Dean’s Update, August 14, 2012

Molina Healthcare and California State University Long Beach Expand Partnership

Howard Fletcher, SCPD Director, took on an additional role in initiating an internship program for CSULB students at Molina Healthcare. Over 100 students from the CBA and the College of Health and Human Services applied for 6 internships that began June 1. The Long Beach Business Journal recently ran a story about the program.

Molina Healthcare has always prided itself on being connected to the community and the Professional Development Program (PDP) with CSULB is just one of the public-private partnerships underway at the company.

Back row (L-R): Jon Heiman, Molina; Marshall Senkarik, MBA candidate; Mario Molina; John Molina, CFO; Raafat (Roy) Kassem, HCA; Todd Lemmis, Molina. Front row (L-R): Stephanie Klein, CBA Finance; Amy Anderson, HCA; Kimberly Pearson, CBA Finance & SCM; and Arjun Indrodia, HCA w/ minor in Finance.

“From our recent acquisition of the Molina Center (former Arco Towers) to our Partnership for Healthy Living with CSULB and the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach, Molina is an integral part of the Long Beach business landscape,” said J. Mario Molina, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Molina Healthcare, Inc. “In addition to our health care mission, we believe in giving back to the community and that means being a good business partner especially with public institutions.”

“We are excited about the PDP program because it gives our students the opportunity to work in one of the few business segments of the economy that is growing—health care,” said Michael Solt, Dean, College of Business Administration.  “Plus Molina Healthcare has been an integral partner of Long Beach businesses for over 30 years.”

While Molina has hired interns before, the PDP will identify and prepare talent for key positions at Molina through experiential learning, formal training and aggressive performance management. During the 12-week internship, Molina executives will coach and mentor participants as they take on six different roles in the areas of finance and accounting, human resources, information technology, marketing, project management and business development. These positions allow participants to experience a variety of challenging assignments and make meaningful contributions to Molina’s business before they settle into a long-term career choice.

Howard is working with Molina on an additional 6 internships for Fall Semester and he has collected 50 student resumes to date.