CSUMB adds three undergraduate programs

By Mark Muckenfuss

Cal State Monterey Bay has added two new undergraduate degrees and an online avenue to an existing major.  

On July 24, the California State University Chancellor’s Office announced it had approved bachelor’s degrees for CSUMB in the subjects of history, communication and an online kinesiology degree. All three are expected to be offered beginning in 2027.

The history and communication majors have been years in the making, said James Hussar, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. They will enhance the college’s profile, he added. Both will kick off in the fall of next year.

“They make us more marketable,” Hussar said. “And they make the students more marketable,” once they receive their degrees. 

The college has been offering concentrations in both history and communication within the Humanities and Communication, and Social Sciences and Global Studies departments. Elevating those concentrations to majors, he said, is in line with the goals of the college and of CSUMB.

“We don’t want to be the CSU’s best-kept secret,” he said. “We wanted students and their supporters to be able to find us and know we offer an excellent curriculum. Having these degrees is a step toward that goal. Students interested in those majors will find us much more readily. It also puts us more in line with the rest of the CSU system.”

Hussar said there are faculty experts currently in place in both disciplines, but expects that additional faculty will be recruited as the majors grow.

While the communication degree took a little less time, Hussar said the history major has been talked about for at least a decade. Hussar said many faculty members were involved in completing the necessary work. 

Phillip Post, dean of the College of Health Science and Human Services, said establishing the online kinesiology degree was also a group project. The program will be run through the College of Extended Education and International Programs. It is geared toward students who are place-bound without access to a university program. The degree itself will be identical to the current in-person kinesiology degree. 

“To my knowledge, this is the first online undergraduate kinesiology degree in the (CSU) system,” Post said. “Part of our goal is to provide opportunities not only for our region but to individuals interested in kinesiology who have earned college credits but have yet to complete their degree. Now they can complete their kinesiology degree online.

“This is a completion degree, either for people who are coming from a two-year education at a community college or from another CSU or UC,” he added. 

Post said target populations would include working professionals, those with busy family schedules and those at a distance for whom an online curriculum would be the only option. 

The program is expected to begin next summer and will offer a three-semester schedule over two years. Post is hoping for an initial enrollment cohort of 50, with the program reaching 150-180 students in the first few years. Lecturers, Post said, will be hired through CEEIP, and some CHSHS faculty may teach some of the summer courses.

Receiving the approval for all three programs is welcome news to the campus.

“I’m thrilled to have learned of the degree approvals on the same day,” said Hussar, “ and I’m looking forward to celebrating with the faculty upon their return.”