Calendar

Feb 16 - Campus closed

Feb 18 - Paul & Natalie Orfalea Visit

Feb 20 - Community Advisory Council, 12 - 2pm, 03-455

Feb 21 - International Career Conference, Embassy Suites, time TBD. For more information go to www.icc.calpoly.edu

April 17 - Wheelchair Foundation Gift of Mobility Gala, The Cliffs Resort, 6 -10 p.m., contact Helya for more information

April 18 - OPEN HOUSE on campus!

April 23 - Orfalea College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series presents Joanne D. Smith (Business Administration ’82), Sr. Vice-President of In-Flight Service and Global Product Development, Delta Air Lines, Inc., time and location TBD, for more information contact Tamara Vassey

April 23 - Dean's Advisory Council dinner. Novo, 6 p.m., contact Tamara Vassey for more information

April 24 - Dean's Advisory Council meeting, time and location TBD, contact Tamara Vassey for more information.

April 30 - IT Packaging Fair

April 30 - IT Alumni Reunion Dinner, The Cliffs Resort, 6:30pm, contact Sandy Edar for more Information.

May 1 - Business Student Council Professional Development Speaker Series presents John Wills (Business Administration ’78), co-founder of Lucid Data Corporation. Time and location TBD. For more information, contact Cameron Pangrle.

May 25 - Campus Closed

May 29 - Orfalea College of Business Annual Awards Banquet, Chumash, 6 - 9 p.m., contact Tamara Vassey for more information

June 13 - Commencement! Spanos Stadium, 10 a.m. Look for information on the Cal Poly University Commencement website and click the Commencement – June 2009 link for details on the main ceremony.

Individualized ceremonies for each concentration of the Orfalea College of Business immediately follow the main ceremony on the Three-Acre Lawn and surrounding areas of the college.

February 2009 E-News

ALL IN THE FAMILY

FRE (Future of Real Estate) Club members got insider tips on how to prepare for a career in the Real Estate industry on January 16, 2009. Barry Swenson Builder representatives Todd Trekell (Senior Project Manager) and Josh Burroughs (Project Manager and former Student Ambassador) visited the Orfalea College of Business. Todd spoke on the development side of real estate, specifically land entitlement, community organizing and the complete development process. Todd also gave information on networking and community involvement and working with a large developer/builder.

Barry Swenson is one of the largest Agriculture Land owners in California with over 80,000 acres of ranches, wild lands, rice, alfalfa, strawberries, almonds, and fig farms throughout the state.  They are the 3rd largest land owner in the Bay Area with over 5.84M square feet of property and over $284M in construction last year- all within a 3rd generation family owned business.

Barry Swenson Builder employs many Cal Poly grads from Architecture, Construction Management, and City & Regional Planning backgrounds

STANDING ROOM ONLY!

The room was filled to top capacity with students, faculty and off campus guests, making it “Standing Room Only” on Friday, January 30th , when Denise Dudley visited the Orfalea College of Business. She a presenter for the Professional Development Speaker Series, giving a dynamic presentation on her background as entrepreneur and founder of Skillpath Seminars.

In 1989, Denise and partner Jerry Brown founded SkillPath Seminars, which quickly grew to become the world's largest public seminar company enrolling senior executives from every Fortune 500 Company, as well as countless first-time managers, supervisors, and business owners.

Within ten years of its founding, SkillPath employed 350 full-time employees, 700 professional contract trainers, had become a major force in the business-related publishing industry, and had a gross income of 200 million dollars. SkillPath remains the world's largest public seminar company to this day, and has now trained more than eight million people.

An informal luncheon was hosted following Denise’s presentation which allowed her to “rub elbows” with student club representatives (and co-hosts of the event) from the Business Council and Alpha Kappa Psi.

Denise resides on the Central Coast with her two children, is a board member of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, the Coordinator of the SLOIFF Youth Film Contest and a member of the Leadership Council of the Executive Partners Program, a new Orfalea College of Business mentoring program currently in its developmental stages.

DEAN’S OPEN FORUM

Dean Dave Christy spoke before an attentive group of students at the quarterly Dean’s Open Forum on Thursday, January 29th. Dean Christy touched on key items of interest including the college’s and university’s reputations, the upcoming Business Week issue highlighting Top College picks, the Orfalea College of Business’ new leadership program started this quarter, the Greenlight program for freshmen, recent improvements made within the college including the Student Success Center, new video conferencing equipment in Room 300-A, renovations and upgrades to Rooms 204 and 205, and Paul Orfalea’s upcoming visit to the college on Wednesday, February 18th . Dean Christy also lead a discussion on the pending proposal for increasing student’s college-based fees and the difference between distance and on-line learning and how these last items will affect the Orfalea College of Business.

For more information about making a gift to Cal Poly's Orfalea College of Business, visit the College's Advancement web page.