CSSSA Campus-Wide Launch Team Wins 2026 One Team Award
A campus-wide effort to bring the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) to is the winner of CPP’s 2026 One Team Award.
The winning cross-departmental team, recognized for a project that impacted the campus community and demonstrated one or more of the university’s core values, was announced at the annual Years of Service Celebration Aug. 17.
The CSSSA at CPP: Campus-Wide Launch Team brought together faculty and staff from more than 20 departments to prepare for the four-week residential program, hosting more than 500 high school students and approximately 150 faculty members on campus beginning in July 2026.
CPP wasn't simply hosting a summer program; it was welcoming hundreds of students and faculty who aren't part of the university and had to figure out how to integrate them into campus systems. The program increases CPP’s visibility as a home for arts-based programs the incapsulate “Become by Doing” while supporting the university’s enrollment and marketing goals.
The team’s work began in summer 2025, when CSSSA reached out to CPP about hosting the program. The College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences and the College of Environmental Design sought the opportunity and drafted a proposal through partnerships with departments across campus. In December 2025, CPP was selected from a competitive pool of public and private campuses and awarded a three-year, $7 million-plus contract, with the possibility of a two-year extension.
Camille Johnson, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences and the team’s nominator, said the project stood out because of its scale and ambition.
“This was a huge project — aspirational,” Johnson said. “To be THE home for an elite summer arts program for 500 high school students? It required building new processes and thinking beyond our usual way of doing things.”
Preparing to host CSSSA required extensive collaboration across campus. Information Technology, Enrollment Management and worked to onboard hundreds of non-CPP participants, while facilities and scheduling coordinated building access and university police, emergency management, risk management and environmental health and safety worked together on safety procedures.
The team also coordinated housing, dining and access to the University Theatre, studios, labs and outdoor spaces. Weekly cross-functional meetings helped CPP and CSSSA identify challenges early and make decisions across departments.
Jesús Ávalos, chair of the One Team Award Committee and director of strategic learning and organizational effectiveness initiatives, said the committee was particularly impressed by the scale and complexity of the project.
“There was no dedicated office, playbook, or template on campus for a project like this,” Ávalos said. “The team had to build the approach as it went.”
The team’s collaboration was also central to its selection for the award. Many campus partners were involved while the proposal was still being developed, giving departments an opportunity to help shape the project and create a sense of shared ownership from the beginning.
“It was not just the number of departments involved that impressed us,” Ávalos said. “It was how intentionally they worked together.”
Johnson said the team’s approach reflected the same spirit, with members focused on finding solutions rather than obstacles.
“With every challenge, the question became ‘how do we make this happen’ rather than focusing on the obstacles,” Johnson said.
The program reflects CPP’s commitment to student learning, access and equity.
“The project also supports several of CPP’s broader values,” Ávalos said. “It creates opportunities for CPP students to gain experience as resident advisors and teaching assistants (Learn by Doing), expands access to arts education, and introduces young people from across California to the university.”
For Johnson, the award represents the collective effort required to turn a project of this scale into reality.
“Accomplishing great things for our students and the university is not a solo project,” Johnson said. “It’s not about one person’s vision — it’s about a shared vision and shared goal and knowing that it requires dozens of people to make it real.”
