Current and Potential Happenings at Pomona College

Colleges & Universities A-Z Pomona College
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<p>There are a lot of exciting things happening this year at Pomona College, many of what you will be seeing on campus.</p>

<p>Renovations and Construction</p>

<p>A New Studio Arts Building
Pomona</a> College Studio Art Hall</p>

<p>Pomona's facilities are renowned for being spacious, up-to-date, and modern. There are however a few facilities which have noticeably suffered in quality due to lack of renovation, or lack of space to meet rising student demand. The visual arts facilities are an example of such.</p>

<p>A vibrant studio arts building will thus be built behind Big Bridges Auditorium and Oldenborg, and next to the Seaver Theater. The project is scheduled for completion on July 2014. Thus, if you arrive on campus you'll be seeing construction happening in the middle edge of campus. The building is to have more than double the space of the studio art facilities, and an open atrium to showcase the imaginative potential of students and faculty.</p>

<p>The old studio art facilities will be retained for use during construction of the new building. After the building is completed, the old facilities will be renovated for a new purpose, not yet designated by the college.</p>

<p>A New Math and Physics Building
Millikan</a> Laboratory | EHDD</p>

<p>Millikan Laboratory is the oldest unrenovated science building of Pomona's 7 science buildings. The historic building has traditionally has housed Pomona's math, astronomy and physics departments. Unfortunately, the building has been facing a multitude of problems. The heater and AC are run-down, the building is cramped, the student lounges are bad compared to other academic buildings, and the building faces sustainability and accessibility problems. The building has also been a target of student criticism, compared to a typical high school building.</p>

<p>With all of these considerations, Pomona is demolishing the old building and building a new one at the same site, designed to carry the spiritual structure from the old building. The new building will have more high tech laboratories and classrooms, a remodeled planetarium, a physics courtyard, larger windows, more spacious lounges for students, and a new colloquium room.</p>

<p>The building is expected to be finished around August 2015. Demolition is scheduled for October 2013. Math and physics classes will be moved to the Seeley Mudd Science Library, next door to Millikan. The Seeley Mudd Library is also being remodeled during the summer to better serve academic purposes.</p>

<p>Other renovations and constructions
Summer</a> Construction Projects Focused on New Buildings, Office Relocations and Greening the Campus - Pomona College</p>

<p>There is a lot of construction and moving happening this summer! Beyond the above 2 and the renovation of Seeley Mudd, the inside of Bridges Auditorium is being renovated. The Career Development Office is now moving to Alexander Hall. The Writing Center is being moved to the former CDO space. The Draper Center for Community Partnerships is now getting its very own building due to rising student involvement. The Qualitative Skills Center, a new center at Pomona designed to help students with quantitative skills from any academic discipline, is being moved to where the Draper Center was. It's likely that the original spaces for TWS and TQS are being reconstructed into classrooms or faculty offices.</p>

<p>Much of the campus is receiving more greening and more accessibility for pedestrians, especially the area around the Marston Quad.</p>

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<p>The Daring Minds Campaign
One of the largest campaigns of Pomona’s history, the Daring Minds Campaign is a five year campaign that aims to raise 250 million dollars by 2015 for Pomona College for a variety of projects and initiatives. You can read about it here: [Campaign</a> Pomona - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/giving/]Campaign”>Sign in to Outlook) So far, close to 200 million dollars have been raised. Much of this money has been used, most apparently, for the construction of the beautiful Pomona and Sontag dorms ([Pomona</a> College Celebrates Opening of Two of the Nation’s Greenest Residence Halls - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/news/2011/09/21-residence-hall-opening.aspx]Pomona”>http://www.pomona.edu/news/2011/09/21-residence-hall-opening.aspx)), only the 2nd college dorms in the world to be certified LEED-Platinum. However, here are some less apparent results of the Daring Minds Campaign.</p>

<p>A substantial summer research program
Summer Undergraduate Research Program, or SURP, is one of Pomona’s unique programs. In 2010, 160 Pomona students were funded to do research with Pomona professors on a variety of academic disciplines. They were also funded for independent study. They received substantial funding (around $4000, similar to that offered by other universities with a summer research program).</p>

<p>Because of the Daring Minds Campaign, that number jumped to 460 Pomona students doing paid research during the summers of 2012 and 2013, perhaps the largest summer research program per capita of any school in the country (out of a total student body of 1575). When you consider that it is actually mostly three years of Pomona students participating in research (as incoming freshmen and graduating seniors wouldn’t be on campus), this becomes even more noteworthy. The program continues to grow every year, and with money from the Daring Minds Campaign, close to 100% of those who apply will be able to do summer research (as of now, it is around 50-75%). </p>

<p>A new summer internship program, and more funding for the original
[Working</a> Around the World: International Summer Internships - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/06/21-international-summer-internships.aspx]Working”>http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/06/21-international-summer-internships.aspx)</p>

<p>Pomona College has already had, and continues to have, an on-campus Internship Program, the Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP), which sponsors 160 students every year to do internships with Southern California companies, non-profits, and others. These ,as well as related travel expenses, are subsidized by Pomona College. </p>

<p>As Pomona continues to attract a more career conscious student body, the demand for these internships continue to grow. Every year, there are a few students who are rejected due to lack of funding. The Daring Minds Campaign hopes to eliminate any rejection due to this. One of the new programs, created in the Summer of 2011, is Summer Internship Program (SIP). Over the last three summers, more than 80 students have had their unpaid, or low paid, summer internships funded for by Pomona College, including 14 international internships. The growth of the program has been substantial- this summer, 47 internships were funded (more than the combined number in 2011 and 2012), including 8 international internships.</p>

<p>Increased international presence in the student body
[Expanding</a> Scholarships for International Students - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/06/25-expanding-scholarships.aspx]Expanding”>http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/06/25-expanding-scholarships.aspx)</p>

<p>8 years ago, the incoming class had only 9 international students. Last year, the class had 40 international students (around 10.5% of the incoming class). Pomona has become more affordable to international students through the Daring Minds Campaign; 50% of admitted foreign students receive financial aid, and on the whole, 33% of the foreign students at Pomona receive financial aid. Pomona College is one of the few schools committed to meet full need with no packaged loans for all admitted students, and while it is need-aware to foreign students from outside of the USA, this doesn’t appear to play a huge factor in deciding who gets accepted or rejected. A big part of this is due to the Daring Minds Campaign, and it is certain that Pomona will continue to attract a diverse student body in later years.</p>

<p>Increased affordability for students from all walks of life</p>

<p>Pomona is one of the few schools that has retained its no-packaged loans, 100% of need met, need-blind policy ever since it started it in 2008. A big part it continues to do so, despite economic downturns, is due to endowed scholarships provided by the Daring Minds Campaign. Around half of the students on financial aid are sponsored by endowed fellowships, and the DMC has to date created 34 new endowed scholarships. The DMC has also increased the Annual Fund, which provides funding for scholarships (60%), academic programs (30%), and student life (10%). The percentage of Pomona students on financial aid has increased to around 55% of the student body. As government funding continues to be cut, and the cost of college continues to increase, the DMC grants Pomona the ability to cover that difference and preserve its commitment to accepting students from all walks of life. </p>

<p>Increasing International Initiatives
[Cameron</a> Munter, Former Ambassador to Pakistan and Serbia, Joins Pomona Faculty - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/news/2012/10/11-munter-joins-faculty.aspx]Cameron”>http://www.pomona.edu/news/2012/10/11-munter-joins-faculty.aspx)
[Senior</a> United Nations Official Bertil Lindblad '78 to Join Pomona College as Senior Adviser for International Initiatives - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/01/25-bertil-lindblad.aspx]Senior”>http://www.pomona.edu/news/2013/01/25-bertil-lindblad.aspx)</p>

<p>As Pomona begins to attract a more global student body, it is important for the school to move its regional presence to a decidedly international one. The DMC highlights this in its 19 million dollar commitment to “building local and global connections”.</p>

<p>Two recent faculty positions strengthen this. Cameron Munter, former U.S. Serbian and Pakistan Ambassador, has received a three year visiting term to teach International Relations, starting this year. Bertil Lindblad, director of UNAIDs in NYC, joined Pomona as Senior Advisor for International Initiatives on March 2013. He will be working to link students and faculty to international organizations, internships, and professionals.</p>

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<p>Interesting and upcoming news</p>

<p>Pomona’s endowment goes up again
Pomona’s endowment climbed up to 1.87 billion dollars as of February 28, 2013, according to a document issued the Pomona Trusts and Estates. In 2012, the endowment was listed at 1.68 billion dollars. This represents an 11% growth. We may become the most endowed liberal arts college, not just on a per student basis, but in absolute numbers. At 1584 students, this would put the endowment per student at 1.18 million dollars. Let’s see how other schools do! </p>

<p>A welcome to a new enrolling and applying class
So far, the college has received 399 enrollment deposits from the approximately 970 offers of admissions. A profile for the Class of 2017 will be revealed around mid-September. </p>

<p>The school is working on publishing new application materials for the Class of 2018. While the '13-'14 Pomona Preview (<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/admissions/files/pomona-preview.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pomona.edu/admissions/files/pomona-preview.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) has already been made public, the admissions committee is still working on a new viewbook, which should be made public before applications are due. The old edition, '12-'13, is still available online. I’ve been told that there are a lot of new photos in the new viewbook, as well as a different message and content, so I am excited to see it too.</p>

<p>Coming Soon (Maybe)</p>

<p>A slightly bigger class
It seems that the administration has agreed to make the school’s total population slightly larger, from 1550 students to around 1600. This is seen in [Fitch</a> Affirms Pomona College (California) Revs at ‘AAA’; Outlook Stable | Business Wire](<a href=“http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130517005868/en/Fitch-Affirms-Pomona-College-California-Revs-AAA]Fitch”>http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130517005868/en/Fitch-Affirms-Pomona-College-California-Revs-AAA) ,in the strong demand section. The school looks to enroll around 410 students for recent classes to reach this number.</p>

<p>The Museum of Art will move into Seeley Mudd
After the construction of the new Millikan, the current Museum of Art will be moved to the Seeley Mudd library, and the library will be renovated. Very tentative details are seen on [BLAKE</a> HUDELSON portfolio - Pomona College Museum of Art Proposal // EHDD…](<a href=“http://blakehud.com/post/50105967433/pomona-college-museum-of-art-proposal-ehdd]BLAKE”>http://blakehud.com/post/50105967433/pomona-college-museum-of-art-proposal-ehdd) , and the old space for the Museum of Art will house student gallaries. This is very, very far ahead, however, but interesting nonetheless.</p>

<p>A new Oldenborg Center
[Enhancing</a> Critical Facilities - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/giving/goals/enhancing-critical-facilities.aspx]Enhancing”>http://www.pomona.edu/giving/goals/enhancing-critical-facilities.aspx)</p>

<p>Oldenborg is planned on being demolished, and the site will house two new sites, the residence hall, and a new International Center. The International Center will give old spaces more room and privacy, like Study Abroad, the Oldenborg Dining Hall, and the Pacific Basin Institute, as well as create new spaces like the Visiting International Scholars Program. </p>

<p>More Visiting Scholars
[Strengthening</a> Teaching and Learning - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/giving/goals/strengthening-teaching-learning.aspx]Strengthening”>http://www.pomona.edu/giving/goals/strengthening-teaching-learning.aspx)</p>

<p>Pomona College plans on creating two new programs: a Distinguished Visiting Artists Program, and a Visiting International Scholars Program. Both areas have been areas Pomona has traditionally lacked in bringing scholars from to campus, as the science and math departments have colloquia, and the humanities and literature bring in many speakers. </p>

<p>A Bigger, More Representative Faculty
One of the goals of Daring Minds is to bring in faculty which reflect rising student interests. DM will provide 10 early-career endowed fellowships for current and new professors to Pomona. 2 of these fellowships have already been named, so 8 remain. These fellowships are intended for areas which have rapidly increased in student interest, such as computer science and neuroscience, but time will tell what is in demand. </p>

<p>A New Campus
[Pomona</a> Presents Master Plan](<a href=“http://tsl.pomona.edu/articles/2013/2/22/news/3629-pomona-presents-master-plan]Pomona”>http://tsl.pomona.edu/articles/2013/2/22/news/3629-pomona-presents-master-plan)</p>

<p>Pomona’s campus is expected to significantly change in the next 15 years, as highlighted by its 2013 master plan. These include renovations and new buildings.</p>

<p>One of the big campus goals is to eliminate traffic in the middle of campus in order to create a less disjointed, more pedestrian accessible campus. Parking spaces will be eliminated in some areas for more pedestrian areas and a greener campus. There will be two big parking garages- the pre-existing one on South Campus, and an underground one on North Campus, while most of the smaller ones will be removed in favor of courtyards and green spaces.</p>

<p>Some proposals include a major renovation to the Thatcher Music Building, new residence halls where the cottages are and where Lawry is, connections from Oldenborg to the Studio Arts Building and Millikan to Skyspace, and renovations to several of the academic buildings.</p>

<p>The plan is not meant to be final. Some of these projects may not happen, while others not listed could happen.</p>