september 16-29, 2014 section b

Focus On Business &Education

Inside This Issue• Obtaining A Master’s Degree In

Today’s Economy: A Luxury Or Necessity?• Long Beach Schools And Pacific Gateway Partner

With Business To Prepare Youth For The Workforce• New Transportation School To Open At Douglas Park

1_LBBJ_Sept16_SectionB_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 9/16/14 9:57 AM

BUSINESS & EDUCATIONSeptember 16-29, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 3-B

� By STEVE STELPFLUG

Contributing Writer

Having spent more than a year

looking for employment after

losing his aerospace manage-

ment job, Clarence McDale had

nearly resigned himself to becoming

just another long-term unemployed

statistic.

“I was ready to give up,” McDale

explained. “I had sent out hundreds of

resumes and gone to numerous inter-

views. If I was lucky, I would receive

an auto-generated e-mail rejection

notice, none of which ever provided

any meaningful feedback as to why I

was not hired. It wasn’t until I met one-

on-one with a job counselor at the

California Employment Development

Department that I realized that my

skills and knowledge were outdated for

today’s job market.

“That counseling session was a huge

wake-up call,” McDale added. “It was

pointed out to me that it wasn’t my age

or work history that was holding me

back. In fact, I was told those are gen-

erally positive aspects. It was that I had

allowed myself to become complacent

with regard to my education. I was now

competing with candidates who either

had current four-year degrees or gradu-

ate degrees. I came to the conclusion

that I owed it to myself and family to

go back school and begin work on my

master’s degree.”

McDale’s experience is not uncom-

mon. Like many mid-level managers

who found themselves unemployed,

McDale assumed that his work experi-

ence, coupled with a sprinkling of

management seminars and his 30-year-

old bachelor’s degree would be suffi-

cient to land him another job. While

there is no guarantee that a post-gradu-

ate degree will be the answer, many job

placement professionals say that it cer-

tainly doesn’t hurt, particularly if an

individual has been out of work for an

extended period of time. In fact,

McDale was able to land a position

based on a contact he had made

through his mater’s program.

“One of the things employers and

placement professionals look at in a

candidate is whether the applicant has

the right balance of work experience

and education for the job,” noted

Nicole Cox, chief recruitment officer

for Decision Toolbox. “We have

worked with a number of clients in the

past few years who have lost their job

for one reason or another, only to find

out that their skills may be outdated, or

at a minimum, need to be sharpened.

We are also finding that many entry-

level jobs today require graduate

degrees – particularly in specialized

areas such as technology, finance and

communications. Graduate degrees are

also usually required for senior man-

agement and leadership positions.”

The good news, noted Cox, is that

many accredited colleges and univer-

sities now offer online graduate pro-

grams and accelerated graduate pro-

grams, which makes it convenient,

and in some cases, more affordable for

the student.

“An important consideration with

online studies is to make sure the

school is accredited,” Cox said. “I

think initially there was a stigma

attached to online programs but, as

we have all moved into busier

lifestyles and as technology has

evolved, employers have come to

accept online or distance learning as a

legitimate learning delivery method.

In fact, many larger employers are

partnering with schools and universi-

ties to provide distance learning

opportunities for their employees.

“Employers also tend to look at

gaps in employment,” Cox added. “If

there is a large space of time unac-

counted for on a resume, employers

are going to wonder what the individ-

ual was doing for that particular

period. If a candidate can fill that gap

by demonstrating they were in

school, they are going to be looked at

much more favorably than a candi-

date who can’t.”

A Master’s Degree For Entry-Level Jobs

Just like experienced candidates,

many recent or soon-to-graduate

college seniors face stiff competition in

the employment marketplace. As many

under-graduates close in on their senior

year in search for the beginning of what

they hope will be a lucrative career, one

of the biggest questions they face is,

“Should I get a job or push on to get a

master’s degree?”

According to Michael Solt, Ed., dean

of the College of Business

Administration at California State

University, Long Beach, clearly the

starting point is to get a firm founda-

tion with an undergraduate degree.

“Combined with a solid foundation

of a strong undergraduate degree, two

to four years of work experience is

likely the best way to move forward in

your career,” Solt said. “While some

students bank on the fact that they have

Obtaining A Master’s Degree In Today’sEconomy: A Luxury Or Necessity?

Michael Solt, dean of the College of Business Administration at California State University, Long Beach, is pictured with three students study-ing at the college. From left are: Veronica Aguilar, Mona Moucharrafie and Jennifer Mae Formeloza. More than 3,600 undergraduate stu-dents and 150 graduate students attend the College of Business Administration. With 115 full-time and part-time faculty members, the col-lege offers a bachelor’s degree in business administration with eight focus area options, which are accountancy, finance, management infor-mation systems, human resource management, marketing, management, operations and supply chain management, and international busi-ness. The college offers a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accountancy. Dean Solt said that master’s programgraduates are among the most preferred candidates for top jobs. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

(Please Continue To The Next Page)


BUSINESS & EDUCATION4-B Long Beach Business Journal September 16-29, 2014

a MBA, the real difference is what the

employee brings to the workplace.

Serious employers need employees

who have the best skills for a particular

profession. In order to acquire the best,

one needs to go the extra mile with

their education, as well as be able to

demonstrate performance.”

“Master’s graduates tend to have

specific expertise in their profession,

making them the most preferred can-

didates for top jobs,” Solt said. “But

often, these skills such as critical and

creative thinking, project manage-

ment, IT, communication, data

analysis, independent thinking as

well as problem-solving are best

acquired and instilled when under-

taking an undergraduate degree.

Once these skills are obtained, they

can be refined and honed in a gradu-

ate program.”

“When it comes to online vs. tradi-

tional classroom education, there are

clearly advantages to both,” Solt

noted. “Online courses allow institu-

tions to deliver their services to a

much wider audience of students.

They also offer much more flexibility

for the student who may be working

full time and would not otherwise be

able to attend class in person. On the

other hand, classroom learning

allows for much more interaction

between professor and student, as

well as from student to student –

which is where a tremendous amount

of learning takes place.”

Return On Investment

An often overlooked aspect to

deciding whether to pursue a

graduate degree is return on investment.

For some disciplines, such as social

services, higher education, business

administration, law, and medicine, an

advanced degree is an absolute require-

ment; however, for others it’s an option

that requires careful consideration.

Other considerations include which

school, what the earning potential is

after graduation and market demand.

According to the U.S. Census

Bureau, on average, a master’s degree

can add $12,000 to $17,000 a year in

income over a bachelor’s degree; a

Ph.D., $30,000 to $51,000. Over the

course of a lifetime, that can add up to

hundreds of thousands of dollars. But

a master’s degree alone doesn’t

always translate into higher earnings.

“Whether a person is already

employed and seeking a way to move

up the corporate ladder or trying to

gain a toehold in the job market, it’s

always a good idea to weigh the cost of

seeking an advanced degree – in both

time and money – against the potential

rewards and risks,” noted Steven

Rozny, workforce services representa-

tive with the California Employment

Development Department.

“If you are working full time and

have a family, it’s important that you

plan accordingly and make sure you

have the support of your spouse and

other affected family members,” he

added. “Not only will you be making

a significant financial investment, the

time you spend on your studies will

certainly have an impact on your fam-

ily and work life.

“Like any major investment, it’s

important to spend time researching

what you should expect in terms of

monetary return on your investment,”

Rozny added. “If you will be borrow-

ing the money for your tuition, don’t

forget to calculate the cost interest

payments as well as the impact your

debt could have on your credit. While

choosing to pursue a master’s degree

may seem like a worthwhile invest-

ment, there are plenty of graduates

who have experienced buyer’s

remorse. My advice is always to take

the time to do your homework and

think through the process before mak-

ing the commitment.” �

According to the California State University, Long Beach website, more than 33,000 stu-dents, nearly 2,000 faculty and 1,600 professional staff members study and work on cam-pus each week. The 322-acre campus is organized into eight colleges: College of the Arts;College of Business Administration; College of Education; College of Engineering; Collegeof Health & Human Services; College of Liberal Arts; College of Natural Sciences andMathematics; and the College of Continuing & Professional Education. Within the variouscolleges are 63 academic departments and programs, 24 centers, four institutes and fourclinics. (Photograph provided by California State University, Long Beach)



� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Senior Writer

Long Beach schools, employment

institutions and local businesses

are working together to prepare

youth for the workforce by identify-

ing skills needed for current and

future workforce demands, providing

academic instruction and skill devel-

opment for those jobs, and establish-

ing internships and employment

opportunities.From the smallest entrepreneurial

establishments to the largest corporatebusinesses, there are several local pro-grams underway or being launchedthat can help employers fill many oftheir workforce needs. The BusinessJournal examines a few of those inthis special report.

Working With Businesses To Develop Curriculum And Career Pathways

The Long Beach Unified School

District (LBUSD) and Long

Beach City College (LBCC) work

together and with business to coordi-

nate career pathways curriculum so

local students can obtain skills relevant

to today’s local workforce and transi-

tion smoothly from high school to city

college. Career pathways are academic

programs integrating academic, techni-

cal and field-based instruction based

upon industry sectors in California

across subjects and grade levels.

Upon earning a degree or certificate

at LBCC, the goal is for students to be

prepared for the workforce or for fur-

ther study at a university, Eloy Oakley,

president of Long Beach City College,

explained. He noted the Long Beach

College Promise guarantees admission

to former LBUSD students who have

attended LBCC into California State

University, Long Beach, allowing them

to pursue their career path locally.

LBUSD’s Education Business

Advisory, a group of local business and

education leaders, was founded in 2009

to develop and refine curriculum for

career pathways at local high schools.

“One of the big things they developed

was what we call the graduate profile,”

Christopher Steinhauser, superintend-

ent of LBUSD, told the Business

Journal. Business representatives from

Boeing, Verizon, the Long Beach Area

Chamber of Commerce and other

organizations were involved in creating

the profile. The graduate profile identi-

fies five competencies necessary for

success in college and career, and out-

lines criteria for achieving those com-

petencies. “We work backwards from

there as we plan our pathways and the

course content,” Steinhauser said.

The graduate profile states students

must be college- and career-ready

scholars, critical and innovative prob-

lem solvers, effective communicators

and collaborators, ethical decision

makers and adaptable and productive

citizens. The profile was adopted about

a year ago.

The Education Business Advisory,

which includes representatives from

LBUSD, LBCC and Cal State Long

Long Beach Schools And PacificGateway Partner With Business ToPrepare Youth For The Workforce




Beach as well as business leaders,

meets a few times a year to identify

growing areas of employment for con-

sideration when the schools update and

develop career pathway curriculum,

Steinhauser explained.

Oakley said LBCC has been working

with LBUSD and other nearby school

districts to “create curriculum and to

design pathways that lead students into

career fields and . . . allow them to get

out of high school, move directly to

community college and have a pathway

directly into a workforce area where

there is demand.” He added, “We are

also working with the employer groups

and workforce investment boards to

ensure we are aligning these pathways

with what employers are saying are in

the biggest demand either now or in the

next five to 10 years.”

For example, with many growing

health care organizations employing

thousands of workers in Long Beach,

Oakley said LBCC is focused on

working with representatives in health

care. “We are continuing to work with

our health care partners. We recently

met with St. Mary Medical Center to

discuss trends in nursing and other

medical careers so that we can better

align our programs to meet their

needs,” he said.

LBUSD is also focused on develop-

ing its seven health science and med-

ical technology career pathways by

partnering with local health care


Senior Writer

The Long Beach Planning

Commission approved plans for

a 138,299-square-foot transporta-

tion trade school at Douglas Park on

September 4, the first educational

institution to locate in the office and

light industrial business park north

of the Long Beach Airport on for-

mer Boeing property.

Instruction at University Technical

Institute (UTI), Inc.’s new Long

Beach campus – expected to begin in

the fall of 2015 – is to include technical training for

automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and

marine technicians, according to a city staff report.

About 800 students and 85 staff and faculty are

expected on campus on a daily basis.

UTI, a 49-year-old national trade school with more

than 180,000 graduates to its credit, according to its

website, is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The firm

decided to build a campus in Long Beach after demo-

graphic research revealed the majority of the students

attending its Rancho Cucamonga campus were based

in the South Bay, according to Amy Bodek, director

of Long Beach Development Services.

“UTI selected this site to complement their grow-

ing Southern California base,” Bodek said. “Douglas

Park met their needs due to its freeway-accessible

location and the other amenities around the site,” she

said, referring to nearby hotel accommodations,

restaurants and Long Beach City College.

A city staff report recommending the project for

approval noted the school “adds diversity to Douglas

Park” as the first educational institution to be located

there. Douglas Park, a 261-acre business and light

industrial park formerly used by McDonnell

Douglas to manufacture aircraft, was planned for

office, hotel, light industrial and aviation uses.

Sares-Regis, a real estate investment firm, was the

developer of the pre-planned Pacific Pointe North

and South projects at the business park, and is prop-

erty manager of the site, as well as of a planned

Pacific Pointe East project at the southeast corner of

Conant Street and Lakewood Boulevard and a 1.1

million-square-foot property leased by Mercedes-

Benz at the northeast corner of the same intersection.

“The school will add a bit of diversity to Douglas

Park, and provide some synergy to the Mercedes-

Benz facility across Lakewood Boulevard,” Bodek

said, referring to Mercedes’ new Western Regional

offices currently under construction. Another auto-

motive industry business, a distributor of after-mar-

ket classic auto parts and truck accessories called

United Pacific, relocated its headquarters from

Carson to Douglas Park this year.

UTI’s website notes that “one of every seven jobs

in the nation is in the transportation industry.

Specifically, by the year 2020, the U.S. Department

of Labor projects there will be more than 1.4 million

jobs in the collision, automotive, motorcycle and

marine industries.”

Now that the Planning Commission approved the

trade school’s site plans, construction may begin.

“Sares-Regis is expected to start grading the site for

development within the next two weeks,” Bodek

said. “They are responsible for delivering the build-

ing shell and UTI is responsible for building out the

interior improvements to their own specifications,”

she explained. “The project is expected to be com-

pleted by June 2015, so UTI can start planning their

first year of curriculum.” �

New Transportation Trade School Green-Lighted For Douglas ParkScottsdale-Based University Technical Institute To Open In June 2015

This rendering illustrates the future 138,299-square-foot campus of Universal Technical Institute, Inc., at Douglas Park. The Scottsdale,Arizona-based trade school specializes in technical training for automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians, andhas graduated more than 180,000 students across the country. Construction of the building, located north of Conant Street betweenWorsham and Bayer Avenues, is expected to be complete by June 2015. (Rendering provided by the City of Long Beach)

Browning High School, one of Long Beach Unified School District’s (LBUSD) new high schools being built with Measure K bond funds, isslated for completion in 2016. Located at 2180 Obispo Ave., the campus is meant to serve 800 students with academic career pathwayprograms in hospitality and tourism, one of Long Beach’s largest industries, according to school district partners. The design includes two-story classrooms, labs, a cafeteria, multi-purpose rooms, a covered amphitheater and an open courtyard. (Rendering provided by LBUSD)



organizations. On September 9, the

school district and Long Beach

Memorial Medical Center announced

a new partnership for a health care

simulation program. “This program

develops a high school course curricu-

lum and teacher training guide that

integrates academic and technical

skills to be used in real-life medical

scenarios at Long Beach Memorial’s

simulation lab,” a statement from the

hospital explained. The program is

funded by an $180,000 grant awarded

by the Memorial Medical Center

Foundation with backing from The

James Irvine Foundation.

Another focus for both the school

district and city college is engineering

and manufacturing. Thanks to a $14.9

million grant from the California

Pathways Trust program, LBCC is

now the lead organization for the

Advanced Manufacturing and

Engineering Technology Linked

Learning Consortium, of which

LBUSD is a part. The consortium

includes regional school districts,

community colleges and universities,

and aims to create manufacturing and

engineering pathways to address

workforce needs in those industries.

In August, California

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Tom Torlakson toured LBCC with

Oakley and Steinhauser following the

grant award. “What has happened here

is an incredible partnership,” he said

in a statement. “When we reviewed

the applications [for the grant], Long

Beach City College was off the charts

in terms of how it was going to coor-

dinate with higher education, with

workforce preparation, to ensure that

students get the skills they need for

well-paying private sector jobs and

connecting with our K-12 education

system,” he stated.

Another way LBUSD and LBCC

have been working with each other

and the business community to

develop career pathways is in plan-

ning several new high schools. These

high schools, such as the recently

completed Ernest McBride High, are

all being built around specific career

pathways based on local workforce

opportunities. McBride, for example,

has pathways in health care and engi-

neering. Browning High, planned for

2180 Obispo Ave., is going to feature

career pathways in tourism and hospi-

tality, a growing industry as identified

by the district’s business partners.

Long Beach City College staff and

educators have been working directly

with colleagues in Long Beach

Unified to plan career pathways at

these new high schools, Oakley said.

One new, unnamed high school,

planned for completion in 2017, is to

be built on the campus of the former

Mary Butler School, located directly

behind LBCC’s Pacif ic Coast

Campus. Building a high school so

close to LBCC presents an “exciting

opportunity” for the school district

and the college to coordinate curricu-

lum and career pathways between the

campuses.

“We really want to make it one big

learning community and give those

students an opportunity to be involved

in college from the very beginning and

make that transition seamless,” Oakley

said. “We’re beginning to go beyond

having the general conversations and

we are going to begin actually plan-

ning how that is going to look.”

Developing Internship Opportunities

Steinhauser and Oakley agree

that internship opportunities –

which provide youth with hands-on

work experience preparing them for

college and career – have not been

readily available in recent years.

“It has been fairly limited,”

Steinhauser said. “I would say we prob-

ably offer 1,200 to 1,500 internships

Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment NetworkYouth Development3447 Atlantic Ave.

562/[email protected]

Long Beach Unified School DistrictCindy Bater, administrative assistant, Linked Learning project coordinator

1515 Hughes Way562/997-8315

[email protected] Beach City College

Sheneui Weber, executive director,Economic Development Department

Liberal Arts Campus: 4901 E. Carson St.

Pacific Coast Campus: 1305 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.

562/[email protected]




every year for our kids.” To put this fig-

ure in perspective, there are currently

25,194 students enrolled at Long

Beach high schools, which means at

the most, only six percent of them are

placed in internships. To illustrate the

competitiveness for internships,

Steinhauser referenced a decade-long

internship program with The Boeing

Company, in which every year “hun-

dreds of kids apply” but only 12 stu-

dents are chosen.

LBUSD high schools often compete

against each other for internship oppor-

tunities for their students because many

high schools have similar career path-

ways, such as health care and engineer-

ing, Steinhauser said. “In some cases,

businesses are getting asked by five of

the same pathways from five different

schools [for internship opportunities],”

Steinhauser said.

Oakley said LBCC has not been able

to “gain huge traction” developing

internship opportunities for students in

recent years. “Internships during the

recession took a big hit because

employers were obviously hit hard, so

they weren’t as willing to take on extra

help they had to cover through work-

ers’ comp insurance or other types of

expenses,” he said.

Both Steinhauser and Oakley are

optimistic about future opportunities

for youth internships among Long

Beach students, partially thanks to

Mayor Robert Garcia’s enthusiasm for

increasing student internships. In a

recent interview with the Business

Journal, Garcia said one of his goals is

to double current student internships

from about 1,500 per year to 3,000.

The school district has a direct solu-

tion to the internship dilemma thanks

to a recent $6 million grant from the

California Career Pathways Trust, cre-

ated by California Assembly Bill 86 in

2013 to establish career pathways from

kindergarten though city college.

With that money, LBUSD is creating

a division called Long Beach

Collaborative to Advance Linked

Learning (CALL), which “will work

with business leaders to identify areas

of potential apprenticeships and

internships,” Steinhauser said.

Background on the program pro-

vided by the district called the collabo-

rative “the connection between educa-

tion and workforce.” Long Beach

CALL is “responsible for brokering

internships, employment opportunities,

mentoring, classes on alternative sites,

faculty professional development and

externships, field trips, guest speakers,

job-shadowing opportunities and vol-

unteer opportunities,” according to

LBUSD. “This is really about develop-

ing the workforce,” Steinhauser said,

adding the program is also meant to

help students prepare for college.

Long Beach CALL is beginning this

year, and is being temporarily housed

in school district offices at Hughes

Way until the program gets off the

ground. When the division is fully

staffed with eight workers, Steinhauser

said the goal is to move it into its own

offices closer to businesses. “The

whole idea is Long Beach CALL will

become self sufficient through its own

funding outreach to businesses,” he

explained.

Between Garcia’s support and

improvement in the economy, Oakley is

hopeful the city college’s efforts to iden-

tify more internship opportunities for

students will pay off. “There are a lot of

federal resources now to fund career

training, especially in the K-12 area and

in the community college sector,” he

said. “We have an opportunity now with

the support of the mayor’s office of

bringing together workforce investment,

school boards in the region, and

employers to really double our efforts to

increase the number of internships,

because this kind of on-the-job work

experience is going to be critical for our

students to get the experience they need

to be successful in the job market.”

Margaret Phillips, owner of California Appliance Tech in Bixby Knolls, supervises Ramilla Gayle, a youth she has employed throughPacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network’s Youth Jobs Program, as she disassembles a washing machine motor. The programenables youths to earn 100 hours of paid work experience at local organizations, schools and businesses. (Photograph by the BusinessJournal’s Thomas McConville)

California ApplianceTech, a local appliancerepair business,employs local youth forclerical work and tech-nician training throughthe Pacific GatewayWorkforce InvestmentNetwork, a publicagency connecting jobseekers with employers.Irene Hernandez (left)and Mayola Leal,youths employedthrough PacificGateway’s Youth JobsProgram, are seateddoing clerical work atthe business as ownerMargaret Phillips (stand-ing, left) and VeronicaWesson oversee them.(Photograph by theBusiness Journal’sThomas McConville)




Youth Work Experience Via The Pacific Gateway WorkforceInvestment Network

In addition to these academic pro-

grams, local youth have an impor-

tant resource for work training and jobs

through the Pacific Gateway

Workforce Investment Network.

Pacific Gateway is a public agency that

connects adults and youth with busi-

nesses for employment and work train-

ing opportunities.

Pacific Gateway has a variety of pro-

grams to prepare youth for the work-

force. One of the largest programs is

called Hire-A-Youth, which enables

young people to receive work readi-

ness training and earn a nationally rec-

ognized work readiness certificate,

and then places them into specialized

internships and jobs. “We pair them up

with different organizations, busi-

nesses, nonprofits and schools within

the community,” Rebecca Vance-

Freeland, youth opportunity center

coordinator at Pacific Gateway, told

the Business Journal. About 275 stu-

dents participate in the program each

year, she estimated.

The agency’s Youth Jobs Program

enables youths to earn about 100

hours of paid work experience at local

organizations, schools and businesses

during the spring and summer. About

500 young people have been placed in

that program this year, Vance-

Freeland said. In this program, youth

“go through personal enrichment

training” focused on “life skills, a

good work ethic, career exploration

and financial literacy,” she explained.

“Upon completion of that [training]

we place them into work.” Pacific

Gateway pays for the youths’ wages

and workers’ compensation insurance.

Also offered by Pacific Gateway are

youth academies, which are “more

intense training programs where we

work with community partners to pro-

vide occupational skills training to

students ages 16 to 21,” Vance-

Freeland said. Made possible through

the Workforce Investment Act, “[these

programs] provide them with training

so they can earn an industry-recog-

nized certificate.”

Vance-Freeland said Pacific Gateway

has recently placed youth in special-

ized internships at the Port of Long

Beach and the water department.

Businesses participating in Pacific

Gateway’s youth programs include pet

day care centers, nonprofits, retailers,

service companies, schools and more.

“We actually have a business assistance

team that goes out and recruits local

businesses to sign up and participate,”

Vance-Freeland said.

California Appliance Tech., Inc.,

located in Bixby Knolls, is one such

business – the appliance repair com-

pany currently employs two youths

through Pacific Gateway’s Youth Job

Programs and recently hired another

after his work hours through the pro-

gram were complete.

Darryl Wesson, supervisor at

California Appliance Tech, said he

likes working with Pacific Gateway

because the youth are prescreened and

well prepared for work before coming

to the job site. The two youth currently

employed at his business through

Pacific Gateway mostly perform cleri-

cal work. Isaiah, the 19-year-old

California Appliance Tech hired per-

manently after he completed the Youth

Jobs Program, also began working at

the business doing clerical work. When

he expressed an interest in staying on

to learn technical skills, the company

hired him, Wesson said.

“If the budget was right . . . I would

be happy to bring them all aboard. We

sort of rely on them,” Wesson said.

“These youths are ready to go, and

that’s what I like.” �

Long Beach City College’s new Math and Technology Center at its Liberal Arts Campus is nearing the end stages of construction. The 76,886 square-foot center, located at the southwestcorner of Clark Avenue and Carson Street, will house the mathematics and culinary arts departments. Facilities at the site include 25 classrooms, a kitchen and two math labs. The buildingis set to open in fall of next year. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)



Education News In Brief


Senior Writer

New City College Trustee – IrmaArchuleta was appointed to the LongBeach City College District Board ofTrustees on September 11 to take theplace of former trustee RobertoUranga, who recently departed theboard to serve the 7th District on theLong Beach City Council. She willretain the position until the 2016 boardelection, when she may choose to runfor her seat. The board of trusteesselected Archuleta, an 11-year LongBeach resident, from a pool of 11 appli-cants. “After going through the applica-tion process and two rounds of inter-views, Irma demonstrated leadershipand experience that made her the bestpossible choice for the board oftrustees,” Board President Jeff Kelloggsaid in a statement. Archuleta currentlyserves as vice president of studentaffairs for Evergreen Valley College inSan Jose. She holds a master’s degree inpublic administration and a bachelor’sdegree in human studies with an

emphasis on bilingual education. Herprevious work experience was atCalifornia State University, LongBeach, El Camino College andCompton College. “I will bring to thisboard the needs of our community andI will represent Area 2 in the best waypossible,” Archuleta said in a statement. CSU Dominguez Hills Named

Among Top 10 For Contributions ToThe Public Good – WashingtonMonthly, a Washington, D.C.-basedmagazine, recently named CaliforniaState University, Dominguez Hills(CSUDH) as one of the top 10 universi-ties in the nation for its contributions topublic good for the third year running.The school was selected from more than650 universities nationwide, all of whichhave master’s degree programs. Therankings were based on three criteria,which are “social mobility toward help-ing low-income students earn degrees,research production, and . . . commit-ment to civic engagement and commu-nity service,” according to CSUDH.More than 50 percent of CSUDH stu-dents are the recipients of need-basedPell grants. “We are extremely proud tobe among the nation’s top universities

that are opening the doors of higher edu-cation wide and giving students a com-prehensive experience that engages themboth inside and outside the classroom,”CSUDH President Willie J. Hagan saidin a statement. Cal State Long Beach Ranked 5th

Best Public Regional University,Has 2nd Lowest Student Debt InThe West – U.S. News & WorldReport’s Best Colleges 2015Guidebook named California StateUniversity, Long Beach (CSULB) the5th best public regional university inthe west and identified the school ashaving the second lowest student debtamong public universities in theWestern United States. The univer-sity’s college of engineering wasranked among the top 12 percent ofengineering programs nationwide.“We are always honored and proud toreceive such recognition for our out-standing faculty, student and alumniachievement. Of particular impor-tance is how well we do in keepingstudent debt as low as possible,”CSULB President Jane Close Conoleysaid in a statement. According toCSULB, the Best Colleges Guidebook

compares 1,600 four-year universitiesbased upon 16 indicators of excel-lence, “including assessment byadministrators at peer institutions,graduation and retention rates of stu-dents, student selectivity and alumnigiving.” The guidebook is availablefor purchase on September 23 athttp://www.usnews.com/products/fea-tures/education-products-best-col-leges-2015.CSULB And Peace Corps Partner

On Master’s Program – OnSeptember 5, Peace Corps DirectorCarrie Hessler-Radelet, CSULBPresident Jane Close Conoley andCongressman Alan Lowenthal held apublic meeting at Cal State Long Beachto announce the university’s partnershipwith the Peace Corps on a new master’sdegree program. The program includestwo degrees that allow students toincorporate Peace Corps service intotheir degree coursework. At the publicmeeting, Hessler-Radelet, Conoley andLowenthal signed a memorandum ofunderstanding, making the partnershipofficial. According to the university,777 alumni have volunteered for thePeace Corps since 1961. �

CSU Trustees Award For Outstanding AchievementTwenty-three students were honored September 9 by the California State University (CSU) system with the CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement. The recognition, according toCSU, is “given each year to those students who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.” CSU has honored 296 stu-dents since the award’s inception in 1984. “The compelling life stories of these extraordinary student scholars are a testament to the transformative power of public higher education,” saidCSU Chancellor Timothy P. White in a statement. “Through the generous support of our donors, many of whom are first-time contributors to the Trustees’ Award program, we are able to helpthese scholars create a bright and successful future.” Pictured standing, left to right are: Shayle Matsuda, San Francisco State University; David Elliott, San José State University; Lita MelissaCahuana, CSU Long Beach; Gregory Wortsell, California Maritime Academy; Natalie Rivera, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Patrick Landrum, CSU Sacramento; JesusOchoa Perez, CSU Monterey Bay; Gena Alltizer, CSU San Bernardino; Sergio Juarez, San Diego State University; Pamela Hernandez; CSU Dominguez Hills; Bryan L.L. Wood, CSU Fresno;Giovanni Lamanna, Sonoma State University; Michael Chacon, CSU Fullerton; Eliza Matley, CSU Stanislaus; and Justin D’Agostino, CSU Los Angeles. Seated, left to right are: NatalieHolmberg-Douglas, CSU Chico; Mayra Roxi Diaz, CSU Northridge; Monica R. Correale, Humboldt State University; Faith Ihem, CSU Bakersfield; Carlos Betancourt, CSU San Marcos; TeresaCastillo, CSU Channel Islands; Jessica Mery, CSU East Bay; and Michelle Lam, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)


“Serious employers need employees who have the best

skills for a particular profession. In order to acquire the

best, one needs to go the extra mile with their education,

as well as be able to demonstrate performance.”

Michael Solt, Dean, College of Business AdministrationCalifornia State University, Long Beach

Photograph of the College of Business Administration at California StateUniversity, Long Beach by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville


september 16-29, 2014 section b

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