Riverside Community College District Chancellor Wolde-Ab Isaac provided a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities he sees as chancellor for one of the largest community college districts with close to 60,000 students.  

As Isaac cited there are only three nations with an economy larger than California - the United States, China and Japan. He noted that in contrast, the Inland Empire is poor. Poverty levels are almost 13%, which means there are thousands of people working full time but earning poverty wages. He further shared that we are told it is because the region is uneducated with the lowest graduation rates.  

“When we look at where our best talents who graduate UC Riverside or Cal State San Bernardino, they go to Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles. We need to change that dynamic. We need to encourage and incentivize not just logistics, but high paying industry to our region.” 

Future Opportunities

The district has two missions, as Isaac noted. One is to help students transfer to higher education. Fifty-five percent of Cal State students are transfer students and 30% of the UC system are transfer students. According to Isaac, the district graduates close to 8,000 associate degrees and about 2,000 certificates each year.  

The district’s second mission is to produce the region’s workforce. “We produce nurses, firefighters, emergency medical services, dental assistants - about 70 different kinds of trades - and 85% of those graduates remain in the Inland Empire. They remain here in well paid jobs,” he shared. While he notes there are a few paths that don't pay living wages, the district is concentrating on high skill, high demand, high paying jobs. Even for the ones that don’t pay well the district is creating a ladder for them. For example, the district has sponsored legislation for community colleges to provide a bachelor's degree in nursing. 

But that’s not all. “We are creating an Inland Empire Technical Trade Center in Jurupa Valley. We will meet with employers to produce high demand programs, and it's going to be funded through apprenticeships. Students will not have to pay. They'll be paid in a model we call earning while learning,” Isaac said.  

As Isaac shared in closing, “We want to listen to what the population needs and respond to that. We’ve been in existence for 108 years and we've done great service. But our facilities need to be expanded. The population’s support is going to be very important for the district to continue its role as catalyst for economic change.” 

Cal State San Bernardino notches it 3rd straight year of Top 50 global ranking and continues to be the leading CSU academic program in entrepreneurship graduate studies

(November 2023) CSUSB has moved from 44th place overall to 38th in Top Graduate Schools for Entrepreneurship and continues as the #8 program in the West. CSUSB is the only California State University campus that is the highest ranking CSU campus recognized in the rankings (Fresno State is the other), and one of only five universities in California to make the list.

"Since we debuted this project nearly two decades ago, the number of colleges and universities offering courses or degrees in entrepreneurship has grown tremendously as has student interest in becoming entrepreneurs," said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor in chief. "We highly recommend the stellar schools that made our entrepreneurship studies ranking lists for 2024. Their faculties are outstanding. Their programs have robust experiential components. Their students have access to extraordinary tools, resources, and mentoring that will serve them well into their careers."

“Entrepreneurship studies at CSUSB continue to evolve and grow,” said Mike Stull, professor of entrepreneurship. “We have created an innovative approach to graduate education in both our Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the MBA program that excels at preparing students to be the future entrepreneurs of our region and beyond. Additionally, we have a robust ecosystem that supports and encourages experiential learning and startup activity. We think and dream big here in the IE.”

This ecosystem includes the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) – one of the largest university-based centers for entrepreneurship in the world – and the globally recognized CSUSB School of Entrepreneurship – the only school of its kind in California. Stull serves as the founding school director and the IECE’s program director.

"Entrepreneurs know that the best ideas often come from competition and pressure," says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine. "Higher education is a great example of that. As more schools build out world-class entrepreneurship programs, their energy, excitement, and powerful resources only grow — making the schools on our list the best at helping young leaders develop into tomorrow's world-changers."

Stull said entrepreneurship is booming both on campus and in the Inland Empire. “If you are interested in studying entrepreneurship here in California, CSUSB is one of the leaders in preparing the next generation of innovators.”

CSUSB is part of a collaborative effort to advance data science education and create new pathways. A $1.275 grant from the California Learning Lab funds the partnership between CSUSB and seven higher education institutions.

Cal State San Bernardino is part of a collaborative effort to advance data science education and increase accessibility into the field with new pathways.

A grant from the California Learning Lab funds the partnership between CSUSB and the University of California, Riverside; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Chaffey College; Pasadena City College; Moreno Valley College; Riverside City College; and Norco College.

They have received a $1.275 million, four-year grant to develop data science programs. The grant will expand the data science education infrastructure among the partnering institutions.

“This grant will play a pivotal role in expanding our data science education programs at CSUSB, strengthening our commitment to providing cutting-edge knowledge and computational, communication and critical thinking skills to our students,” said Sastry G. Pantula, dean of the College of Natural Sciences. “We are proud of our faculty who are being role models for interdisciplinary research and training among statistical, mathematical and computational sciences.”

The California Learning Lab grant will help CSUSB develop a new undergraduate program in data science, which will be a joint program between the School of Computer Science and Engineering and department of mathematics. It will also provide support to address equity gaps and transfer student success with a transfer bridge program, peer mentoring and tutoring, and a revamped computing and statistics course sequence.

“Our effort in developing data science programs began in 2019, starting with a summer research program in collaboration with UC Santa Barbara,” said Yunfei Hou, associate professor of computer science and engineering and CSUSB’s principal investigator for the Greater LA Data Science Pathways project (GLADS-PATH). “Then we rolled out a minor in data science, getting some great insights from UC Riverside.

“Today, with the support of the California Learning Lab grant, we’re excited to take our next big step: developing a comprehensive undergraduate major,” said Hou. “Our goal is to provide students with hands-on experiences that tackle real-world problems, equipping them with innovative skills for a successful career in the field of data science.”

CSUSB and the partnering institutions will lead the project Greater LA Data Science Pathways. The project serves the Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Ultimately, GLADS-PATH aims to:

• Establish partnerships at high schools and two- and four-year institutions to create flexible pathways.
• Develop a Network Improvement Community with partnering institutions, allowing for the exchange of best practices and strategies for curriculum development and student success.
• Provide support to transfer students with the creation of bridge programs.
• Create an Undergraduate Learning Assistant program.
• Advance data science education through course development.

This is the third data science-related grant that the project team at CSUSB has received since 2019. In addition to Hou, the GLADS-PATH co-principal investigators for CSUSB include Jeremy Aikin, professor of mathematics; Hani Aldirawi, assistant professor of mathematics; Ronald Salloum, associate professor of computer science and engineering; and Qingquan Sun, professor of computer science and engineering.

Expanding data science programs is part of the Academic Master Plan at CSUSB. Cal State San Bernardino currently has two data science-related programs: a minor and certificate in the field. The minor in data science is open to all majors, and scholarships are available through the ExCELS program. For more information about the data science minor, visit the 2023-24 Academic Catalog website.