Dean’s Update Summer 2020
Greetings from the College of Business (COB) where we have recently finished the most tumultuous year in the history of the university triggered by the COVID-19 crisis. We successfully completed all spring semester courses and enabled 1,525 COB students to complete degrees and graduate. However, the university has postponed Commencement ceremonies to a future date that is still to be determined.
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every COB student, staff member, and faculty member for coping with the COVID-19 crisis and making the best of our situation with minimal complaints. COB’s spring semester effort is sterling evidence that this is an excellent college of which everyone connected to COB can be exceedingly proud.
I am pleased to report on exciting new things below, such as the Apostle Incubator and Enterprise Lab that is funded by a generous gift from the John and Helen Apostle Foundation and the remodeling of the large lecture halls that have been mostly untouched in their 30-year existence. Efforts to have excellent online courses in the fall semester are detailed, and much news about our faculty is also provided.
When the spring semester began, we had no idea how the COVID-19 virus would impact our campus. On February 27, CSULB President Jane Close Conoley announced that the campus was aware of COVID-19. She suspended suspended face-to-face classes on March 11 and initiated virtual instruction beginning March 23.
On May 12, President Conoley announced that our campus would move to remote instruction for the fall 2020 semester. For personal safety and public health reasons, the guiding principle of the campus, as well as the whole California State University system, is that face-to-face interactions be minimized for students, faculty, and staff for the remainder of 2020. COB is committed to helping President Conoley in these challenging and unchartered times however we can.
The past couple of months have brought us moments that will shape our world. On June 18, we saw the Supreme Court rule to uphold protections from deportations for Dreamers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As President Conoley wrote, “While we celebrate this decision and take this opportunity to affirm our strong and unwavering support for every member of our Beach community, we must continue to work toward permanent legislative protections for those who are undocumented.”
The nearly 9 minutes of horror on the streets of Minneapolis on May 25 when George Floyd was senselessly murdered presented another monumental crisis that has shaken our nation to its core. President Conoley later said that “We at the Beach are vehemently against police brutality and racial injustice. The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others have sparked protests across the nation. We fully support and stand by the Black community at the Beach whose lives, health, and safety are intimately impacted.”
We, as a nation and individually, have a long way to go to ensure that such tragedies never happen again, and COB is exploring ways to help in our Long Beach community. I am affirming that for COB and me personally, Black Lives Matter.
Michael E. Solt
Dean, College of Business
Professor, Department of Finance
Campus Guide, CSU5 Collaboration
