Welcome to Cal Poly, new faculty and faculty coming to campus for the first time this fall. At the Cal Poly International Center we seek to bring more of the world to Cal Poly and more of Cal Poly to the world, as President Armstrong has stated. We support the campus in global education and engagement through outbound programing such as study abroad and study away through the National Student Exchange, international internships, group international trips and service learning. We support inbound international students and scholars with visa advising and related documents, cultural adjustment advising and community-building programing. We coordinate international agreements and Memoranda of Understanding for the campus and generally support and help facilitate internationalization efforts.

Please check out our resources for faculty on Faculty Opportunities to learn about teaching abroad on one of our campuswide Cal Poly Global Programs or to propose building your own discipline-specific Global Program. We also offer international professional development grants and program development grants. We have information and resources on leading trips abroad, applying for Fulbright Fellowships or applying to teach with one of our partners abroad such as USAC (University Studies Abroad Consortium).

For more information on study abroad and recent statistics, please go to the Study Abroad page on our website. Note that in typical years, we send nearly 1500 students abroad on Cal Poly programs.

For more information on International Students and Scholar support, please visit that portion of our website. We have instructions on how to bring an international scholar to campus as well as information on how to get involved in becoming an International Poly Host to one or more international students. We also hope that you’ll take a look at our “Thoughts to Consider when Teaching and Interacting with International Students,” which includes an Inclusion Statement.

Keep an eye out for International Education Week events in mid-November. We like to get the campus community engaged in international education!

If you have an interest in developing an international program or partnership during your time at Cal Poly, please feel free to reach out to Cari Vanderkar, Assistant Vice Provost for International Programs at civander@calpoly.edu.

Again, welcome to Cal Poly and we look forward to working with you and supporting our students together in becoming more inclusive, informed, engaged and empathetic global citizens!