By Various colleges across Long Beach State are preparing new coursework, collaborations, name changes and program unifications for students to take advantage of, just in time for the 2025-2026 academic year.
College of Liberal Arts
After 19 years at CSULB, Deborah Thien, CLA dean, is leaving the university to take the role of California State University, Bakersfield’s Academic Affairs Provost and Vice President. The news comes from recent CLA memo.
Thien started as CLA dean in 2023 and said in the memo she would miss working with her team.
“Hands-down, I will miss the people of the CLA the most,” Thien said. “The student leaders I have been honored to work with, the incredible faculty and the breathtaking scope of their creativity and scholarship, and the truly dedicated staff partners.”
Classics and Comparative World Literature are two programs under the College of Liberal Arts’ umbrella which are seeing changes in the upcoming academic year.
According to the program’s website, Classics focuses, “primarily on the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean,” while CWL focuses on “world literatures in translation and the relationships among those literatures.”
CLA Associate Dean Donna Nicol, said these programs, which were once combined under one department, have already had their proposal for unification approved by the Academic Senate.
She said the decision to unite the programs, led by faculty in both programs, started last year, and the goal is to preserve both courses and faculty.
According to Nicol, the joint programs are focused on preserving students’ access, especially given the state budget cuts.
Another change in the CLA this coming fall is the Department of International Studies becoming the Department of Global Studies. Nicol said the change is a curricular, rooted in the department’s desire to stay up-to-date in its field.
She said the college has put a premium on offering students variety. In the case of combining two programs like Classics and CWL, the idea is about bringing resources together.
“So yeah, that’s really it. That we’re trying to make sure our students have more options than less,” Nicol said. “But given what we’re going through, we might have to just be a little bit more strategic about it.”
College of Business
COB Associate Dean Sabine Reddy, said the college’s degree in Accountancy will be part of the new Beach Expedited Degrees in Graduate Education program. This program merges the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs of some disciplines across CSULB.
According to the program’s website, it “will double count as a specified number of units (no more than 12) in both programs so you can earn your graduate degree faster and with less cost.”
Reddy said the program is designed to have students graduate in five years.
“So it’s really, basically trying to accelerate people through the graduate program,” Reddy said.
She added that two of the undergraduate electives can be substituted with classes in the graduate program to expedite things. The idea is to save some units for students in the program.
The website notes only students who fulfill the following can apply for the program:
- Students who are matriculated undergraduate students at CSULB.
- Students who completed 60 units.
- Students who are enrolled or have completed 12 discipline-specific upper-division units at Long Beach State.
College of Professional and Continuing Education
CPACE Senior Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management, Ashleigh Willis, said CPACE will offer an online bachelor’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice this coming fall, in partnership with the College of Health and Human Services.
The online program is directed towards transfer students at different stages of life.
CPACE continues to look for opportunities to partner with other colleges on campus to better address multiple types of learners and their interests.
“Lifelong learning is essential, so we’re focused on helping students from many different backgrounds to grow in their professional careers and thrive in their busy personal lives,” CPACE Associate Dean Alysa Turkowitz said in an email to the Current.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:28 p.m. on Friday, May 9 to add a paragraph regarding CLA Dean Deborah Thien leaving her role with CSULB.
