OAI Faculty and Staff Winter Institute 2027

faculty attend winter institute

Explore, Experiment, Create

Innovate Anywhere: From Ideas to Impact

Hosted by the Office of Academic Innovation and Student Innovation Idea Labs, this Winter Institute invites CPP faculty and staff to explore entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindsets on January 13th–14th. Through hands-on innovation, prototyping, and community problem-solving, participants will learn practical ways to help students turn ideas into action and build career-ready skills.

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Two Days of Discovery

faculty discussing winter institute topic on research mentorship

Day 1 - Build Your Innovation Mindset

Explore entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindsets through a keynote, panel discussions, and practical activities. Learn how the Innovate Anywhere framework can help students recognize opportunities, experiment, and turn ideas into action while strengthening student agency and career readiness.

student working on a laser cutting project

Day 2 - Innovation in Action

Put your learning into practice through an optional hands-on experience. Explore making, prototyping, or community-engaged problem-solving, and discover approaches you can adapt to your work with students. Choose from experiences at the iLab (Building 1, Room 113), Maker Studio (University Library), or Community Innovation Hub (Downtown Pomona).

Institute Schedule & Registration

group of faculty discussing a institute session at the CBA

Institute Schedule

The Academic Innovation Winter Institute will take place on January 13th - 14th 2027, at Cal Poly Pomona, Building 162, Room 1001. Sessions run from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM on both days. Stay tuned for full program details!

College of Business Administration Building on a sunny day

Registration

Registration is free for faculty and staff at Cal Poly Pomona. Includes continental breakfast, lunch and access to all sessions.

Learning Outcomes

Connect Mindsets to Student Success

Understand entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindsets and their connection to student success and career readiness.

Identify Skills for Innovation

Identify key competencies students need to innovate and thrive in a changing world, including opportunity recognition, initiative, experimentation, resourcefulness, collaboration, resilience, and value creation.

Move Ideas into Action

Apply the Innovate Anywhere framework to help students move from ideas to experimentation and action.

Experience Hands-On Innovation

Experience hands-on innovation, making, prototyping, and community-engaged problem-solving approaches that can be adapted across disciplines and student experiences.

Cultivate Innovation Across CPP

Develop actionable strategies for cultivating entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindsets across the Bronco experience.

Why Attend?

  1. Gain Insights from Academic Experts

    Learn from leading academic experts and innovators in higher education.

  2. Earn a Cal Poly Pomona Digital Badge

    Boost your professional growth with an official digital badge recognizing your participation and learning.

  3. Build Meaningful Connections

    Network and collaborate with educators, researchers, and industry professionals across the Cal Poly Pomona Community.

Frequently Asked Questions:


The institute is designed for CPP faculty and staff across disciplines and departments who want to help students develop an innovative mindset, take initiative, and build skills for their future careers.

The main program takes place on January 13, 2027. Innovation in Action, a complementary hands-on experience exploring CPP’s innovation ecosystem, follows on January 14, 2027.

No. Entrepreneurial thinking extends beyond starting a business. The institute explores how recognizing opportunities, experimenting, collaborating, and creating value can strengthen learning and student experiences across disciplines, programs, and campus services.

An entrepreneurial mindset involves recognizing opportunities, taking initiative, mobilizing resources, and creating value. An intrapreneurial mindset applies those same capabilities within an existing organization, such as a university, to improve programs, services, systems, and communities.

Innovation in Action is the January 14 hands-on experience where participants can put their learning into practice and explore CPP’s innovation ecosystem. Planned locations include:

  • iLab: Building 1, Room 113

  • Maker Studio: University Library

  • Community Innovation Hub: Downtown Pomona

Experiences will connect the institute’s themes to making, experimentation, prototyping, and community-engaged problem-solving.

You will leave with practical tools and actionable strategies for cultivating entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial mindsets in your work with students. You will also gain a deeper understanding of how curiosity, initiative, resourcefulness, calculated risk-taking, and resilience can turn ideas into meaningful impact.

For questions, please contact the Office of Academic Innovation at ai@cpp.edu

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