Cal Poly Pomona's first MOOC, exemplary faculty, and student competitions top President Ortiz's weekly video update.

The university is launching its first massive open online course, or MOOC, in spring quarter. The class, which will cover basic computer programming, is free and open to the public.

Two civil engineering professors, Wen Cheng and Xudung Jia, have received a steady flow of grants to research traffic safety in California. Ortiz hailed them as examples of faculty who stay current in the issues in their fields and provide our students an unparalleled understanding of theory and practice.

Meanwhile, a new program in the College of Science aims to bridge the gap between education and life after graduation. The Biological Training in Education and Research Scholars Program, also known as BioTiER, will provide students pursuing a master's degree in biology with seminars, workshops and roundtables with alumni.

The College of Science is also sponsoring a contest called Project Blue to mark the university's 75th anniversary. It has invited students to a creative exercise that would re-envision Kellogg Creek as a campus centerpiece. Whitney Redfield and Flor Mota, two landscape graduate students, are the winners of the first phase.

In other news:

• For the second consecutive year, Cal Poly Pomona architecture students won all three Student Design Awards from the Coalition for Adequate School Housing.
• The Partners in Education board gave 17 scholarships of $5,000 each last week to aspiring teachers. The scholarships help students focus on their clinical practice.
• The Bronco baseball team improved to 10-0 by sweeping nationally ranked CSU Monterey Bay in four games this past weekend.
• Events on campus this week include the Philip Clark Memorial Scholarship concert on Wednesday and a hospitality career expo on Thursday.

To read the entire video message, download a PDF of the transcript.