Dean's News & Insights
Hospitality Students Win Annual CSU Student Research Competition
April 25, 2019 - Brishna Nader and Cris de los Santos received first place honors in the 33rd Annual CSU Student Research Competition held at CSU Fullerton on Friday, April 26th, and Saturday, April 27th. This CSU-wide competition showcases the innovative research and creative activities of undergraduate and graduate students across all academic programs. Brishna and Cris competed in the Business, Economics and Public Administration category with their research project, entitled "The Role of Internal LOC in Driving Pro-Environmental Behavior in Hospitality".
CalCPA Scholarship Awarded to Brooke Baumgardner and Beth Johnson
March 25, 2019 - Brooke Baumgardner and Beth Johnson were awarded the CalCPA scholarship for 2019 by the San Jose chapter of the Silicon Valley. They were nominated by College of Business faculty as outstanding accounting students. Brooke and Beth serve as co-presidents of the Accounting Society, which hosts guest speaker meetings each semester as well as the annual Accounting Networking Event. The students also work as Accounting and Finance tutors in the Cooperative Learning Center, where they tutor students in the lower level and intermediate level accounting courses and finance. Congratulations to Brooke and Beth on this wonderful achievement!
March 2019: Ethics Forum, SAS Certification, Laguna Seca Study, College of Business Showcase
17th Ethics and Responsible Business Forum - Is Cannabis "Good" Business?
Every year in March, California State University, Monterey Bay’s College of Business, College of Health and Human Services, and the School of Computing and Design in the College of Science organize the Ethics and Responsible Business Forum. This free event is open to the public and draws between 300-500 people from the campus and greater Monterey Bay area community.
The forum’s theme this year is "Is Cannabis "Good" Business?" The 17th debate in this series will feature high profile experts as keynote speakers and panelists. The audience will have an opportunity to join the discussion by submitting questions for the debate moderator to pose to the speakers. For more information, please visit www.csumb.edu/business/ethics.
SAS Certification
Last spring we began offering the SAS Business Analytics Joint Certification. Since then 46 Business students have earned this valuable certification. Data analysis skills are in high demand in all industry segments. I encourage students to explore this opportunity to distinguish themselves with potential employers by visiting www.csumb.edu/business/sas for more details on this 12-unit certification.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Study
A study conducted by our own Sustainable Hospitality Management students revealed $84.4 million in positive economic impact on Monterey County by the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. We're proud of this impactful contribution by our students and the program's executive director Dr. John Avella and faculty Dr. Roberta Atzori and Dr. Angel Gonzalez. Learn more.
College of Business Showcase - May 2, 2019
Save the date and join us for the College of Business Showcase where we will honor the hard work and achievements of our graduating seniors, outstanding alumni, and recognize exemplary leadership in our local community. Sponsorships are available and help ensure all of our seniors will have the opportunity to attend this gala event.
January/February 2019: Welcome to the spring term!
Congratulations to our faculty, staff and wonderful students on getting our Initial Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) approved on December 27, 2018 by AACSB, the world's leading business school accreditation organization. The AACSB's Initial Accreditation Committee had only four recommendations for improvement and moved up our accreditation process by one year. Our accreditation leadership, faculty and staff deserve great kudos for this fine achievement!
The upcoming spring semester promises to be an exciting one focused on student success, faculty excellence and service. The current four student associations will be joined by two more - the Sustainable Hospitality Club and the Human Resources Club. Students are encouraged to join a club and enjoy fun events and make connections. They will be your real-world support team and belongingness organizations.
The 2nd Monterey Bay Sustainable Hospitality Summit on January 11 was a huge success, sparking vital discussion on innovative ideas applicable to our region and beyond. And the regional Monterey Bay Startup Weekend on January 25-27 had over 80 participants with 13 new startups. View our Events/News page and mark your calendars for the many exciting activities planned for this term.
December 2018: Sustainable Hospitality Management program receives national recognition.
We're very proud to announce that our Sustainable Hospitality Management program was ranked among Study.com's Top 50 Hospitality and Tourism schools nationwide, thanks to the great work by Executive Director Dr. John Avella and faculty, whose efforts continue to grow enrollment and deliver excellent experiential learning to our students. Dr. Avella and his team had a very busy fall, starting in August when 15 HOSP students worked on the Pebble Beach Special Events Management Team for the Concourse d'Elegance (photo below). The HOSP team hosted 85 high school ProStart students, participated in the Meals On Wheels benefit and the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell Run, and took the lead in organizing the Monterey Bay Sustainable Hospitality Summit.
ProStart is a 2-year program on Culinary and Hospitality skills. In California, there are 139 ProStart high schools with 9,000 students. In November, 85 ProStart students visited CSUMB to learn about our Sustainable Hospitality Management program and tour the campus. The counselors and teachers that accompanied the students gave very positive feedback. The HOSP team will be attending the March 2019 California ProStart championship in Pomona, where they will be awarding scholarships to the ProStart winners.
One of the area's delightful charity events is the Meals on Wheels benefit at Pebble Beach, held on November 18th. The highlight of the event is the tablescape design, which includes exquisite flowers and decorations. Our fabulously creative Sustainable Hospitality Management student Vincent Encarnacion worked with A'viands Campus Dining Catering Director Jerry Carter, to decorate Rancho Cielo Youth Campus Executive Chef/Chef Instructor Estavan Jimenez's table (right).
Hospitality student Nicole Veles served on the planning committee as volunteer coordinator for the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell Run on December 8th in Pacific Grove. The event attracted a total of 1,335 participants, including 127 volunteers, and raised over $136,000.
The Monterey Bay Sustainable Hospitality Summit is slated for January 10-11, 2019. This event is produced by the Monterey Bay Ecotourism Region (MBETR), a unique initiative led by CSUMB's Sustainable Hospitality Management program. MBETR is composed of public and private partners from the Tri-County region. This event will bring together over 200 hospitality, ecotourism, and wellness leaders for intensive discussion of issues related to the development, integration, and implementation of sustainable practices in the hospitality industry. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to mbetr.org.
On December 6th we received the great news that our Sustainable Hospitality Management Program had been ranked among the top 50 hospitality and tourism programs in the country by Study.com. This is a significant accomplishment for a program in its third year. CSU Monterey Bay was selected based on academic and career resources for hospitality and tourism students, the quality of education in hospitality and tourism, and the outstanding faculty, among other criteria. We are deeply honored for this recognition and we credit our great students, faculty, and staff for his honor.
October/November 2018: The College of Business's Institute for Innovation and Economic Development (iiED) recently held two major events fostering economic vitality and innovation.
On October 30th, the iiED held a startup investment symposium, co-sponsored with the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, called the Startup Investment and Community Capital EXPO.
And on Nov 2nd-4th, the iiED held it's 7th annual Hackathon with the theme: “Tech Save America.” Read more about these incredible events below.
October 30th: Startup Investment and Community Capital (SICC) EXPO was co-chaired by Dean Kamath and Professor Brad Barbeau and had over 150 attendees. Professor Barbeau was Master of Ceremonies and both he and Dean Kamath chaired panels. The SICC EXPO featured concurrent panels on Emerging Opportunities in the Agribusiness Supply Chain; Emerging Opportunities in the Sustainable Hospitality, Ecotourism, Eco-recreation and Wellness; Community Capital Pitches; and Community Capital Investors. Five startups presented to a panel of 6 investors at the conclusion of the morning's program. Doug Ericsson, founder of the Santa Cruz Tech Meetup and serial entrepreneur presented the morning keynote on Zentrepreneurship. The lunchtime keynote was delivered by Bethany Mayer, Executive Partner of Siris Capital and former CEO of Ixia, Inc., which she sold to Keysight Partners for $1.78 billion. Bethany is a graduate of the COB's MBA program, class of 2011. The afternoon Business Solutions EXPO featured six concurrent panels on topics of business and workplace management tools to improve productivity and performance. Over 15 organizations participated in the EXPO.
November 2nd - 4th: The 2018 CSUMB Startup Hackathon had 51 participants, working in 12 teams over the weekend to develop technology to solve pressing social problems: “Tech Save America.” This was our seventh CSUMB Hackathon; the series was begun in 2012 by Professor Eric Tao in the School of Computing and Design and founding director of the Institute for Innovation and Economic Development.
This year the participants were given the charge of developing technology to address one of four pressing social issues: climate change, natural disaster management and recovery, fake news, and the opioid crisis. Fifteen of the participants pitched ideas and the 51 students organized themselves into 12 teams to work through the weekend to develop their solutions. The participants were supported by a team of 12 coaches (comprised of business leaders and instructors in technology) who helped them solve design, strategy, and technology challenges.
On Sunday afternoon, the teams demonstrated their projects in a Hackathon Showcase. Four judges examined the projects and spoke with the teams, and awarded the following accolades:
Lie Detector Team
First Place Winner
Disastor Response Team
Second Place Winner
VolunteerMe
Third Place Winner
Pyro Sens Team
Special Topic Award for Natural Disasters
polr Team
Special Topic Award for Elections
“Tech Save America” Judges
L to R: Andrew Lawson, Dean, College of Science; Bryan Banks, CEO, Kiptraq; Miguel Lara, Professor of Computer Science; Fred Cohen, Kieretsu Forum/Management Analytics
The Hackathon provides a great opportunity for students to apply the skills they have been learning to solve real-world problems; in the process, they also learn new skills and learn the importance of the skills they have. It also provides an opportunity for businesses to invest time and resources towards supporting tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. Congratulations to the participating students and winning teams! And special thanks to our sponsors, volunteers, coaches, and judges.
October 1st, 2018 - This year's Greater Vision focuses on The Farm of the Future: Agricultural Careers in Energy, Sustainability, and Technology.
Agriculture can open a world of career possibilities, and the demand for professionals in every area is high. You'll have a unique opportunity to hear from many agriculture industry executives and College of Business community partners. I encourage you to attend this event on Wednesday, Oct 3rd, 8am-1pm, in the University Center Ballroom, and learn about the new and exciting careers in agriculture.
September 28th, 2018: CSUMB's MBA Focuses on Responsible Business
"By completely redesigning and rebranding our MBA as the Responsible Business MBA in Fall 2019 we will be a unique program that trains MBA students to become managers who understand the complexities of decision-making in the 21st century."
- Dean Shyam Kamath
Read more in Dean's Kamath's interview with Becky Eldredge here:
September 6th, 2018 - Welcome to the 2018-19 Academic Year!
As another exciting academic year begins, I want to warmly welcome our new and continuing students, faculty, and staff to Fall 2018 at the College of Business! I wish you all the very best for a wonderful and rewarding year ahead.
Our highest priority is student success. Being a Business Otter is a special thing - it means resilience, determination, grit, grace, and success at work and play. Our commitment is to provide our support and encouragement as you reach for the academic, career, and life goals you have set for yourself. Carpe diem!
We look forward to an exciting year ahead!
Sincerely,
Dean Shyam Kamath