Alumni
Psychology & Child Development Alumni Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board meets 2 times a year – in the fall and spring. They update us on what our alumni are doing, let us know how alumni can support the department, and advise us using their knowledge as former students from our programs. There are currently around 17 active members. Members live both locally and out of the area, their backgrounds are diverse and they bring many different ideas to the table.
One important event the Board organizes each year is a Career Symposium for the current CD and PSYCH students. The speakers are all alumnae from the department and speak about their career journey, current role, application of curriculum to their careers, as well as characteristics and responsibilities of their jobs.
The Board is currently working on new ways to provide support for the department.
Lisa (Maher) Evaristo (CD, 1988), is the current chairperson and Paula Hausman (HD, 1987), the co-chairperson.
If you are a PSY or CD alumni, please stay in touch!! We want to hear from you so that we know what we did right and how we can make our curriculum and teaching more relevant. We enjoyed our time together and want to know what you’re up to. It is also helpful to our current students to know what people do after graduating from our programs. Print out our Alumni form (pdf) and send to us. We’ll send you our departmental newsletter which will keep you updated on our news and events.
Gifts at Work
Every donation to the Psychology and Child Development Department, whatever the amount, is appreciated and put to good use. Donations help us to purchase items for which there are no other sources of funding. For example, donations have been used to purchase educational videos for classroom use and personality inventories and scoring software used in courses on psychological testing. We also set aside $1500 each year to provide grants to students for conducting research or presenting papers at conferences. Please see a list of our recent donors (pdf) to whom we give much thanks.
Recently, generous donations were made by two Cal Poly alumnae to support the redesign and construction of the existing outdoor areas of the Preschool lab to better address children's developmental needs. Central to this redesign project is an effort to infuse the outdoor play areas with opportunities for activities that will support children’s inborn sense of wonder about the world around them. We thank Fran Durekas and an anonymous donor for their support of this playground renovation. Expect to see construction beginning Fall 2008 and running through Winter Quarter.
Those interested in contributing further to the playground renovation project are encouraged to contact Dr. Jennifer Jipson (jjipson@calpoly.edu, 805-756-2611). In particular, we encourage individuals to consider sponsoring such elements as a Worm Bin, a Solar Panel Station, a Waterwheel, and a Greenhouse. Your generosity will help us in our efforts to support the sense of wonder, excitement, and joy that children experience as they seek to make sense of the world.
How to Give
You can send your donations (made payable to Cal Poly Foundation) to the Department of Psychology & Child Development 1 Grand Ave, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0387. Or visit Cal Poly's Giving website online for more information.