the "human condition". Those philosophic efforts toward social responsibility grew quickly into multi-branched studies including areas as various as bio-ethics, peace and conflict resolution studies, and feminist and environmentalist ethics and epistemologies.

Parallel developments in the humanities included a turning away from a high Modernist model of "art for art’s sake" and away from congratulatory narratives of progress that had justified social inequalities. These turned instead toward historicized, sociopolitical understandings and investigations into various areas such as: canon constitution (hence curriculum design and studies of cultural production itself); hermeneutic strategies that may differ from traditional Euro-humanist models (and that may, for example, frame questions and subject positions that start with subaltern and other perspectives as norms rather than deviant, lesser exceptions); art productions that include community-based works and venues that seek inclusion and social critique; literature-made-from-other-literature as expressions of hybridization over and against cultural hegemony; and other intrusions into power and monovocality.

Visions of the inclusion of new technologies in the classroom have varied: some members of the campus community think (as does Al Gore) that we need "smart classrooms" to connect our students to the needs and lifeways of the future; others see in-class technologies as an extension of what the class usually does (so students may, for example, log onto a Web page that provides a "tour" of an acropolis as part of an Ancient World class); others find in-class technology as a way of asking new questions and forming new studies of sociopolitical structures and cultures of resistance; and others, such as the commentators in the last WASC report, see the need to connect or apply questions of technology in our already existing curriculum so that students gain a deeper engagement with the subjects they are mastering (for example, wherein technology is studied in a humanities class as a social and cultural production with ethical, economic, and political consequences).

Others, for instance our consultant Joseph Johnston, in his book, Beyond Borders, see that specific issues or areas are prime targets for interdisciplinary applications. He offered the example of "internationalizing the curriculum" as part of the structure of the university rather than as an adjunct part. Further, in his meeting with the WASC Steering committee on November 10, 1999, he critiqued our campus as having an "absence of intersection between the diversity of the student body and program offerings". He mentioned that many of our students speak another language yet there is only marginal support for language offerings here; however, our students are not valued for the language skills they bring to campus but instead are heavily scrutinized for remediation. He made a few suggestions to develop the language studies area: 1) that Cal Poly Pomona learn from the Heritage Language Mission at Cal State, Long Beach that includes development and study of students’ home languages, 2) that Cal Poly Pomona adapt a model like the one at the University of Rhode Island wherein the professional schools offer more language courses for applied reasons, (the University of Rhode Island offers a joint degree between German and engineering), and 3) that Cal Poly Pomona explore the possibility of offering joint degrees between the professional colleges and languages of the Pacific rim.

Further, in his meeting with the committee, Johnston said that his impression of Cal Poly Pomona was that universal "vision is absent" and that there’s "no articulation of what’s distinctive about our campus". He argued that he saw limited vision of what a baccalaureate education should be on our campus, or what undergraduate education is as a university experience, and that it should not "just be pushed off on GE." He recommended to the WASC committee that we look at deep structural dimensions and institute greater dialogue across all levels on what constitutes an undergraduate education. Further, he critiqued Cal Poly Pomona as having an overabundance of process or bureaucracy, of not showing effective leadership (which he argued goes to the identity of the institution requiring a re-vitalizing effort-- otherwise the goals aren’t clear enough, nor electrifying enough), of needing a sense of institutional purpose, of needing a call for a collective consideration of the meaning and definition of the baccalaureate degree, and of needing to reduce the overabundance of process to help reduce skepticism about the meaningfulness of any serious discussion. He made a useful distinction between an "accountability agenda" driven by administrators and an "improvement agenda" driven by faculty. He mentioned as an additional bonus to effective leadership the evidence that shows it is a tool for admissions improvements and fund-raising. Whether or not a complete re-investigation of Cal Poly Pomona’s baccalaureate degrees is in order, Johnston does identify issues that could be explored, were people willing and able to expend the necessary effort, given the existing demands of university life.

YEMP encourages CSU and UC personnel from outreach and recruitment programs to attend monthly meetings at selected middle schools. At these meetings, CSU and UC personnel disseminate information about CSU and UC matriculation as well as information related to financial aid and student retention services. The CPP/HIS project participates in the YEMP monthly meetings, and both YEMP and CPP/HIS have received from UB/MS a wealth of information about program application, financial aid, student tracking, tutoring, and parent training.

During a second visit (Feb. 7, 2000) with members from the School of Education and Integrative Studies (SEIS), the Self-Study Committee learned that SEIS (now CEIS) has hired a Coordinator of Leadership and Service Learning and that one of their lecturers who teaches in an area school during the daytime is working as the project coordinator of a high school outreach program. The WASC committee also heard a report from the chair of Ethnic and Women’s Studies who described his department’s emphasis on service-learning; we learned that last year there were 70 students involved in tutoring, in visits to school sites. Their department developed a new capstone course for their major which will include service learning and a thesis, that papers on service learning as a choice will be built into the class.

Additionally, while not fitting the narrow definition of service-learning, this department has many faculty members serving on advisory boards in local communities, many faculty work with multicultural and gender centers on campus as regular features of their RTP process, that many give papers in these areas, that the department makes use of external speakers/scholars, and that faculty have been part of many projects. The WASC committee learned during this visit that members of SEIS generally agree with many of the WASC committee recommendations, such as that there should be greater coordination of efforts across campus of various program offerings and that there should be continuing development of assessment means. One member of SEIS referred to Dean Eduardo Ochoa’s report in which a request for a coordinator is made-- in SEIS they have created a coordinator for External Relations and that search is underway (President’s Ad Hoc Committee on Community and Economic Development 1998).

The WASC committee also learned the details of the TAPT program that seems a valuable way to develop current teachers’ aides into credentialed teachers; however, because this valuable program does not fit the overly narrow definition of service learning, the WASC committee recommends that some channel of communication with the Chancellor’s Office be made so that extremely valuable programs involving field experience, such as TAPT, be included in what service learning means.

The WASC committee sees that there are questions on the best method for assessment of non-traditional programs. Neither the WASC committee nor the campus-at-large can know how service learning should be assessed until we know what it is, but we see that the university should participate in discussions of this issue. Many questions are raised such as how the university will justify or monitor a person’s contribution to the community (i.e., are they good enough?) and how these activities come back (or not) to enhance faculty’s scholarship. One member of SEIS suggested that IPoly, which is closely linked to SEIS, could be helpful in assessment of non-traditional projects, that they seem successful at developing equivalency rubrics, that they started with CSU and UC standards and worked backwards to develop curriculum, and then were able to assess students’ performance accordingly. He further underlined that although agencies may play a role in assessment according to their own needs, TED and Cal Poly Pomona must be responsible for assessment. We might look at other models, including those with roots in experiential learning as well as some new, and perhaps under-theorized, areas. This followed another member of SEIS pointing out the parallel role an agency might play in having someone to watch over and participate in the evaluation of tutors.

The WASC committee learned that their Coordinator evaluates students, reviews their compliance with numerous requirements to start, such as TB testing, fingerprinting, two letters of recommendation, and coordinates with Hacienda, a local school that conducts a five-hour training session-- she also has seen other evaluative protocols, such as at the Kingsley and Barfield schools.

These included the aforementioned Brown Bag presentation by the Director of the International Center given last academic year on the topic of international education and one that she gave Winter 2000 on the topic of the international students and CPP faculty surveys, both of which are part of the "Brown Bag Series" offered by the Faculty Center for Professional Development, a lunchtime venue with a history of offering regular occasions to hear on-campus colleagues or off-campus experts present and discuss ideas and research. A number of Campus Forums were devoted to international topics, as was the case with Fall Conference during both years of the self-study. In addition a Spring Retreat was held by the WASC committee in the Kellogg University House-- a well-attended, all-day affair held on Saturday, May 20, 1999 to link WASC information collection, problem-posing, and drafting of the plans for the document. The Self-Study also inter-penetrated with the April, 2000, International Research Forum.

The WASC committee learned that there are ways of planning and reasoning through some of these disincentives. Examples include using successful examples as models, such as how courses abroad might meet students’ academic needs more clearly and economically, as in the Greece summer program, which could be located in the College of ENV rather than run through CEU. The International Center is working on mechanisms for "quick admits" to be able to take their summer overseas program and that Admissions will do this on an informal basis; however, there is a need to institutionalize this process. Additionally there is high interest (75 students this year) in the ongoing "London 2000" program offered through CLASS and Business. ENV and CLASS have been highly successful in introducing international exposure into students’ education.

The Industrial Advisory Council in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering was established to:

• provide advice from industry in order to improve the educational program,
• provide the department with information about the direction in which industry is moving, and provide support to the department through the donation of money and equipment.