By Kelsey Reichmann
Editor-in-Chief
In the process of getting accreditation for its undergraduate program, the College of Business, Administration, and Public Policy (CBAPP) is now facing the decision of closing its MBA program.
CBAPP has been working on getting AACSB accreditation for its programs for 30 years, said Thomas Norman, professor and past chair in the department of management and marketing. The university has made an effort to give CBAPP extra money for hiring faculty and given its current faculty more research time in order to meet all the requirements for accreditation.
However, when CBAPP was finally evaluated, it was told that although its undergraduate program met all the standards, the graduate program did not, Norman said.
This leaves the college with three of choices: lose accreditation for both programs; gain accreditation for the undergraduate program and get rid of the master’s program; or gain accreditation for the undergraduate program and put the master’s program on a suspension and try to improve and reevaluate it in two years, Norman said.
The MBA program makes up 6.5% of the graduate students at CSUDH, and while it is not the largest program at CSUDH, MBA programs are highly sought out across the country and not having one could limit the number of graduate students who come to CSUDH.
There also has to be consideration of students who have already received MBAs from the university and how that will impact the value of their degree.
“We haven’t made any decision,” Joseph Wen, dean of the College of Business, Administration, and Public Policy, said. “We are in consultation with faculty, staff, Senate, Provost, and President.”
