The program, which will be among the only ones of its kind in San Diego County, is on track to start in spring 2027. It reflects CSUSM’s growing focus on sustainability and the continued demand for double-digit job growth requiring sustainability expertise. 

The specialization in strategic sustainability will prepare students to lead in an era when business success increasingly depends on environmental, social and governance responsibility. This concentration will integrate core business disciplines with sustainability expertise, equipping graduates to align organizational performance with societal well-being and environmental stewardship.

A 2024 feasibility study conducted by MBA students at CSUSM revealed strong regional demand for sustainability-focused business education. Research and employer interviews confirmed that industries from tech to life sciences are actively seeking sustainability-trained leaders.

The SMBA program offers an accelerated MBA designed for recent graduates of all majors. Besides strategic sustainability, the other three specializations are business analytics, international business and supply chain management.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

“It’s almost like you could take a Fully Employed MBA class schedule and go, ‘OK, yep, you’ve tapped finance, you’ve tapped accounting, marketing, leadership,’ ” Lutz said. “Somehow, I have to wear one of those hats at any given point in my job.” 

Founded in the wake of a tragic act of domestic violence, Kathy’s Legacy Foundation honors the memory of Kathy Scharbarth, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2011. The nonprofit supports children and pets impacted by domestic violence – offering comfort, stability and hope through its two signature programs. 

Lutz, who joined the organization in 2019 after earning an MBA from Cal State San Marcos, thrives on the variety and challenges of nonprofit work. Her time at CSUSM helped her develop a deeper understanding of her strengths and areas for growth, while also fostering connections that continue to support her in her role today.  

“CSUSM helped me focus on what I felt like my strong suits were and what I liked and didn't like,” Lutz said. “The personal connections I made at CSUSM have become invaluable professional resources.”  

Years after graduating, Lutz came full circle when she collaborated with CSUSM business students on their Senior Experience project for Kathy’s Legacy. Although the project was ultimately cut short due to the pandemic, Lutz felt a strong connection to the students because she had completed similar projects while earning her MBA. 

“The project was marketing-focused, and we were working to try to reach donors who resonate with our mission, " Lutz said. “I was bummed that we didn't get to finish in person together, but I loved getting to work with them as someone who has gone through the same experience. It was great, and we got some amazing materials in return.” 

Lutz first connected with Kathy’s Legacy when a friend asked if she’d be interested in consulting on an event for the organization. She was immediately drawn to the mission and soon after was hired full time as a program manager. In the ensuing years, she steadily took on more responsibility, stepping into the role of co-executive director in 2024.  

“I feel like jumping in wholeheartedly and putting everything I had into Kathy’s Legacy led me to where I am today," Lutz said.  

The foundation’s work centers on two initiatives: the Silver Lining program, which helps children heal from the trauma of losing a parent to domestic violence, and the Lady’s Legacy program, which was inspired by Scharbarth’s yellow labrador, Lady, who was present when Scharbarth was killed. Lady became a symbol of the often-overlooked impact of domestic violence on pets.  

Lutz now helps coordinate multiple fundraising events throughout the year, including the annual Kathy’s Legacy Golf Tournament held at Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos.  

The work isn’t easy, but Lutz says the impact is clear at the quarterly events Kathy’s Legacy hosts. There she sees firsthand how the organization is changing the lives of the children they support.  

“We had one boy who was not doing well during COVID and even long after the pandemic would wear a mask and have his hood up,” Lutz said. “But in the past year, the hood has come off and he’s smiling and engaging, which means something we’re doing is working.  

“I love that we can be that beacon of light and that reliability that these kids don't have anywhere else.”  

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

The MBA program has achieved the highest enrollment in its history with 112 students. That’s almost double the total from last fall and two dozen more than the previous highest total, 88 in 2019.

The number is so big that, for the first time ever, the Specialized MBA (SMBA) program has been divided into two cohorts, with 28 in the afternoon and 36 in the evening. There are 48 students in the Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) program.

The SMBA is an accelerated 12-month program offering specializations in business analytics, international business and supply chain management. It recently has been updated with courses in cutting-edge areas such as machine learning and sustainable business practices.

The FEMBA is an 18-month program designed for experienced working professionals, with classes offered outside of normal business hours and a hybrid learning format.

Leaders of the MBA program attribute the enrollment growth to multiple factors, including new features, improved student outreach and engagement, openness to all majors, and program reputation. In 2021, the College of Business Administration achieved accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), in the process joining the top 5% of business schools in the world.

"Our MBA program is all about opening doors for people from every background and major,” said Stephen Vandereb, associate director of MBA programs. “We’re proud to offer a flexible, affordable education that really meets the needs of today’s students. With a cutting-edge curriculum, strong career support and the credibility of AACSB accreditation, we’re not just preparing our graduates for the job market — we’re equipping them to lead and make a real impact in the world.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Thai, who earned his MBA from Cal State San Marcos in 2000, is doing that in myriad ways. That includes recently establishing the CSUSM CLIMB Compassionate Leadership Experience Awards program. Thai and his wife, Lily, have already contributed $5,000 to establish the program and intend to contribute $5,000 per year for the next five years through their Build a School Foundation, Inc.

“When Jimmy was a student in my MBA leadership class, I saw the wonderful potential in him and teased him that when he made his millions, he should come back and support us,” said Raj Pillai, a professor of management and the executive director of CLIMB. “I am so glad that he is doing so in such a unique way through his Compassionate Leadership grant to CLIMB, which will be used by students to help the less fortunate in our community and develop their leadership skills in the process.”

CLIMB, which stands for the Center for Leadership Innovation and Mentorship Building, was established by the College of Business Administration in 2004 with the goal of serving “the leadership development needs of the surrounding community through innovative research and collaboration with various internal and external constituencies.”

Thai will be the featured guest for CLIMB’s Speaker Series event on April 1 when he presents a talk titled “Compassionate Leadership: Overcoming Adversity and Transforming Lives.”

Thai certainly knows about overcoming adversity. He tried 15 times to leave his native Vietnam during and after the war before finally making it to the United States at age 20.

“Looking back, I did not really see anything special about it,” Thai said of the perseverance he showed. “For me, growing up during the Vietnam War right from birth until the fall of Saigon in '75, that 10 years I grew up during the war. And then after the fall of Saigon, I lived with communists for 10 years. So to me, struggle and hardship and going to bed hungry seemed to be the norm. I didn't really think much about hardship or struggle. I didn't know any better.

“A lot of people don't know much about the Vietnamese refugees – the boat people – because it's been four or five decades already. Half of us didn't make it. Half of us call the Pacific Ocean our home for good. That's why I've always considered myself lucky. As strange as it sounds, I still consider myself a lucky one.”

Despite speaking no English when he arrived, Thai enrolled almost immediately at Miramar College before transferring to UC San Diego, where he earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. He got his master’s in electrical engineering at Cal State Fullerton before deciding to pursue his MBA. He chose CSUSM both for its proximity to his home in North County and the fact that he could complete the program in 18 months rather than taking two full years.

The lessons Thai learned at CSUSM are still making an impact more than two decades later.

“I still have all the textbooks from my MBA program, and I use them quite a bit,” he said. “Even when I learned how to trade stock, I prefer the finance textbook from that class just because they talk a lot about stock options and how to do a lot of fancy stock option derivatives and things like that. But the leadership material is the one I use the most. It really fit in with my passion to lead and to change organizations and also to live up to being a leader.”

Thai and Lily founded the Build a School Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit that provides educational opportunities for poor children by funding classroom constructions, school-related infrastructures, teaching and learning equipment, scholarships and basic health care needs. Founded in 2015 with a goal to build 100 schools by 2025, the organization has completed 94 with three others under construction, and it’s already looking toward Phase 2.

As part of his work with the Build a School Foundation, Inc., Thai wants to continue helping tomorrow’s leaders.

“Just be useful and be kind,” he said. “Have a career, find something that you can be useful to help yourself. And when you have that ability, then just be kind and help other people who are less fortunate than you.”

Visit the CLIMB website to register or learn more about Jimmy Thai’s April 1 Speaker Series event, “Compassionate Leadership: Overcoming Adversity and Transforming Lives.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

As CoBA’s Director of Business Community Relations, Ashley is responsible for an array of corporate and community outreach efforts and oversees a capstone Senior Experience program that pairs up to 500 business administration majors annually to work on innovative projects seeking solutions for businesses and government agencies – a program that is having a major impact on area commerce.

“I love what I do,” Ashley said. “Our students are resourceful, intelligent and very much engaged, and with 85 percent of our students staying here after graduation, we are having a tremendous impact in our region.”

Ashley speaks from experience. After earning his MBA in Strategy and Management at CSUSM, he flourished in an array of senior management positions, including Vice President of Global Systems at Nicholas-Applegate Investment Partners and Senior Manager, IT Strategy, at pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.

An adjunct professor for more than 25 years who has taught a number of courses at CSUSM and who does his best to place students in jobs and help companies find alumni seeking work, Ashley was named CoBA’s Director of Business Community Relations in the fall of 2014.

“Real-world problem solving and critical thinking are what employers want from graduates,” Ashley said. “I believe that we enable as much of that practical application as we possibly can and provide much more opportunity for students than the other local institutions.”

She began working for the family business as a teen and has since transformed the one-time mom-and-pop organization into an internationally known manufacturer of oceanographic and freshwater monitoring systems. She recently launched a new venture making sensors to track water quality for the booming aquaculture industry. Her accomplishments have been honored by both a San Diego Business Journal Women Who Mean Business award and a San Diego Metro 40 Under 40 recognition.

Meet Kristin Elliott, who earned her MBA at Cal State San Marcos, was recently named among the top alumni to graduate from the program and is the latest addition to the Meet the Leaders program at CSUSM’s College of Business Administration.

“Cal State San Marcos is a wonderful school that has had a significant impact in my career,” Elliott said. “The College of Business Administration really helped me understand how businesses operate and how they can grow.”

Those who know her say Elliott epitomizes CSUSM excellence.

“At our relatively young university, it is wonderful to see our alumni making waves and succeeding so well,” said Dr. Rajnandini “Raj” Pillai, a professor of management and director of the Center for Leadership and Innovation Mentorship Building. “Kristin embodies all that. I am so proud of her. I cannot believe that she was in my MBA leadership class all those years ago and now she will be back on campus as a guest in our Meet the Leaders program sharing her insights with our aspiring MBA students. It has truly come full circle.”

Elliott succeeded her father, Dr. Michael Head, two years ago as CEO of Precision Measurement Engineering (PME), which began as a manufacturer of sensors that could monitor even the smallest changes in water and water flow. Today, PME is better known for its MiniDOT Logger, a submersible instrument that logs oxygen and temperature and records data in an internal memory card. PME’s biggest customers are universities, research institutions and government agencies that are monitoring the impacts of climate change or engaging in efforts to preserve local wetlands. A third product, the Cyclops-7 Logger, takes algae measurements and is manufactured in conjunction with Turner Designs in San Jose.

“PME was never really run as a business before,” Elliott said. “There was no business plan, no marketing plan, no employee manual, and the company really wasn’t making any money.”

Since she took over, PME’s annual gross income has grown from $200,000 annually to $1.3 million with 20 percent profit margins. And PME has embarked on projects involving the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, among others. The Port of San Diego is using PME’s loggers to test the health of the bay water and explore the possibilities for aquaculture there.

Her new business, Aquasend, is aimed at enhanced water quality monitoring at aquaculture farms. She moved ahead with the project after students in the Senior Experience Project at CSUSM provided a detailed marketing report that looked at industry trends and demands.

“The students did an incredible job,” she said. “Their research really helped me understand and validate what I was hearing at these various trade shows. Aquaculture farms need real-time systems to read oxygen levels and water temperatures 24/7.”

Elliott also is involved with various business groups such as the San Diego Entrepreneur’s Organization and the Chairmen’s Round Table while she and her husband raise their two young children, Makenzie (5) and Colton (3).

Elliott grew up in the North County and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications and sociology from UC San Diego before earning her MBA from CSUSM in 2011.

“Cal State San Marcos is contributing to the community in so many ways,” she said. “I’m happy to represent this incredible institution.”

“The work they did was excellent,” said Tim Fennell, CEO of the 22^nd District Agricultural Association, which operates the Del Mar Fairgrounds. “Our goal is to have the concert venue open before the 2018 fair season.”

After reviewing the analysis and agreeing with its findings, the Agricultural Association’s Board of Directors on Jan. 3 gave its staff the go-ahead to spend up to $250,000 to investigate potential funding sources for the estimated $11 million renovation of the Surfside Race Place and hire an engineering firm to develop more detailed plans.

The Surfside Race Place is a 91,000-square-foot building constructed in 1991 at a cost of $12 million. Initially a success, the facility attracted an average of 3,000 people daily after it was built, and as many as 6,000 bettors for the Kentucky Derby. But an aging clientele combined with an array of alternative options has contributed to attendance plummeting to less than 300 bettors on an average day, Fennell said.

That prompted the 22^nd Agricultural District to look at other opportunities, including restaurants, movie theaters, and even a microbrewery.

“The idea of a concert venue was also kicked around,” Fennell said. “We wanted to make sure we were going in the right direction, so we reached out to our friends in the Business program at Cal State San Marcos. We’re very pleased with the work they did.”

Two groups of business students worked on the months-long study under the supervision of Dr. Don Sciglimpaglia, a marketing lecturer in the CSUSM College of Business Administration. One group comprised five students wrapping up their MBA program; the other group comprised five undergraduates (and one MBA advisory student) tackling a Senior Experience project, a successful College of Business Administration program matching teams of students with projects submitted by local businesses and organizations.

Titled the Del Mar Surfside Race Place Concert Venue Marketing Analysis, the report cites a 2015 Ticketmaster study estimating the average driving distance one travels to a concert at 43 miles, and concludes there are 3.7 million people living within that distance of the fairgrounds. More importantly, 42 percent of the population within that area is from 25 to 54 years old, which is the most common age group for people attending concerts. Residents, the analysis found, spend an average of $3,400 on entertainment per year and shell out just short of $67 per ticket to attend the theater, opera, or concert performance.

The report recommends that the Belly Up Tavern, which has suggested a new concert venue at the fairgrounds, would become a partner in managing the site.

The report’s conclusion: Surfside Race Place could be repurposed into a 1,900-seat concert venue. With tickets selling for an average of $45 per ticket, and with 90 concerts booked annually, the analysis estimates a net cash flow of nearly $2.4 million each year. That compares to revenue of less than $129,000 generated by the Surfside Race Place in 2014, about 22 percent of what it was in 2010.

Students based the $45 average ticket price by researching admission costs at four San Diego venues: The House of Blues, the Balboa Theatre, Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, and the Observatory North Park. They shared their findings with the board of directors at the 22^nd District Agricultural Association monthly meeting in December. Less than a month later, the fair board approved the initial funding.

“For an agency to commit a $250,000 expenditure in moving forward on a project proposed by a team of students that includes undergraduates is very unusual,” Sciglimpaglia said.

Students who worked on the project included Mike Menor, who led the Senior Experience team, and Debbie Jo McCool, who led the MBA team.

“We’re overjoyed with the impact our work has had,” McCool said. “Our team has already committed to buying tickets to the first concert once the new venue opens. We’re pretty ecstatic right now.”

Said Menor: “It was a very challenging, but very rewarding project. We felt good about the work we did, but we weren’t sure about the reception we were going to get from the fair board. But they were really impressed.”

Those on the fair board weren’t the only ones who were impressed.

“This was a team of bright people who asked relevant questions, engaged in extensive research, and listened to what people were saying,” said Chris Goldsmith, president of Belly Up Entertainment.

“I was very impressed by their work,” Sciglimpaglia said. “The quality was very comparable to what you would find from a professional consultant.”