August 2018

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August 2018

“Your education is an investment unlike a car, house, or stock…you cannot sell it. 
So, you are explicitly linked to this institution and therefore, responsible for that brand.” -GMAC 2017

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Grad Commencement Student getting hooded

Congratulations to all of the 2018 Business Graduate Students that participated in Commencement this year. The new location was a hit! The University received positive feedback regarding the new commencement location. Commencement pictures.

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Evelyn Park

The Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS), LA Directors’ awarded MS Supply Chain Management (MSSCM) Student, Evelyn Park, with a $3000 scholarship. Park talks about her experience in the MSSCM program at CSULB “Since I began the program, I’ve increased our inventory turns from 4 to 5, helped introduce a brand‐new product line to target a new market, and was a key decision maker for a new ERP implementation. I’ve also had the opportunity to present on the business statistics I’ve learned in the research methods course based on a regression to show the executives of the company where we have room for improvement. Most recently, I’ve assisted the executive management team in sourcing and importing a product from a country we’ve never done business in.”

Park would like to return to CSULB to teach in the MSSCM program one day. Before doing that, she has student loans from her undergraduate and graduate degrees to pay down. This is why she truly appreciates receiving the WTS-LA Directors’ Scholarship.

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Eang Taing

I received my MBA from CSULB in 2007. The evening MBA program enabled me to earn my MBA while working full-time at CSULB as an instructional designer for the College of Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE), where I had worked since earning my bachelor’s degree in information systems in 2003. After completing my MBA, I decided to fully utilize my education by entering and restarting my career as assistant accounting systems analyst for the auditor department within LA County. This meant starting from the bottom and learning a new set of technology.

I was part of the transition team that converted LA County’s old payroll and personnel mainframe legacy system to Oracle based eHR payroll and personnel advantage system.  LA County is the largest employer in the county with over 107,000 employees ranging from administrative assistants to firefighters with everything in between. This great diversity of jobs provided a complexity in the conversion process that proved extremely challenging. 

I can say with great certainty that my education at CSULB, specifically the MBA program, provided me with the tools to succeed and overcome many of the challenges created by the project. Along the way, I have been promoted to a management position as a senior accounting systems analyst. I highly encourage and recommend the evening MBA program to any full-time working adult seeking a career change or growth.

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SMBA 7 Cohort Group Photo

"There were several takeaways from our visit to Tallinn, Estonia. We learned about their tech-savvy lifestyle by visiting e-Estonia, their government headquarters. (Fun fact: Because of their advanced, centralized and secure database, it takes less than a minute to file their income taxes. Just imagine!) We tasted their local delicacies — bear and elk, if you can believe that. We realized that we don’t walk enough in the U.S. Walking on endless cobblestone pathways was a nice change, giving us more time to soak in their culture, history and small town charm. Above all, we made many memories as a cohort that brought us even closer to each other. We had spent 70+ full Saturdays together prior to this trip (we are talking 8 hours every Saturday plus group meetings during the week), and I still could not have asked for a better cohort to travel with on my first European tour. For prospective students: if you ask me, my favorite part about the Saturday MBA would be the international experience!"

-April Rose Dela Cruz, Saturday MBA Cohort 7 

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Mentor and Mentee - Barbra and Valentin

AMBA XIII Student Valentin Panaguiton shares his experience in the Graduate Career Mentorship Program and how it helped him land his Summer Internship with Barksdale, Inc. Interested in being a mentor? Submit your application to be a mentor at www.bit.ly/gradcareermentor18-19

“With the mentorship program, I was able to gain an incredible amount of knowledge through my mentor’s experiences in Finance and the corporate world. I was able to learn more about the company culture as well as the issues and challenges that I may experience as I go into my chosen career path. One of the most important experiences that I have had in the program, is being able to see the value in networking first-hand. In one of my internship interviews, I was able to meet one of my mentor’s former mentees through a conversation just minutes before we started the interview with the VP/GM of the company. With this, I was able to give a good impression and talk more about my experiences and passions outside of the interview questions that were given thereafter. I followed up and referenced our conversation and my strong interest with the position and the company. Moments later, I was able to successfully secure an internship offer. This showed me the value of networking and nurturing both new and current relationships. As professionals, we should be able to build on those relationships and continuously expand our network to open new opportunities that will lead to our professional success.”

Valentin’s mentor and MBA Advisory Board member, Barbara Barcon, added “We often look up to the big budget, private, highly advertised schools and think CSULB doesn't offer the same level of networking and "connections."  Well, having a prior mentee interview a current mentee (and offer him the job) proves CSULB offers many of the same opportunities and benefits of those other well-known schools.  I was surprised and delighted to hear the two met, had a lot in common and made a strong positive connection.  Equally delighted that they are both actively doing what they always wanted to do toward achieving their career goals.  Very rewarding to be a part of their success!”

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Graduate Business Career Services Logo

Make a difference in a graduate business student’s career trajectory and serve as a mentor in the Graduate Career Mentor Program!  To sign up to be a mentor click here: www.bit.ly/gradcareermentor18-19

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Michelle Levy, Assistant Director, Graduate Business Career Services at Michelle.Levy@csulb.edu or 562.985.8551.

This January the MBA Advisory Board meet for an extended Strategic Planning session. Over the course of this meeting, the board identified five critical success factors. Critical success factors are areas that are critically important to the success of our graduate business students. The five-success factors identified are career development support, resource increase for students, alumni network engagement, student experience enhancement and innovative curriculum strategies. 

In the last year, the board has added eight new member to help in achieving these goals. New members include Lucy Guillen MBA, Founder & CEO, Merryweather Consulting Group; Norm Herron MBA, Founder & CEO, Pacific Technologies; Ishwar Bharbhari MBA, Assitant General Manager of IT, Yamaha Corporation of America; Jennifer Richman MBA, Volunteer Paralegal, Veterans Legal Institute; Glenn Canales MBA, Account Manager, Royal Industrial Solutions; Kendra Jones MBA JD, Vice President Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Epson America, Inc; Dr. Hieu Nguyen, Faculty Representative and Marketing Professor at CSULB; and Janaee Sekar, Student Representative and CSULB MBA candidate.

Board members have joined Critical Success Factor Working Groups based on their expertise and interests. The board meets again on August 7. Learn more about our MBA Advisory Board members and read their bios. 

Would you like us to share your story? Click the link below to share your recent promotion, new job or trip around the country. Any announcement big or small, we would be happy to share it on our upcoming announcements section.

/cba-graduate-programs/form/tell-us-your-story

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AMBA 13 Cohort Group Photo at Fullscreen

Thanks to Fullscreen Media for taking the time to give our Accelerated MBA students a tour of their Silicon Beach office and providing great insight on their internship experience.

Special thanks to Bert Rivera and Michelle Levy for their great work on the new Career Development Course for the Accelerated MBA students.  The course is designed to educate students about various aspects of the career development process. Event pictures.  

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Graduate School of Business CSULB Logo

We are very excited about the upcoming new programs and the opportunities they will provide for our students.  The Fully Online MBA webpage is now live! See below for our new program offerings.

Fall 2018

MS Information Systems

Accountancy Blended MS Program (4+1)

 

Spring 2019

MS Accountancy will now offer Spring admission.

 

Fall 2019

Fully Online MBA

MS Finance

MS Marketing