Model 2

Creating A Strategy that Responds to the Educational Needs of Regional Industry and Builds Campus Academic Excellence and Distinction

Context and Challenges: CSU Long Beach is in a large, densely populated, and highly diverse urban region. The campus’s service region comprehends many large employers and one dominant regional industry, which plays a major role in the regional and state economy and is strongly connected with the global economy. The challenge for Long Beach has been how to respond to the educational needs of this key regional industry in a way that enhances the campus’s academic standing without depleting limited campus resources.

The Successful Respond-and-Build Strategy: Long Beach has offered both grant-funded and self-funded programs, in strategic combination with administrative and delivery strengths, to serve the regional industry and to make the campus a hub for research and teaching in international trade and transportation—in other words, global logistics. The focus on building this area of academic distinction has enabled the campus to build a strong relationship with the regional industry. This relationship has led to further support of Long Beach and, in turn, the growth of its applied research, professional education, training, and conference capabilities. It has also created a strong network of industry experts—CEOs and top managers—in the goods movement industry.

Using its self-support capabilities, Long Beach has developed degree programs as well as noncredit professional certificate and training programs. It has delivered programs off-campus, in both face-to-face and online formats. The campus’s senior administration and self-support outreach professionals work together to build and maintain strong industry relationships regionally and nationally, and are now expanding Long Beach’s global reach.