CSU trustees hear proposal to combine maritime academy and Cal Poly. How would it work?

The California State University system is pushing forward with its proposed plan to save the state’s only, nearly bankrupt maritime academy from going under by incorporating the school into Cal Poly.

The CSU Board of Trustees heard the proposal to integrate California State University Maritime Academy with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the first time at Tuesday’s board meeting.

“Cal Maritime has faced significant and ongoing challenges in maintaining its enrollment, revenue, and its fiscal and operational sustainability,” CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Steve Relyea said at the meeting. “This action is imperative to provide a long-term solution to Cal Maritime’s unviable and unsustainable operational circumstances.”

The presentation on Tuesday was the first of two informational sessions on the integration plan to be held for trustees before the board makes its final decision on the matter at its November board meeting.

A team of representatives from both universities and their presidents presented the plan to CSU’s joint committee on educational policy and finance, highlighting areas of educational synergy between the two marine science and engineering-focused schools.

What would it mean to merge the schools?

The trustees’ response to the proposal was overwhelmingly positive, with one main question — how would it work?

As presented by the integration team on Tuesday , the plan calls for one organizational structure in which the maritime academy’s educational programs would be operated within and overseen by Cal Poly, with one academic senate and one associated student government. The maritime academy would retain its campus in Vallejo, while sharing Cal Poly’s facilities, infrastructure and services, allowing the CSU to continue to offer its marine licensing degree issued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Cal Poly would also benefit from the additional research and instruction space, including a new, federally funded $360 million training vessel and a new pier slated for use in 2026.

If approved, enrollment in the integrated university system would begin by the start of the 2026-27 school year, and current Cal Maritime students would become Cal Poly students in fall 2026.

The transition would require a one-time investment of approximately $5 million per year for seven years, which Relyea said would come out of Cal Maritime’s reserve fund.

“I think this is an elegant solution to a truly existential problem that Maritime has had,” Trustee Lillian Kimbell said.

In the Q&A portion of the presentation, Kimbell questioned the root cause of Cal Maritime’s declining enrollment, which has dropped by 31% in the past seven years, according to the meeting’s agenda report.

Cal Maritime President Michael Dumont attributed enrollment rates to a lack of awareness of the opportunities presented by the maritime academy.

“They simply don’t know about it,” he said. Being under Cal Poly’s umbrella would also mean that the maritime academy may benefit from Cal Poly’s popular name and proven successful enrollment management.

Trustee Darlene Yee-Melichar advocated for the involvement of faculty senate leaders in the integration plans, questioning how specific operational changes will impact educational departments, academic calendars, course schedules and catalogs.

CSU Deputy Vice Chancellor Nathan Evans said that there will ultimately be one set of academic program offerings, one academic senate, and one set of curriculum processes owned by an integrated Cal Poly, but that they are still organizing working groups with faculty members to figure out how to approach this transition.

Relyea also noted opportunities for synergy between the schools’ strongest academic programs like engineering, oceanography, marine sciences, renewable and sustainable energy, and others.

The survival of Cal Maritime is dependent on the board’s decision

It became clear at Tuesday’s meeting that this is a life-or-death decision for the maritime academy.

“Cal Maritime is in a financially dire situation right now,” President Dumont said. “We’ve taken a chainsaw to every expense on our campus. I have cut muscle, bone, and I’m now down to tendon and arteries.”

If the board rejects the proposed recommendation, it seems to be a matter of not if, but when Cal Maritime would go under.

“We are working drastically to save money anywhere we can,” Dumont said. “I don’t know how much longer that can continue.”

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