California State University, Long Beach
AC-4: Graduate Program

The Saturday Masters in Business Administration (SMBA) Program is designed to help students develop leadership skills, understand the triple bottom line decision-making method, and learn how disruptive technologies can transform industries through sustainability and innovation. The 48-unit program offers an efficient schedule that can be completed in 23 months, with a hybrid format combining in-person classes on campus with classes that can be accessed online and a weeklong, study aboard learning experience. Separated into two units, the SMBA first focuses on key functional concepts to develop critical thinking skills through a set of discipline-based courses.

The second part of the program focuses on Sustainability and the Business Organization where the students bring their foundational knowledge and apply it to multi-functional problems that businesses face in terms of sustainability. We define sustainability as the triple bottom line which focuses on society, the environment, and the economic profit that a business organization must balance. This phase of the program includes 3 special components: (1) a service learning component through a research project with a client, (2) an international study abroad to learn how other countries integrate sustainability into their business and governance structures, and (3) a teaching project where our MBA students work with a vulnerable community to teach them some skill (e.g. how to interview for a job, training programs for teens). Overall, the MBA students focus on the region’s markets, consumers, institutions, and legal structure in the sustainability framework.

The Master of Science in Sustainability Management and Policy (MSSMP) is designed to provide students with the advanced and highly sought-after expertise needed in the field of sustainability management. The program provides training to prepare students to apply the concepts of sustainability within an organization and the regulatory environment by engaging them in advanced and in-demand training.

The program’s requirements comprise a 36-unit, lock-step sequence of courses covering three core components: i) developing an advanced understanding of sustainability in the management and policy realms; ii) acquiring data analytics, systems analysis, and design skills to tackle real-world problems in business and policy; and iii) demonstrating competency through a culminating project, in which students interact with local leaders. As part of the capstone portion of the program, students will engage with regional and national sustainability groups and collaborate with various professionals from a wide array of industries, government, non-government, and academic organizations, in order to excel as active leaders in sustainability fields.

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Reporting Period: AY 2020-2021