Cali was on to something when she wrote in her blog two weeks ago, “A story like this needs more than a day or two. Heck, it needs more than a week or two.” This project was extended two more weeks. Because this project got extended, my group and I all had to tackle on an additional role for the story (audio/visual, word, etc.), but in reality, it felt like we all are doing everything together.
“This story has so much more depth to it than I think any of us initially realized,” said Cali. I’m really glad we were able to extend this into Project 2 because I think it is was able to get the proper coverage it deserved.”
This mystery of over enrollment still exists. There are stories published about Cal Poly having too many students, Cal Poly “packing in students”, and more data on the 2017 class of freshman.
The most difficult part due to this extension was how to divide up the “word” aka written portion. There is so much that can be said, but how will this be organized? After some discussion, it was decided that Mady was going to write one story and Bryce will follow up with her story the following week. This helped both Mady and Bryce pinpoint what they want to say.
“Our story evolved into a smaller scope than what we originally started with, which was challenging, but it helped make our focus more concise. This also made it easier to refine my direction in the word portion of this story.”-Mady Minas
The biggest reason why we needed this project extended was because we needed more interviews. Maraviglia provided us with a lot of useful information, but we needed more perspectives. So, we went on an interview spree. We interviewed Jefferey Dumars, Space and Facilities Utilization Manager, and Juanita Holler, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Development.
Dumars led us to a giant CSU database that has a lot of information that we will be using in our story. Fortunately for us, all of this information is not a secret and is in the public domain.
“Every CSU campus has undergone, and we’re just finishing ours if it’s not done, a study of each building, what condition it is, it’s a condition assessment. We have that data, and so that will roll into plans to renovate buildings and is part of the capital outlay program.” Jeffrey Dumars
We also had listed questions directly for admin and are waiting for a response.
We interviewed Christy McNeil Chand, a tenure track Theater & Dance Department professor. She told us that her office space was subpar (to say the least) when she came to Cal Poly in 2012.
“When I was first arriving, back in summer of 2012, the office space I was assigned was the part-time office space next to the dance studio, which I found a live black widow, multiple cockroaches, it’s not really well insulated. It’s very cold or hot most of the time… I’ve seen mold in there…there were windows, but it faces the building next to it, so it let in a little bit of light. But I don’t even think I was able to open them, to be perfectly honest, because there was caging around them.” said Chand.
Some professors and faculty did not want to speak with us or said that they could only provide us with limited information, which was disappointing but expected.
“I feel like we made some breakthroughs in the past two weeks for this story, like finding that spreadsheet and talking to some passionate professors. It made me feel like a real journalist which is a really cool feeling.” – Bryce Aston
My group and I have made significant strides on this story and are looking to get this story published within the next few weeks.