Dr. Patricia L. Prado-Olmos
Vice Preident of Community Engagement
California State University San Marcos
Every year, Cal State San Marcos’ College of Business Administration executes a highly successful program for its students called Business Professional Development.
Taught by Executives in Residence (a group of experienced business professionals), BPD aims to identify students’ professional strengths, clarify their career goals, build their confidence for job interviews, and provide strategies to secure internships and jobs before graduation.
But those goals took a turn last spring when the world shifted following the onset of COVID-19.
Instead of lamenting the inevitable changes in BPD, CoBA Dean Jim Hamerly and his team looked at the needs of the local business community and reimagined a new approach called the CSUSM Business Response, Recovery and Resource Program.
With the new goal of finding ways to help local businesses impacted by the pandemic, this initiative assesses a company’s positioning and planning for the current economy and beyond. A volunteer team of faculty, executives and consulting professionals provide recommendations to the company, which can then receive additional assistance from student teams through CSUSM’s Senior Experience program.
Hamerly and team began by reaching out to the Carlsbad and Encinitas chambers of commerce, which agreed to co-host virtual informational events.
“We learned as we went, obviously,” Hamerly said. “We didn’t have it all perfectly right the first time. I know the second time we did a chamber meeting, we used a tool at the front end of the meeting that asked, ‘What are the problems you’re having?’ We gave them a whole series of categories and then we re-targeted what we said and focused on the fillers that resonated with the audience that had the area of greatest need.”
For each business that requested assistance, a member of the Business Response, Recovery and Resource Program met with the business owner, then reported back to the team with three areas of focus: where the need exists, where the help is and the recommended course of action.
A one-page summary detailing the recommendations was provided for each participating business.
While the Business Response, Recovery and Resource Program team planned on just helping during the opening stages of the pandemic, the focus turned to long range goals. So far, several local businesses have CSUSM student-led teams working with them through the constant struggles of running a company during a pandemic.
The student teams are through the Senior Experience program, a core part of CSUSM’s business major in which students work as consultants on rigorous projects that require teamwork and application of classroom knowledge.
CoBA connects more than 500 students on Senior Experience teams with businesses every year. Normally, the Senior Experience team will negotiate with a business owner the consulting agreement, the specific deliverables and the timeframe. Everyone then signs the document, and the team is off and running, sometimes with the company’s help, sometimes independently.
The Business Response, Recovery, and Resource Program has been no different. As is the case across many departments on campus, CSUSM identifies problems and works tirelessly to execute solutions for the greater good.
“They might be seeking new markets for the business to try to attract, or new customers,” Hamerly said. “Whatever it might happen to be. It could be social media prospects, it could be improving their website. Everything you can possibly imagine, we have done with student teams. And we consider that an essential part of our contribution to the community. But equally important, it’s a very valuable learning experience for our students.”
If you are interested in learning more, visit the CSUSM Business Response, Recovery and Resource Program website.