San Diego City College’s biotech lab is used in a course for persons who do not have a science background.

Roel University isn’t for everybody. The name that Roel Construction gave to its partnership with National University is an arrangement of customized courses for about 60 project managers, project engineers and superintendents. “We wanted to provide our staff with management training that was relevant to the construction industry and our company,” says Betty Lynn Senes, Roel vice president. “Our managers and superintendents are the first-line interface with our clients and subcontractor partners. Stepping up their management skills provides a better image of our company and makes our people more efficient and effective in their work. Better communicators are better motivators and leaders.”

National and Roel are among the organizations participating in school-business partnerships. “When we go into a business, we ask, `What is it you need and how can we help?’ instead of ‘Here’s our degree program,’” says National Provost Tom Green.

Roel University grew out of another partnership, Roel’s construction of facilities for National. Stu Markey, the university’s director of facilities, knew that Roel wanted to provide education for employees. He suggested the partnership. “Stuart Markey and I brainstormed for several months on this prior to solidifying the concept,” says Senes.

National University Provost Tom Green says the university asks businesses what they need instead of just describing what the university offers.

Customized classes held last year included developing a strategic plan, customer service and ethics. Senes says many participants praised the program as valuable. Lessons included communication skills, defusing difficult situations, decision-making and interacting better with co-workers and others.

Senses also gave the program high marks. “It increased the level of professionalism in how we interact with clients, subcontractors and each other,” she says.

National’s other programs include an online “mini-MBA.” The university’s September catalog includes a graduate degree in integrative health. It represents a partnership with the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, and students will do an internship there. National collaborated with the Pechanga Indian tribe to develop a series of Luiseno language classes. National also is working with the Indian Pueblos Federal Development Corp. and tribal educators in New Mexico to offer business education.

Point Loma Nazarene

Point Loma Nazarene University’s business partnerships range from executive development events for MBA students to a booking agreement with Bartell Hotels. Once a semester, the university hosts an executive development event, a white-linen dinner at the university’s coastal campus. The dining experience is complemented by a panel of business professionals who discuss topics such as “How to Leverage an MBA into a New Opportunity.”

“We shy away from keynote speakers. We want to `get boots on the ground’ (information),” says Randy Ataide, a faculty member and director of the Fermanian Business Center (FBC).

The center’s Entrepreneurial Enrichment Program, now in its first year, resulted in the completion of seven projects. The program “nurtures a relationship” between student entrepreneurs and business professionals who provide expertise.

FBC coordinates internships, and Ataide helps students find employment. He was at a large company luncheon when the head of HR spoke about having to go through 180 resumes. Ataide told the executive, “Our role is to give you the name of the person you should hire.”

The university’s arrangement with Bartell Hotels is mutually beneficial. The school refers people to hotel properties and Bartell donates a portion of the lodging bill to the university’s general fund.

UCSD

Clark Jordan, assistant dean of the Rady Center for Executive Development at UCSD, says custom courses often are offshoots of open-enrollment courses.

UCSD’s Rady Center for Executive Development is associated with the university’s Rady School of Management. Both focus on education for those in life science and technology. The center’s open-enrollment classes run from two to five days. Courses include “Biotech Demystified,” which explains the basics of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to nonscientist executives and decision-makers. Topics include science fundamentals, stem-cell research and cancer and therapeutic approaches.

The center’s custom courses often are offshoots of open-enrollment courses, says assistant dean Clark Jordan. A course may be customized because a company wants to avoid exposing research and discoveries in a public forum.

Instruction is offered at the Rady Center or at the corporate location. Jordan notes that scheduling the class at the workplace has some advantages. However, some business people prefer to learn offsite and avoid work-related interruptions.

Rady’s Learning Consortium offers half-day courses to strengthen the business acumen of executives. Topics are often based on input and surveys. Finance is popular with executives, says Jordan. The brief forums are tailored to the student’s time limitations.

Another Rady service is the Center for Leadership Assessment, a two-day program for individuals and businesses. Activities include assessments and exercises, and feedback is provided.

The center’s Align Executive series provides a bridge between HR professionals and other executives. Senior HR professionals may be pigeonholed and therefore overlooked when there’s an opening on a board of directors, says Jordan. “It’s a chance to talk to people who sit on the board of directors,” he says.

City College

San Diego City College provides training for people aspiring to work in biotech labs. City offers a two-course Certificate of Performance in Biotechnology aimed at the person without a science background. Before the program was launched, someone without that knowledge would have needed to study for 1-1/2 years, says professor Roya Lahijani.

When she began teaching at City College two years ago, Lahijani proposed compressing that instruction into one course. She now teaches the first class, “Preparation for Biotechnology.” The five-unit course covers math, chemistry, biology and lab techniques.

The first class started last fall with 16 students. The class ended with four students who earned the As or Bs needed to advance to the spring course, “Biotechnology Instrumentation.” All four obtained jobs or internships, with one student hired while in Lahijani’s course.

The six-unit “Biotechnology Instrumentation” features a different instructor every one to two weeks. They provide lessons in real-world applications on state-of-the-art equipment, says Lahijani.

SDSU

The new Office of Veterans Affairs at San Diego State’s College of Extended Studies focuses on nondegree programs and also has programs for military spouses, says Dean Joe Shapiro.

San Diego State works with the military. University faculty taught master of public health courses at Balboa Park for Navy personnel. When some students were deployed to Iraq, State’s College of Extended Studies supported the effort to create podcasts so service personnel could continue their studies. CES Dean Joe Shapiro says the college’s new Office of Veterans Affairs focuses on nondegree programs. The college also has programs for military spouses.

CES offerings include certificate programs in areas such as project management and meeting and event planning. Professional development courses are scheduled at the campus, at business locations and online. CES provides company training to organizations such as San Ysidro Health Clinics.

The college also schedules forums. On Sept. 12, former Burger King CEO Jeffrey Campbell will speak at a training-and-development exchange event. Campbell, a guest faculty member, will talk on “How Can Business Generate Leadership from the Middle?”

Chapman

Kurt Norden is Chapman University’s extended education coordinator and Gayle Morelan is community outreach coordinator. A continuing education class is a good place to start for someone thinking of returning to school, says Norden.

As Chapman University’s community outreach coordinator, Gayle Morelan’s duties include asking how the university can assist businesses and individuals. “I get to find out what people need,” she says. “If there’s a void, how can we fill it?”

The answer often is a request for help with succession plans when baby boomers retire. Organizations and government agencies have goals that include employee retention and training. They need to have trained professionals in place or they’re going to fall short, says Morelan. Chapman’s assessments are free.

A continuing education class is a “good place to start” for someone thinking of returning to school, says Kurt Norden, Chapman’s extended education coordinator. Taking a course such as “Essentials of Human Resources” may lead the person to go on to a graduate degree in that field, or not.

The university has partnered since 1994 with the Society for Human Resource Management to offer exam preparation courses for the Professional in Human Resources and Senior Professional Human Resources tests. In the spring, Chapman will probably offer a preparation course for the Global PHR exam, says Norden.

He adds that one of the newest programs in San Diego is the Leadership Development Certificate. It was developed at Chapman’s Orange County campus and proved successful. The university also offers companies customized training in subjects like team building.

Chapman works with Nonprofit Management Solutions to offer a certificate in nonprofit management. Classes are held at Chapman, and the university offers continuing-education credits. The university also offers continuing education credit opportunities for K-12 teachers. To receive credit for a seminar on a topic like classroom management, the educator registers with Chapman and may do an assignment like writing a three-page paper about the seminar.

Redlands

University of Redlands offers a graduate degree in geographic information system and works in various ways with ESRI, a Redlands business known as the “Microsoft of the GIS world,” says Keith Roberts, School of Business associate dean. The university also works with businesses that agree to send employees to Redlands and hold classes at company locations.