Campus visits by Bill Nye the Science Guy (for a test of a new space propulsion system being developed in part at Cal Poly)

Landscape Architecture and Architecture program’s respective rankings among the nation’s best programs in DesignIntelligence

New K9 units brought on by the University Police Department (meet Xello and Brisant! Good doggies!)

Olympic appearances by Mustang Athletics coaches as of this year (New beach volleyball coach Todd Rogers, in Beijing 2008 and London 2012! Woohoo!)

U.S. patents filed by Cal Poly faculty researchers

Award spots — 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and honorable mention — that were swept by Cal Poly student teams at the national Ameristar Student Packaging Awards Competition

New eateries opened on campus (plus 2 new food trucks including a mobile Starbucks!)

Baby goats that cuddled with students last spring at a de-stressing event hosted by Kennedy Library

Cal Poly graduates’ median salaries ranked among public universities nationwide (bring home that bacon!)

New academic programs launched (that’s 1 new bachelor’s program, 3 new masters, and 9 new minors)

Year as U.S. News and World Report’s best public masters-level university in the western U.S.

Publications by robot ethicist Patrick Lin and his Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group in national outlets, including Fortune, Politico, Fast Company and Forbes

Cal Poly’s reduction in campus-wide water use (that’s 6% more than Governor Brown asked us to reduce last year!)

Entrepreneurship students who moved into the new Lofts in Downtown SLO

Years Vista Grande was open

Days it took to completely demolish Vista Grande (read what alumni had to say about the demolition here!)

Years served at Cal Poly by retiring COSAM Dean Phil Bailey

Trips taken through ASI’s Cal Poly Escapes, including backpacking in Yosemite, rock climbing in the high desert, and hiking and surfing all over the Central Coast

New student-led startups that launched this year through the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Years of Cal Poly student journalism celebrated this year

Companies who visited campus to recruit our students, including Apple, Ernst & Young, Lockheed Martin and PricewaterhouseCoopers

Students supported by Cal Poly Scholars, a scholarship program serving students from low-income communities

Campus tours given by Poly Reps

Total visitors who took campus tours!

Pokemon Go! stops and gyms on campus (Did you catch ‘em all before you deleted the app?)

Students who studied abroad — including 115 in the UK, 151 in Italy, and 204 in Spain!

New beds planned in the Housing South residence halls that broke ground this year

Study spaces in Kennedy Library (They did a big renovation this year — want to see the before-and-afters?)

New Mustang alumni who graduated in 2016

Social media posts and tweets tagged #CalPolyProud

Plants planted as part of the university’s first student-run experiment with organic strawberries (that’s some tasty research!)

Fresh flowers that went into decorating this year’s Rose Parade float, “A New Leaf”

New applications for admission for Fall 2017 (that’s a record!)

Estimated potential savings to students from the new textbook matching collaboration between the University Store and Kennedy Library

Downloads of senior projects this year from Kennedy Library’s DigitalCommons (many of them by users from universities around the world!)

Amount by which donors exceeded last year’s fundraising total

Gift to the university from Bill and Linda Frost toward a new research center — that’s a tie for the most anyone has ever given us in one gift!

Dollars received in faculty research funding — that’s a single-year record for Cal Poly!

Total gifts to the university