Imagine your freshmen year at Cal Poly Humboldt
Imagine you are venturing with your team beyond the shadows of the redwoods into a clearing by a bend in Baduwa’t. While one of your friends samples the river’s waters to test for environmental quality, you are finding a place to set up solar monitoring equipment to understand the possibility of a remote microgrid. A drone buzzes above, carrying air quality sensors and photographing the site from above. Later your team will be huddled in the computer lab, making sense of the data and coming up with a plan for the site.
Welcome to Baduwa’t to Bay, one of Cal Poly Humboldt’s Place-Based Learning Communities. As a first-time first year Engineering major, you’ll automatically be part of this year-long program to learn how engineers design solutions to the biggest social and environmental problems. And you’ll build connections with students who are as passionate about engineering and design as you.
What you get from Baduwa't to Bay
- Classes That Count. Enroll in program-specific sections of major and general education (GE) courses. These courses will demonstrate the link between the three majors as well as relate them to the place where you are choosing to live and study for the next four years.
- Instant Connections. Join a community of first-year students who are engaged and excited about studying math and computer science.
- Hands-on Learning. Gain practical experience through field trips, projects, and research along Baduwa’t (also known as the Mad River) and Cal Poly Humboldt’s facilities along the shorelines and communities of Humboldt Bay.
- Support Network From Day One. Work closely with professors, peer mentors, Humboldt staff, and professionals who will help you grow academically and personally.
- ENGR 280. Take a 1-unit course that covers college basics (such as campus resources and study habits) and explore what it means to be an engineer.
- Native American Studies. Take a 3-unit GE course that expands the way you see the world and exposes you to Indigenous knowledge systems and values.
- Optional Themed Housing. Live with other Baduwa't to Bay students! It’s a great way to meet people and make friends.
- Humboldt Immersion. Begin your semester exploring connections to the local region, as well as the languages of problem solving and modeling, a few days before the semester starts.