BIM Cover Feature: Educating The South Bay

5 Local Colleges and Universities Educating & Training
the South Bay Business Community

By Brian Simon

Whether you are an executive who never earned that undergraduate degree, a single mom looking for a promotion, a corporate manager in need of the latest training, or one of a number of employees in a large company who could use expert tips on maximizing efficiency, extended education has become a vital component of today’s workplace. For those employed in the South Bay, there are a number of opportunities available through area universities and agencies, with many programs funded all or in part by the companies themselves or via grants. The following is an overview of several South Bay area employee educational outlets, each with its own particular niche.


California State University, Dominguez Hills: College of Extended and International Education, Center for Training and Development
Using funding from the State’s Employment Training Panel (pulled from unemployment insurance dollars), Calilifornia State University, Dominguez Hills Center for Training and Development provides training for people who must adjust to changes on the job to ensure California industry remains competitive.

The Center, part of CSUDH’s College of Extended and International Education, has worked with 18 South Bay companies this year. “We work with a lot of South Bay businesses as well as the South Bay Business Resources Network (a 22-member group that offers no-cost services to businesses and includes such agencies as the South Bay Economic Development Partnership, Automatic Data Processing, and South Bay Workforce Investment Board),” said Jason Vogel, director of the Center. The type of training offered varies depending on the client, but areas covered include information technology (Microsoft Excel, Outlook), customer service training, and motivational training, among other categories.

Vogel fancies the center as a one-stop shop that goes beyond the realm of education. “Employers can come to us for training and we’ll connect them to partners for whatever needs they have, whether it be staffing, financing, help with development, or connections with banks,” he said.
Vogel noted that some of the training is required by law. One example is sexual harassment training, a must for those in management. “We also have free CAL-OSHA updates,” he added, in reference to state-mandated occupational health and safety regulations.

Length of training depends on the type and level. Some programs, like sexual harassment, can be accomplished in as little as two hours. Others, such as the Leadership, Supervision and Management Course entail up to 80 hours. The more extensive courses can be modulated over time or completed in two 40-hour bursts over a two-week period. “We recently had a 40-hour airline management program for two groups of 20 upper level management people at Korean Airlines,” Vogel said.

CSUDH also features both bachelor’s and master’s programs in quality assurance and, through another division, business technical writing and human resources courses. Online programs are growing, with a number of certificates and degrees available via the Internet. “Eventually we hope to have most of our classes online,” Vogel indicated.
1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747, 310-243-3696, www.csudh.edu

El Camino College Business Training Center
The El Camino College Business Training Center (BTC), the economic development division of El Camino College, specializes in providing training and management consulting to businesses and individuals. The BTC, located off campus in the City of Hawthorne, provided services to over 800 South Bay firms and more than 11,000 employees in the last year alone, according to the center’s dean, John Means.

The Center has grown exponentially since the beginning of the decade, thanks to increased revenue and funding from various grants. Many services are provided free of charge to businesses. For example, the BTC provides on-site no-cost training to qualified companies with funds from the Employment Training Panel, consulting and training to small businesses who need assistance with legal, marketing, or financial issues; and guidance for companies seeking international clientele.

“We go into a business and use experts in the particular field rather than faculty,” explained Means, who noted that “lean processing” is the number one request. “We’ll work with company employees to determine how they can do a better job, if there are ways to cut costs, and do things faster or better. They learn the process so they can, at the end of training, do their own presentations to other employees as to how the firm can become more productive, efficient and cost-effective.” Six Sigma—how to reduce waste in the manufacturing process—is another popular program.

Training is customized to the particular company’s needs and schedule, but a minimum of two hours every other week is imperative. Oftentimes, employees will take four hours a week off for up to three months. Although it costs both money and time for companies to pay for employee training, the investment is well worth the results, Means said. “Every study shows there is a very high return—10 to 15 to 1 on dollars put out,” he said. One such success story is Tri Star in El Segundo. “We’ve trained all their employees for four years and each time, they’ve measured how much money they’ve saved by virtue of the training. The company has managed to add employees while still cutting production costs. This becomes especially important when you consider that every day, competition is harder and profit margins smaller and smaller.”
13430 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, CA. 90250 310-973-3176 www.BusinessAssist.org

University of Redlands
At University of Redlands, most of the 1,100 school of business students come in thinking they want an MBA, but don’t always follow that path, according to Stacey Neeley, Assistant Director of Enrollment and Operations. The most traditional of the campuses profiled, Redlands also offers two additional programs—a Masters of Arts and Management (MAM), and undergraduate degree completion programs for those with community college degrees or units from elsewhere. Enrollment is split about evenly among the three programs. “The majority of our students work full-time, so most of them take one evening class per week,” said Neeley. Typically, it will take 18 months to complete the MAM program and two years for an MBA.

The accelerated adult programs are considerably shorter (6 weeks) than those of undergrad (18 weeks). “Since it’s one evening per week, they have four hours with the instructor and then homework,” Neeley said. “We encourage them to take what they learn in the classroom into work and apply it in real life scenarios.”

Neeley noted that most students seeking a MAM are in a technical field or non-management area and thus need leadership and management training. Those hoping to earn an MBA tend to need more quantitative training with finances, accounting, statistics and other basic business operations. “All of our programs have an ethics piece to them,” added Neeley. “We teach our students to make ethical decisions in how they affect not just people within their own organization, but also other corporations.”

University of Redlands, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has eight regional campuses, with a South Bay site located in Torrance.
19191 S. Vermont Avenue, Torrance, CA 90502, 310-523-2727, http://www.redlands.edu/

Webster University
Not as visible in the area due to its location on Los Angeles Air Force Base, the South Bay branch of Webster University was originally founded in 1995 in order to provide business and technology classes for military personnel. Though 80 percent of the campus’ 120 students work on the base or in other military capacities, the school is open to the public and is looking to branch out. “We target businesspeople looking to earn an MBA, but also offer security management and procurement,” said Director Margaret Reed. Information technology and management programs are also available. “We’ve been getting students from financial institutions and investment firms as well as entrepreneurial companies,” added Reed. “We also have undergrad programs where students can bring units from other institutions.”

Webster offers five nine-week terms per year. With full-time attendance, students can earn a degree in as little as 15 months, said Reed.

Though Webster’s private, non-profit status means tuitions are typically higher than state-funded schools, Reed said most companies in the area will foot some or all of the bill. “Even though tuition may be a bit higher, it’s still competitive within the market and there are no other fees, so by the time you’re done it’s quite reasonable,” she said. Mattel, Raytheon, Boeing and Northrop-Grumman are examples of corporations that fully fund employee education. Quite a few smaller businesses also offer scholarships. “We’re unique in that we have a non-traditional program and offer the adjunct faculty that practices in the real world by day and are experts in the field,” Reed explained. “By knowing at any given moment what’s important in today’s market and what isn’t, we can be at the cutting edge 100 percent of the time.”
Webster University has more than 100 campuses worldwide with over 20,000 students.
P.O. Box 2156, El Segundo, CA 90245, 310-607-8005, www.webster.edu

Westwood College
With close to two dozen locations in six states, including a South Bay site in Torrance, Westwood College provides an intriguing option for re-training professionals looking for accelerated and/or night courses to accommodate their schedules. Though the school has no graduate programs and mainly serves a typical college population (about half of the school’s 600 students are enrolled in the criminal justice program), Westwood also offers technology programs in computer network engineering, computer network management, and information systems security; and a number of design programs, including graphic design and multimedia, visual communications, and computer-aided design/architectural drafting. Training is available for Photoshop, Illustrator, and other key software regularly utilized in the workplace. “Professionals can take courses required by their employers and they can bring a transcript back certifying they received the training,” said Director of Education Tim Short. For instance, Westwood has a Cisco Systems Networking Academy where students learn to troubleshoot and program Cisco networks. “We have small classes with hands-on experience and offer nine-week terms instead of the usual 18 at community colleges, so that can make it very desirable to get training here,” added Short. Tuition fees depend on units taken and are comparable to those at state universities.
19700 Vermont Avenue, Suite 100, Torrance, CA 90502. 310-965-0888. www.westwoodcollege.com