Cal Poly is committed to growing its student body to meet the increasing state and nationwide demand for high-performing graduates ready to play an immediate role in solving some of the world’s most complex problems.
The Making Space for Student Success initiative, part of Cal Poly’s broader Space Optimization effort, is crucial to this growth. By reallocating and optimizing campus spaces, we ensure that university facilities are used effectively and efficiently to enhance academic excellence and support the success of every student.
This strategic reallocation of space not only enriches the student experience but also improves working conditions for faculty and staff. By creating inspiring environments, we aim to attract and retain the nation’s top educators and professionals—key to sustaining Cal Poly’s academic reputation and mission.
Cal Poly’s Making Space for Student Success initiative aims to maximize campus efficiency by strategically reallocating spaces to better serve academic and administrative needs.
Space optimization is the process of making the most efficient use of a physical space.
For example, on campus this means strategically relocating all staff-serving amenities from different locations across campus into one building and putting all student-facing centers into a conveniently located facility—creating a one-stop shop.
Moving these entities then makes their old space available for academic purposes such as classrooms and labs.
The largest move in the Making Space for Student Success process to date was the acquisition of Mustang Business Park in 2023 and the relocation of non-academic staff to this off-campus facility in 2024. This move opened 50,000 square feet of critical student-serving space in the campus core.
Also, in 2024 Academic Programming and Planning and the Division of Research were allocated space on the first floor of Building 1.
Administrative and staff support functions including Human Resources and Payroll were consolidated and moved into the Shared Services Center on the second floor of Building 1.
Student Services have also been consolidated into a single stop service location in B.01, this includes access to Financial Aid, Student Accounts and the Registrar.
The University Space Committee, a group of stakeholders from across campus who are affected by this change, has been charged with determining the best and highest use of campus facilities.
The multi-phased plan will take place over several years. The teams that have moved to date and their location include:
To help make communicating a move easier for the staff and departments who are starting the process, a Communication Success Kit is available. The kit is packed with resources like printable signage, ready-to-use social post templates, flyers and more, that can be used to inform colleagues and stakeholders of the change. The kit is available on SharePoint.
Do you have questions or feedback? Please, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at spaceoptimization@calpoly.edu.
