Business
company lies about tie to CDC, disrupts
classes
By Joyce Kelly
On-line Forty-Niner
Varsity
Management has been misappropriating the
authority of the Career Development Center
and disrupting classrooms without permission,
according to Frank Fata, associate dean
from the College of Liberal Arts.
An e-mail from Fata said, “Please be aware
that an entity calling itself Varsity Management
has been misappropriating the authority
of our Career Development Center and then
entering classrooms to make presentations.”
Staff members from Varsity Management told
professors they had permission from the
Career Development Center of Cal State Long
Beach. Robin Lee, coordinator with the co-operative
education program with the CDC, said the
center had not given permission to this
company. She said many companies claim
to be internships, but they really are not.
“There are a lot of companies doing this
and they are not internships,” Lee said.
Lee denied any collaboration with Varsity
Management.
An e-mail from Lee read, “Please be aware
of this practice and let them know that
the Career Development Center and the internship
program has no affiliation with Varsity
Management. I have received three
calls from angry faculty about this.
“I also wanted to inform the students that
giving their personal information to everyone
is not safe and it does not protect them
and their privacy,” Lee continued. “The
students must be aware that if they sign
and give their e-mail address, their telephone
numbers and anything else personal that
they are giving away their privacy to people
they don’t know. They have to be careful
about their personal [information] and protect
their privacy.”
Varsity Management members recruit to large
audiences so they take their workshops directly
to the classrooms, especially the College
of Business Administration Building. On
one occasion, Liesl Haas, an associate professor
of political science, witnessed the techniques
of a three-man team from Varsity Management.
“I teach a large class of about 160 students
in the CBA building,” Haas said. “I was
running a little behind, so when the man
asked permission, I told him no. He said
he had university permission. He said
the business school had given him permission.
I told him no.”
Haas continued with her lecture, after the
man left the classroom. But, he wasn’t
the only one in her classroom for that company.
“As I’m lecturing, I see this guy pacing
in the back of the classroom,” she continued.
“I continued to see a clipboard making the
rounds in the room. Finally, the guy grabbed
the clipboard and those two left the room.
I asked what was that about?
“The students replied that he told them
it was from me, so they signed it,” Haas
said.
The tactics that Varsity Management uses
are not professional, Haas said.
“They are deceitful,” Haas said. “I
warned the students that this looks like
it may be a shady business and to be careful.”
Cal State Long Beach has policies pertaining
to solicitation.
“Yes, they have to have permission,” Robert
Maxson, president of CSULB said. “But
this is a public university, and it is difficult
to keep people off the campus.”
Doug Robinson, vice president of Student
Services, agreed.
“An application for solicitation must be
filed,” Robinson said. “There is a
policy for anyone to solicit on this campus.
They must also wear a tag around the neck.”
Varsity Management Program is a company
that prides itself on being one of the most
highly recognized internship organizations.
Not only does Varsity Management Program
pay for the internship; it also provides
money and supplies to start a business.
“It’s a paid internship,” Justin Manning,
director of operations of his own company,
said. “Varsity gives the training and supplies
needed. I didn’t have any money when
I got started. I did it about two years,
and I made close to $20,000 last summer.”
Roland Thoms, owner of Varsity Management,
said the company is an internship and it
offers great opportunities for students.
“We are an internship, according to how
one defines the word,” he said. “We recruit
college students with confidence, leadership
skills and motivation to turn them into
future leaders, achievers and entrepreneurs.”
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