Calendar

March 20 - Winter Quarter ends

March 24 – 29 - Spring Break

March 30 - Spring Quarter begins

March 31 - Campus Holiday – Caesar Chavez’s Birthday

April 8 - Orfalea College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series presents Greg Jamison, President & CEO of Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, San Jose Sharks. Presentation is in Spanos Theatre, 2:10 – 3:30 p.m. Contact Tamara Vassey for more

April 16 - Visit the Orfalea College of Business booth in downtown SLO at Farmer’s Market, 6:00 p.m.

April 17 - Wheelchair Foundation Gift of Mobility Gala, The Cliffs Resort, 6:00 -10:00 p.m., contact Helya for more information

April 17 - OPEN HOUSE “Design Your Future 2009”, Check in for students. University Welcome, Tours of Orfalea College of Business classrooms, Student Club Displays

April 18 - OPEN HOUSE on campus! Look for the Orfalea College of Business booth near Dexter Lawn.

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., Spanos Theatre, 2:10-3:30 p.m., for more information contact Tamara Vassey

April 23 - Dean's Advisory Council dinner. Novo, 6:00 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, 6:30 p.m., 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 Holiday, Memorial Day observed

May 29 - Orfalea College of Business Annual Awards Banquet, Chumash, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., contact Tamara Vassey for more information

June 13 - Commencement! Spanos Stadium, 10:00 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.

March 2009 E-News

VITA SANTA MARIA CELEBRATION

Pictured Above: Tax Reviewers and Preparer

The Orfalea College of Business, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (a division of Pacific Capital Bancorp), Allan Hancock College and Northern Santa Barbara County United Way, joined forces to celebrate their partnership in support of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) at the Allan Hancock College campus in Santa Maria on Saturday, February 7th . A grant from Pacific Capital Bancorp has enabled Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business to expand the VITA program from their single site in San Luis Obispo to an additional site in Santa Maria.

Pictured Above: George Leis, President Pacific Capital Bancorp, with Eddie Taylor, CEO Northern Santa Barbara Co. United Way (background)

The expanded program will build on an initial partnership between Allan Hancock College and the United Way that helped 300 Santa Maria families file their taxes. The cooperative effort is part of the annual VITA program through which Orfalea College of Business accounting seniors gain experience preparing tax returns and performing an invaluable service helping underserved members of the community.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES – SPRING 2009

Greg Jamison, CEO Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, San Jose Sharks will be our Distinguished Guest Speaker on Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Jamison is the San Jose Sharks’ governor to the National Hockey League and was elected by the NHL’s Board of Governors to the League’s 10-person Executive Committee in 2007.

We look forward to an exciting presentation on the business of sports and entertainment. Greg will be speaking at the Spanos Theater, Cal Poly campus from 2:10 – 3:30pm.

Joanne Smith is Senior Vice President of In-Flight Service and Global Product Development of Delta Air Lines at their world headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Joanne will be our Distinguished Guest Speaker on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at the Spanos Theater, Cal Poly campus, 2:10 – 3:30pm. A native of San Luis Obispo and Orfalea alum (BA ’82), Smith leads more than 22,000 flight attendants, supervisory and administrative personnel of the world’s largest airline. In her 30 year career in the travel industry she has received many awards and recognition including 25 Power Women to Watch in Atlanta in 2006, Advertising Age Top 10 Women to Watch in 2007, and Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 Women to Watch in 2008.

“SOCIALIZING IN SEATTLE”

Pictured Above: Host, Darran Littlefield (center) and alum Dave Brockman (CENG ’80) greet alumni.

A huge “thank you” goes out to Darran Littlefield, (BA ‘85), Point B Solutions Group, for hosting the Seattle university-wide alumni reunion on Thursday, February 12th at the beautiful Columbia Tower Club. Once again, the event was fabulous with over 80 alums of all ages, from colleges across campus in attendance.

Dean Christy introduces Mary Crebassa (CLA ’79) to share stories from her days at Cal Poly. Mary is a Cal Poly Foundation Board Member.

Thanks to Greg Bistline (Associate Director of Athletics, Intercollegiate Athletics) and Eileen Joseph (Director of Advancement and College Relations, College of Liberal Arts) for attending. Dean Christy, Pam McClure and Tamara Vassey represented the Orfalea College of Business.

Old friends were reunited, sharing stories of their days at Cal Poly and new friends and contacts were made. The Seattle event continues to be one of our best attended reunions.

Darran even managed to stop the rain for the event and we were blessed with great, sunny weather and a gorgeous view from atop the 76th floor of the Columbia Tower Club!

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