Maxson teaches leadership

By Chris Ledermuller
Daily Forty-Niner

Besides running a 30,000-student university, holding meetings with state officials and walking around campus to shake hands with students, Cal State Long Beach President Robert Maxson still takes time to teach classes.

Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon, Maxson teaches "Human Dynamics and Organizational Leadership," a University Honors Program class.

"It's a course on how organizations behave," Maxson said. "We talk about major theories of leadership and different philosophies on leadership. But we also talk about verbal and nonverbal communication."

The course, officially listed as "UHP 300-Junior Colloquium," is similar to management courses offered in the business program. Students learn about organizational structures, and the functions within the private sector, government, academia, nonprofit organizations and the military.

A similar course for graduate students, also taught by Maxson, is offered through the College of Business.

Although the program is primarily offered to students in the Honors program, anyone can take the class, said Duan Jackson, University Honors Program advising coordinator. However, Honor students have priority registration.

So far, remarks about the leadership class have generally been positive, Jackson said.

"He's knowledgeable and he's a walking wealth of information," she said of Maxson. "Students like taking the class with him."

Maxson said he enjoys his teaching role, for which he does not get paid extra.

"I love students and I love to teach," he said. "I'm president of an institution whose main function is to teach students. If I'm going to be leader of this organization, I should teach as well."

Prior to his arrival at CSULB, Maxson taught statistics and research methods courses at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., and graduate-level leadership courses while he was president at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.