Groundbreaking Video

The team at Cal Poly Pomona's MediaVision department created a video to recap of the groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 7, 2013.

See photos of the day on Facebook or Google+.

$10 Million Expansion Breaks Ground

(From the left) Jim Collins, Ed Merritt, Eugene Park,
Hae Park, President Ortiz, Mary Niven and Bridget Bilinksi
kick off the ceremonial groundbreaking.

(From the left) Robert Oppenheimer, James Sink,
Chi Kwan Fong; Andrew Naranjo, Ed Merritt, Mary Niven,
Jennifer Farnham and Jason Compton.

More than 150 people gathered on Nov. 7, to usher in a new era for The Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona. 

The day marked the ceremonial groundbreaking of a $10 million, 15,000 square-foot expansion, which will feature much needed space for the college’s graduate program, a social space for students and additional offices that will allow the college’s student body and faculty to grow over time. The privately funded-expansion will also include several classrooms that utilize innovative “flex” furniture and technology designed to move and adapt to the evolving needs of today’s classroom.

The Collins College expansion addresses the college’s growth needs in a sustainable way by striving to achieving LEED Gold certification on the two buildings. This would mark the first LEED Gold Certified buildings at Cal Poly Pomona. The expansion will utilize sustainable design features such shaded areas to produced cooler environments; the use of natural lighting; water-efficient fixtures, and high-performance heating- and air-conditioning systems, all in an effort to minimize the college’s impact on the environment. The project was designed by Ontario-based HMC Architects. Gilbane Building Company is the project’s construction management at-risk firm. 

The expansion project was made possible by $10 million in private pledges from longtime supporters of the college including: Carol and Jim Collins, for whom the college is named after; Panda Restaurant Group founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng; The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation; prominent Inland Empire businessman and alumnus Eugene Park, and Richard N. and Mary Alice Frank.

The college expansion is on track to open in the fall of 2015. 

New Renderings

Take a look at the latest Collins College of Hospitality Management expansion project renderings, courtesy of HMC Architects.

This bridge will link the existing breezeway along Building 79A to the new buildings. 

Outdoor seating with expansive views of the valley will be provided in the courtyard. 

This walkway will be located between the new buildings and the Building 79A. 

This is a north-facing drawing of the expansion. The existing buildings are located on the right. 

Groundbreaking Ceremony Slated for Nov. 7

Please join The Collins College of Hospitality Management as it commences a new era of growth and success on Thursday, Nov. 7. Enjoy a continental breakfast with the campus community and witness the start of a promising future.

The expansion groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the college in Parking Lot L, from 10 to 11 a.m. On-campus guests are encouraged to use BroncoExpress shuttles B1 and B2. Parking in Lot L will be limited. 

The expansion project was made possible by $10 million in private pledges from longtime supporters of the college. The donations will go toward two high-quality, state-of-the-art buildings that will house classrooms, faculty workspace and a student commons. Find more information about the expansion project online.

Out with the Old

While the doors to the restaurant and classrooms were closed this summer and students were away, The Collins College took the opportunity to complete some much-needed improvements throughout Building 79.

A large crane gets in postiton to install new HVAC units. 

This building, which houses the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch, classrooms and faculty offices, was built over two decades ago. The original light fixtures, roofing, skylights, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units needed replacing as they exceeded their life expectancy.  Some of the rooms needed a fresh new look.

Each new HAVC unit was painstakingly installed by the large crane.

Project Manager Andrew Naranjo made sure all renovations furthered the college’s sustainability efforts. Eco-friendly LED lighting replaced the old bulbs in the dining rooms, beverage lab, lobby, and some in the kitchen. Six aging HVAC units were taken off the roof and replaced with new, energy efficient ones. Some of the existing skylights were replaced with new solar reflective coated skylights. Additionally, the existing roofing was covered with a new reflective energy smart roof, which reflects the sun’s rays allowing the building to remain cool while reducing air conditioning costs.

With support from The Collin’s College Board of Advisors, the outdated classroom used for the restaurant’s lunch and dinner classes received new paint; flooring; tack boards; marker boards; a coat closet; a storage cabinet; a mobile lectern, and upgraded audio visual equipment.

Building 79B also got some work done this summer with plenty of freshly painted, rearranged offices and a new and improved faculty and staff lounge. 

Hilton Room Goes High Tech

This summer, the newly remodeled Hilton Flex Classroom became the first of its kind at Cal Poly Pomona to offer an advanced audio-visual system that fosters interactive student-faculty participation.

The room features four interactive projectors – controlled by the faculty instructor – with the option to wirelessly be controlled by mobile devices. All four interactive projectors have the ability to display a single image as well as display a separate image on each of the projectors simultaneously. The technology found in this new flex classroom is supported by the university’s I&IT and Help Desk staff.

Collins College faculty, who will teach in the flex classroom this fall, are encouraged to adapt their curriculum to incorporate this new technology. With the assistance of e-learning and I&IT, training sessions for faculty were held in early August and are being scheduled for September. The fall quarter will serve as a trial-run for the new technology and will aid decisions to use similar advanced technology throughout the building expansion project.

Student Lounge Gets A Fresh New Look

The student lounge (79B-1208B) received a major upgrade with a fresh coat of paint; new flooring;
furniture; a microwave, and fabric tack boards for student club news, announcements and activities. 

This popular space for students had not been updated for about 12 years and had grown dated. 

The lounge is available during normal business hours. It can be used for club meetings and by any student looking to take a break from their busy schedule, grab a snack or catch up on homework. 

Summer 2013 Renovation Projects

Several renovation projects will take place at The Collins College during the slower summer months.

After the new computer lab opened last fall, students have repeatedly asked for a refurbished student lounge in Bldg. 79B. Their requests will be addressed this summer. The renovations will include a new coat of paint; new flooring;  furniture; a microwave, and fabric tack boards for student club use. 

Students will also return in the fall to a refurbished classroom that supports the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. The RKR's briefing and debriefing classroom (Bldg. 79, Room 108), used by the lunch and dinner classes, will receive a much-needed makeover with new vinyl tile flooring; fresh paint; new ceiling mounted lighting fixtures; modern furniture and accessories; a wardrobe closet; storage cabinet, and upgraded audio visual equipment. This project is graciously funded by The Collins College Board of Advisors. 

Beginning June 17, the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units on the roof of the Bldg. 79 will be replaced. While the majority of the work will be completed outside, the air conditioning and electrical power will be shut off periodically to allow for proper installation. This project is anticipated to be complete by mid-September.

As a part of the college’s ongoing sustainability efforts, some of the light fixtures in Bldg.79 will be replaced with energy efficient (LED) lighting. There will be utility shut-offs throughout the building from time to time. This project will take place over the course of the summer and is scheduled to be completed before the start of fall quarter.

During these summer renovations, access to Building 79 will be limited. Staff members whose offices reside in the building will be temporarily relocated to Bldg. 79B. If anyone needs to access Bldg. 79 over the summer, please contact Andrew Naranjo at amnaranjo@csupomona.edu.

New Flex Classroom Schedule

Students started the Spring Quarter with new furniture in the Hilton "Flex" Classroom but some of the technological improvements have been delayed a few months. 

The Hilton Flex Classroom received new furniture over spring break.

Particular parts of the audio visual components for the room will not be available for purchase and installation until the beginning of summer. The room, equipment, furniture, and IT network will be updated, removed, replaced and innovated throughout the next couple of months.

As of recently, the new furniture and equipment including desks, chairs, an instructor station, a portable lectern, markerboards and projectors have been installed and are ready for use this spring quarter 2013.

Plans for a test trial run in July are underway and training sessions for interested or available faculty and staff over the summer will be scheduled in the upcoming weeks. The Hilton Flex Classroom will be fully functional and available for use by the time classes start for fall quarter 2013.

A New Generation of Learning

Remember when messy chalkboards went out-of-date and sleek dry-erase boards were the way to go? Many classrooms throughout Cal Poly Pomona have gone completely with digital multimedia instructor stations and projectors. 

All of these are things of the past. 

The Collins College aims at making an even bigger step toward the future of education by adopting a new and improved method of learning with a flex classroom. Plans to transform the Hilton Great Room into a flex classroom are underway and will be completed this spring.

“The new Hilton Flex Classroom will be a dynamic instructional environment that will contain an enhanced array of presentation and interactive technologies in a flexible room design,” said Dean Andy Feinstein.

The new Hilton flex classroom will have the ability to form itself to the class subject and needs of the students, and will serve as a blueprint for transforming existing classrooms on campus into more dynamic learning settings. 

The room will feature four interactive projectors, five Apple TVs, a Blu-ray/DVD player, a PC computer, a surround audio system with a wireless microphone, two independent points of control, a ceramicsteel markerboards with two smaller size, portable markerboards; 24 mobile chevron-shaped tables, and a mobile lectern and instructor station.  

All of this advanced technology and equipment will allow for interactive student participation. The markerboards will permit students and instructors to electronically or physically write on the board while the image is displayed on the projector.

Presentations can be flawlessly facilitated with the incorporation of five Apple TVs, which will allow students and faculty to bring their personal mobile devices to display photos, videos and feature presentations.

The technology found in this new flex classroom will be completely supported via the campus I&IT network and Help Desk, and the room will have wireless network capabilities.

Student, Career Services Suite Created

A Student and Career Services Suite has been created in Building 79B, Room 2210. The room, which was most recently used as a faculty office and a testing area for students, was re-purposed as an area that can be used for meetings with prospective students, employers and more. 

Renovations included a fresh coat of paint and contemporary furniture similar those in the new computer lab and quiet study lounge. The furniture includes a six-person conference table, two comfortable reading chairs, a side table, and a credenza filled with informational pamphlets and brochures about the college. It also features a 55” Plasma screen TV for Skype video conferencing as well as showcasing promotional videos and presentations about The Collins College. 

The Collins College Expansion Naming Opportunities

The Collins College is offering several naming opportunities for donors to support furnishing the expansion and preserving their legacy at the college. 

More details on naming opportunities 

The Collins College expansion addresses the college’s growth needs in a sustainable way by striving to achieve LEED Gold certification. In addition to more classrooms and faculty offices, this expansion creates a home base for the new master’s program and provides a student commons for studying and co-curricular activities. The classrooms will utilize cutting edge technology and innovative “flex” furniture designed to move and adapt to the evolving needs of today’s classroom. 

Naming Opportunities Include:

Learning Center

Flex classroom $200,000

Flex classroom (2) $250,000 each

Undergraduate Student Commons

Grab N Go $50,000 – Reserved  

Main courtyard  $75,000

Group study room (1) $25,000

Group study room (2) – Reserved  

Graduate classroom (2) $150,000 each

Faculty Building

Conference room $75,000

Faculty lounge $50,000

Student work room $10,000

Executive office (2)      $50,000 each

Faculty office (6) $25,000 each

Graduate courtyard  $20,000 

For more information about supporting The Collins College of Hospitality Management please contact: Gina Johnson, M.P.A., Director of Major Gifts at (909) 869-5349 or gljohnson@csupomona.edu.

Quiet Study Lounge Now Open

Students were thrilled with the opening of the computer lab at the beginning of the school year, and asked the Dean Andy Feinstein for another space where they could study quietly by themselves.

The old student government room in 79B-1215 was underutilized and served mostly as a storage room for clubs, so with private donations, The Collins College decided to renovate the room into a quiet study lounge where students can get away from the excitement or noise of the student lounge or computer lab and crack open the books – or a laptop.

Now open, the quiet study lounge features a dozen study carrels which allow for privacy and efficiency. Each carrel has its own power strip with three outlets to plug laptops, iPads, phone chargers or any mobile devices in need of a power source. An overhead lamp on every station lets users control the lighting on his or her desk for optimal comfort. As an added convenience, the partition has temporary storage capability to free up desktop space.

Students don’t have to worry about rushing around looking for a printer for that paper that was due yesterday. The quiet study lounge has a black and white printer station for student use with a similar setup to that in the computer lab.  For anyone who does not already have the software to print installed in their laptop, the software to access the printer in the room can be requested and downloaded at the reception desk on the second floor of building 79B.