What are the connections needed to move our region forward?

I've always thought of “knowledge” as an engine that drives innovation, individual and corporate successes and economic prosperity.  And, I believe that public universities like ours have a responsibility – really a mandate from taxpayers, as well as area residents and businesses -- to partner with industry to serve the educational and training needs of existing and emerging sectors and to help ensure successful career pathways.

For the past several years we have developed some great “customized training” programs for organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, Stone Brewing Company and Tri -City Medical Center  -- providing the training that helps facilitate career growth for thousands of employees and offering certificates that articulate achievement in disciplines such as Supervising Employees and Human Resource  Management (http://www.csusm.edu/el/customtraining/index.html).

We've also established Advisory Councils to offer leadership, insight and counsel as we develop programs in Cybersecurity, Water Resource Management, Business Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Leadership and Hospitality and Tourism Management. Our Advisory Council members understand their respective business sectors as only an insider could. They help us create meaningful programs, teach courses, offer internships and practicums and establish/monitor curriculum and teaching strategies to ensure our students have a competitive advantage.  

Our Hospitality and Tourism Management advisors helped us develop a unique specialization for the MBA program that launches later this year (www.csusm.edu/mba/samba/index.html) and they’re also helping us develop a “Business of Hospitality” Professional Certificate. Industry leaders in Cybersecurity have been the driving force for an emerging Professional Science Master’s degree in this field (www.csusm.edu/el/degreeprograms/psmcybersecurity/index.html) as well as stackable certificates.

We’re reaching out to elected officials, regional business leaders and existing and prospective students to ensure that we are making the connections necessary to stay on top of career opportunities and bridge the gap between the skills that area residents have today and the knowledge base that regional employers currently have and will develop in the next few years.

Do you have an idea for a new program, partnership or area of study we ought to pursue? I’d love to hear from you at eldean@csusm.edu.

Looking Ahead.....

As we start looking ahead towards the new year, I am very excited about the opportunities I see and the direction that higher education is heading. 

I have spent a fair amount of time this past year meeting with and surveying key stakeholders in our region and internationally including current and prospective students at different stages of their career life cycle ---  as well as business and civic leaders and the deans and presidents of neighboring colleges and universities. The one message that has been clear is that we need to “think outside of the box” and create partnerships and alliances that serve a greater good.

To that end we have worked together with the City of Temecula and Mt San Jacinto College to create a “2+2” program that enables students in southwest Riverside county to start and finish a Bachelor’s degree in four years with low student-to-faculty ratios and locked tuition and fees. We have worked with local hoteliers in San Diego county to create a Hospitality and Tourism Management certificate as well a specialization within our MBA program. We have worked with local cyber security firms to develop a Professional Science Master’s in Cyber security..,, and the list goes on and on.

To support continued growth we have brought on Dr. Al Kern as interim Associate Dean and Lori Covington as Manager of Academic Programs. Dr. Kern founded the biotechnology programs here at CSUSM and has had an extremely successful career in biotech both regionally and internationally. Lori was previously at Mesa College where she was responsible for accreditation; grant writing, management and creation of successful Continuing Ed programs and Allied Health. 

I am focused on staying attuned to the work force needs of our Southern California region, both from the perspective of prospective students who are looking to advance or change careers and from the perspective of area businesses who are looking to hire a well trained workforce.  Do you have thoughts or ideas about programs or partnerships we ought to consider? Please feel free to email me at eldean@csusm.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.

Linking Science and Business

We developed our Professional Science Master’s (PSM) program in biotechnology to help students bridge the worlds of business and biotechnology and emerge from the university with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively contribute to the field. You can see some of their stories at http://youtu.be/QIgjIzLZhsc.

PSM students have a 97% employment rate at graduation.

We were intentional about wanting to ensure that both science and business courses were rigorous and practical and build in a capstone project with industry leaders and public presentation as a pre-requisite for project completion. Not surprisingly, the combination of theoretical and applied learning has been a huge boon, leading to a 97% employment rate at graduation.

On Friday of last week we learned that PSM graduate Arvin Tahami (class of ’12) was named a Finalist for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship program (PMF) that awards outstanding students and recent graduates with Federal grant opportunities through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Congratulations to Arvin and to all of our outstanding PSM students!

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The Importance of Developing Partnerships

One of the most rewarding aspects of my work here at CSUSM is the ability to develop partnerships with individuals and organizations in surrounding communities. I’m always on the lookout for new programs and concentrations that will arm our graduates with the skills needed to meet regional workforce needs…. and that’s where I appreciate your suggestions and input. The collaboration with you is what expands our vision, informs our decisions and makes our work truly effective.

Extended Learning students are working toward their Professional Science Master’s in Biotechnology

In the past few months we’ve been able to use community partnerships to support a new Veteran’s Fund for our MBA students; to begin developing the curriculum for a cyber security program thanks to Via Sat; to develop a concentration in Tourism and Hospitality Management for the new Specialized Accelerated MBA thanks to input from leading San Diego–area hoteliers; and to develop “2+2 “and “2+3” tracks for students from area community colleges, offering guaranteed time to graduation in business, nursing and kinesiology.

Our Professional Science Master’s in Biotechnology students are having a huge impact in the region. I hope you’ll click on this link to take a look at what they’re doing. Whether it’s the biotech students now working in Sorrento Valley, nurses and kinesiology graduates working in area hospitals and clinics, or speech pathologists working in San Elijo Hills and surrounding schools, the stories of our students are stories about people who are having a profound impact on lives here in Southern California. That’s the bottom line and why we do what we do.

Do you have an idea for a program we ought to consider? Are there skills gaps you see in area businesses or in the region that we need to be addressing? Do you have ideas about new collaborations that might make sense? I sincerely appreciate your interest and look forward to your input! eldeanblog@csusm.edu.

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