Greetings from the College of Business Administration

Spring semester marks the end of my first year leading this excellent college. I have been warmly received and welcomed into the university community and college family. In turn, I am committed and dedicated to making the CBA the best it can be and enhancing the quality of CSULB, which U.S.News & World Report ranks third among comprehensive universities in the western U.S.

Most significant to me over the past year are the people I have met, from the top of the university, to the faculty, staff and students of the CBA, to our friends in the community. I am inspired by the commitment and dedication to excellence that I see in those around me.

CSULB is an integral part of the fabric of the wider Long Beach community, and I run into alums regularly as I attend local events. Our alumni have tremendous Beach Pride, and I look forward to meeting and engaging with more of our alums over the coming year.

The state and national budget issues continue to impact CSULB and the CBA. The campus and CBA have made cuts, but we continue to support our students, faculty and staff. We know these are difficult times, but we are committed to ensuring student success, our number one priority. As we tighten our belts again, we are looking for support from our alumni, business partners and the community to help us bridge the growing gap between state assistance and the cost of maintaining our core initiatives.

The most significant event this year was the reaccreditation of both our MBA and undergraduate programs by the Association to Advance College Schools of Business International (AACSB). We are proud to be one of the 559 accredited business schools out of more than 11,000 schools worldwide. Former Interim Dean Mo Khan and Associate Dean for Accreditation Mary Wolfinbarger put us on the path to this successful effort. AACSB assesses education quality by evaluating the qualifications of our faculty and the achievement of learning objectives by our students. A recent survey of MBA students rated accreditation as the most important feature of our programs. We are already looking ahead at what we need to do to assure reaccreditation again in five years!

Another major success of this year is the addition of Associate Dean Omer Benli, Administrative Services Manager Ali Chu, MBA Director David Horne and Director of Development Ryan McKinney to the CBA leadership team. These individuals are industrious and share my enthusiasm for achieving excellence. As you read through this latest newsletter, you’ll see highlights of some of the great things our faculty and students are doing.

Last fall, I laid out the values I want the CBA to emphasize: engagement, execution and excellence. The CBA family is engaging across the college, university and community, and they are executing in teaching, research and service. All this is done with student success and educational quality in mind, and I think that we have a team that indeed excels.

Michael E. Solt
Dean