While there are plenty of stories about people and companies leaving California for states like Texas and its lower cost of living, in 2018 Chandra Subramaniam did the opposite, leaving the University of Texas at Arlington to become the dean of the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University, Northridge.
Since Subramaniam came to the university, his focus has been to create and expand programs to better the school.
Subramaniam has worked to expand the schools’ Career Education and Professional Development Center, which now sees more than 1,5000 students a year. The number of students using the center as a resource has increased over the last few years and the school has invested in AI-backed platforms to further help students.
“We are the only college within the campus that has its own career center and have been spending more resources on the career center,” he says, adding that he was looking to “raise the social skills of students.”
The school also has a Passport Program which looks to build networking skills and offer career building for undergraduate business students. The program was piloted from 2014 to 2015 with five students and now serves roughly 500 students.
Another push has been getting students certifications such as Google Ads and Microsoft Excel Expert.
“We are moving in a big way to make sure students are not only getting a degree when they graduate but while they are getting a degree earn a number of third-party certifications,” Subramaniam says.
Subramaniam has also been working to make sure the school’s offerings are in line with current market trends.
“For a business school to become known they need to make sure that they have the types of degrees that the market wants,” Subramaniam says.
In 2021, for example, the school created an undergraduate business analytics degree which now has 146 students. The school more recently launched a master’s program in business analytics as well.
Attracting diverse students
The Nazarian College has grown over the years and is now the ninth largest business school in the nation and one of the most diverse. In the 2020 to 2021 school year, for example, it was No. 3 in the nation when it came to awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latino students.
“We are a very diverse campus,” Subramaniam says, adding that the school is only 24% white.
Subramaniam says the student makeup at CSUN has varied from when he started. Five years ago there were “more transfer students than anything else” but he is now seeing more people come straight from high school as well. Still, the average student is 26, he says, adding that 70% of its students are first-generation college students.
“I believe that education has a purpose: to lift people up,” Subramaniam says.
“Every student that you help and support and get a job means something and they help the whole family and it raises the whole family,” he adds.
Subramaniam says it’s also important for students to find something they enjoy because “it’s something you are going to do for a long time.”
He adds that “a career is never a linear line” and that it’s important to be willing to adjust.
Subramaniam got his degree in physics and worked at the National Semiconductor in Malaysia. He worked his way up and realized how important management was, so he went back to school to get an MBA. He later earned a doctorate and went into education.
Subramaniam is now looking ahead toward the future of CSUN.
“The next few years for us is going to be a fascinating period. We have moved the needle a lot at the college over the last five years…now the question is, where do we move the college over the next five years?” Subramaniam asks. “Part of that and one of the things we are trying to achieve is add on to the building we have to add on to the ecosystem.”
“A college or university like CSUN, our primary role is to ensure that all students can get the education they deserve and want, and the question becomes how do we help them become successful,” he adds.