How the Money Spent on Campus Stays on Campus
For 76 years, Cal Poly Corporation has played a unique role as the university’s service auxiliary in advancing Cal Poly and its mission. From its early days running agricultural operations to providing top-notch dining services today, the corporation’s impact is seen in a number of ways.
When a student purchases a dining plan, that money not only ensures that all of the facilities are stocked with enough food to feed 20,000 people a day, but also goes towards paying more than 3,000 student employees that the corporation has working across campus. These students are not only working cash registers at The Avenue, but they are also performing research into biomechanics, making Cal Poly products such as chocolate, ice cream, barbecue sauce and helping to earn their way toward their degree.
The University Store and Cal Poly Downtown offer a lot more than textbooks, scantrons and Cal Poly-logoed knee-high socks. For every purchase made, be it a Blue Book or a baseball hat, that money comes right back to campus to help fund athletic scholarships, support student-run ventures and create new facilities like the Doerr Family Field. Each year the Cal Poly Corporation contributes $1 million back to the university to help support student success.
The corporation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and one of the 86 auxiliaries within the California State University system. In this capacity, the corporation performs an array of duties, from feeding the campus community and ensuring everyone has the necessary academic supplies to helping Cal Poly retain earnings, lessen risks, make investments, sell assets and hire employees. And we do all of this to help Cal Poly continually evolve as the world-class educational experience that it has come to be known.
Cal Poly Corporation by the numbers:
3,650 The total acres of commercial agriculture accepted by Cal Poly Corporation on the behalf of Cal Poly to be used for research and student projects.
750,000 The amount Cal Poly Corporation donated to construct Doerr Family Field, a new practice and intramural facility that serves all students on campus.
3,000 The number of students hired annually by Cal Poly Corporation, providing important life skills as an employee and professional experience that will position them for success after graduation.
25,900,000 The 2016–17 research grant amount Cal Poly Corporation managed through its post-grant oversight and sponsored programs activities.
36,000,000 The estimated amount Cal Poly Corporation will spend to construct a new LEED certified dining complex that will serve the growing needs of the Cal Poly campus and is slated to open in spring 2019.
1,000,000 The amount Cal Poly Corporation has invested back into the Cal Poly campus annually for the past 10 years.
660 The number of San Luis Obispo County residents employed by Cal Poly Corporation, making us one of the county’s largest employers and a significant contributor to the local economy.