Pulse California University of Management and Sciences
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YEAR OF THE BEAR
Virginia Campus
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(This magazine’s cover is also a mask!)
CONTENT 03
DIRECTOR’S WORD
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WHAT’S GOING ON
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What to expect from this 2016. (Clue: It will be awesome)
The latest CalUMS news, scholarshipawarded students and a crazy party.
PHOTO: MARIA MERKULOVA
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YEAR OF THE BEAR
An explanation of the future, heading up to our 10th Year Anniversary.
TIME TO PARTY
After a year of hard work, CalUMS faculty and staff got together to celebrate.
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MEET YOU AT THE LIBRARY
It is a whole world to discover and a good place to relax.
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BEWARE OF THE BEAR
Our new mascot and sports teams arrive with a roar.
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OUR OWN MORPHEUS Professor Smolianski loves The Matrix, but he loves teaching even more.
SNOW PHOTO ALBUM We asked our students to send us their best Snowzilla pictures.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR Just to keep in mind, and also announcing our upcoming CalUMS Week!
C A LU M S P U L S E MAGAZINE EDITING & DESIGN Giomar Silva PHOTOGRAPHY Maria Merkulova
4300 Wilson Blvd. Suite#140 Arlington, VA 22203 www.calums.edu/va
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PHOTO: GIOMAR SILVA
CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCES VIRGINIA CAMPUS
DIRECTOR’S WORD Here we go! Dear CalUMS Family, A very special year has just begun. We have deemed to call it the Year of the Bear, honoring the arrival of our long-awaited mascot, but also marking the beginning of a new era in the history of our institution. Good things are bound to happen during this 2016. After 9 years operating in Virginia, now we share the designation of Main Campus along with our California counterpart; this change is crucial, for it will allow us to maximize our resources and streamline our decision-making process. It also opens the door for several new exciting projects for our faculty and students. Here is a litlle sample of what this year has in store for you: a new Master of Science in Healhcare Management; our first official sports teams, which will be called the CalUMS Bears; cool merchandising that we will wear and carry with pride; CalUMS Clubs, dedicated to extracurricular activities; our first ever CalUMS Spirit Week, which will take place in the spring and will include a huge family picnic; a new edition of our Job Fair & Business Talent Show; the opening of our Business Incubation Center, in Rosslyn; new scholarships; the implementation of Oracle University’s Worforce Development Program; and much more, all of which will lead us to the big celebration of 2017: Our 10th Year Anniversary. This will undoubtedly be a year to remember. Go Bears!,
PHOTO: MARIA MERKULOVA
Khulan Och Director California University of Management and Sciences Virginia Campus
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WHAT’S GOING ON News
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Events
D PHOTO: MARIA MERKULOVA
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES
PLANNING AHEAD
r. Jason Shin, CalUMS President, visited our campus in January as part of the coordination efforts between CalUMS California and Virginia campuses. Important topics and plans were discussed in these work meetings, where Dr. Shin also had the chance to meet many of our new family members, as well as corroborate our growth. He even got a good taste of our Eastern snow blizzards! He will be returning for the spring.
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PHOTO: JAKE KIM
e salute the recipients of our Winter Quarter Scholarhip Awards: President Scholarship Award: Mummadireddy Lakshmireddy, Chaitanya Campus Director’s Scholarship Award: Turkevych, Alina Academic Excellence Award (MBA): Nad, Izabela (pictured); Daramola, Samuel Ayodeji; Adepoju, Babajide Charles; Dorj, Enkhbold Academic Excellence Award (MSCIS): Dhodi, Sudhir Kumar; Gutha, Sandeep; Jammula, Avinash; Dodda, Sreekantha Reddy; Penthala, Naveen Kumar. Congratulations!
JADE FOR JAY PHOTO: SANTOSH VEMULA
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J
ay Shah is the first ever grantee of the Jade Scholarship, which will be awarded monthly to the CalUMS Best Student Staff Member. Jay earned this distinction through hard work and commitment, and by going out of his way in order to support his coworkers. He has proved his worth and this award is a small recognition of his future success. Special thanks to Jade Vending for sponsoring this scholarship. You can learn more about Jay at CalUMS’ YouTube channel.
PHOTO: GIOMAR SILVA
SHAKE IT!
PHOTO: GIOMAR SILVA
PHOTO: JAY SHA
PHOTO: MARIA MERKULOVA
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his one is looking up to become a Fall Quarter CalUMS tradition. We hosted a very special kind of Thanksgivig Party, which included a nice dinner, Turkeythemed games and many prizes. However, the most interesting development happened spontaneously: a Spanish karaoke and a very hard-fought dance competition (or should we say “harddanced”?) came out of the blue and wrapped up a very entertaining evening.
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Photo: MARIA MERKULOVA THE FAMILY IS GROWING. From left to right: Zarina Abdrakhmanova, Marketing Assistant; Lily Milbredt, Admissions Assistant; Shalini Dawalji, Marketing Assistant; Darina Olefirenko, Admissions Assistant; Imane Bendebiche, Registrar; Anastasia Barmina, Student Services Advisor; Khulan Och, CalUMS Virginia Campus Director; Jake Kim, Finance Officer; Jay Shah, Admissions Assistant; Nuerwaili Abulizi, Admissions Assitant; Paola Fattorini, Library Assistant; Izabella Nad, Admissions assistant; Nicole Munday, Student Advisor; Giomar Silva, Creative Director; Miguel Bustillos, Academic Dean; and Tatiana Dolottseva, Student Services Advisor.
BRING WE ARE READY FOR THE YEAR OF
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IT ON
Cover Photo: Maria Merkulova
THE BEAR. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
H O W CAN YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? Does it have to do with the amount of money you are making? The stuff you have? Your popularity? The quality of your enemies? CalUMS Virginia Director, Khulan Och, has an answer of her own. “In our case, success has to do with giving our students all the opportunities available for them to shine,” she says. “So in order to determine if we are succeding, we constantly ask ourselves: are we giving them our best? It may sound simple, but it is a permanent challenge, one that we are very happy to take upon. That is why this year is so important, because we have all these plans that basically aim just to answer that particular question.” Jake Kim, CalUMS Financial Officer, points out that the mesmerizing growth of our university’s student population, which increased in 100% during every quarter of 2015 (see chart in next page), should not be taken for granted and that it is just the first step in CalUMS’ path to success: “We need to make sure that our students are capable of not only competing in the job market of the world, but also of thinking with a entreprenurial mind. Our dream is that, by the end of their academic program, every CalUMS student can either get a great job or start their own business. And we are laying out a strategy in order to accomplish just that.” The implementation of such strategy started in 2015 with our first CalUMS Job Fair & Business Talent Show, which took place in September. The idea behind this event was not only to put students in touch with prospective employ-
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ers, but also to start plugging the concept of entrepreneurship as part of our vision for the future -hence the “Business Talent Show” part. Now the second stage of the plan starts taking shape: the school itself becomes an entrepreneur. Starting with one of the projects that our students presented in the Job Fair -an e-mail marketing tool with an international flare and other competitive perks-, CalUMS is promoting the business initatives that are born within its own comunity (you can learn more about our upcoming Business Incubation Center in PULSE #2), knowing that they represent an invaluable opportunity for students to gain ex-
In 2016, CalUMS wants to heavily promote the business initiatives born within its own community. perience in their fields of expertise -and even better if they learn while building their own businesses-, in the best tradition of the American Dream. Take the e-mail marketing tool as an example: the software is being developed entirely in house by professors Peter Smolianski and Anil Parthasarthy, with the help of some of their the best MSCIS students; the business plan has to be designed by MBA students -target market, promotion, logo-, and another group of students will be part of the sales team. That is how we create real growth. And that’s not the only reason why this year, our ninth in Virginia, is so special. “We called it the Year of the Bear for a reason.
First, because of our new mascot,” explains Director Och. “But also because the Bear gives us an identity to carry with us in all of our 2016 endeavors. We are the Bears.” (meet the Bear on p. 14) Among the aforementioned endeavors, this 2016 you should expect: -A new Master’s Degree of Science in Healthcare Management, and the development of new concentrations in other Graduate programs. -Faster implementations, thanks to our new status as Virginia Main Campus, which will also allow us to open new CalUMS branches in the Commonwealth. -The opening of the Business Incubation Center, in Rosslyn, and our first IT products and services. (By the way, our e-mail marketing application successfully sent out its first test message during December’s holidays). -Our first-ever CalUMS Spirit Week, a celebration of all things CalUMS on the week of April 18. -CalUMS Clubs, focused on extracurricular activities. - Official sports teams, which will be called the CalUMS Bears. We will start with cricket. -New and exciting merchandising, from stickers to sweaters. -The implementation of Oracle University Workforce Development Program. -Dozens of new IT books available at our Library, an also a constant feed of new titles for other disciplines. -A freshly-designed new CalUMS website. So it is about growing altogeher and joining forces to achieve our common goals. That is success, and this 2016 is looking up to be a busy, crazy, incredible, successful year for us. Onward!
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UMS
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2007 - 20015: Building up to 2016, YEAR OF THE BEAR
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NEW DEGREES
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AS & MBA
BSBM, BSCIS & MSCIS
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2016 is also the Year of CalUMS Clubs, our first Sports Teams, CalUMS Week, new academic programs, a bigger campus, entrepreneurship projects and much more. To meet the Bear, go to page 14.
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NEW BUILDING PULSE Magazine
FIRST CALUMS JOB FAIR
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PHOTOS: GIOMAR SILVA
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...AND A TIME
TO PARTY dwsdsfgh
Speaking about success, one of the secrets to achieve it is very simple, yet not always easy to apply: Know when to work hard and when to party (harder). Another secret: Recognize what a great team you have, and let them know how appreciated they are. Our End of the Year Celebration was an opportunity to treat our faculty and staff for all the great work done during 2015, and to award the most outstanding professors. Without dedicated people, a school is just a building. A big thanks to our incredible faculty and staff! We are already looking forward to the 2016 celebration.
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PHOTOS: MARIA MERKULOVA
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HE ACADEMIC STRENGHT OF A UNIVERSITY lays in its Library. This is a place that has to fill many roles at once: A rich source of knowledge, an effective, practical space for research and homework, a shelter for silence and peace of mind, and even a place of social interaction and quiet conversation. At CalUMS, the challenge of keeping a place like this is in the hands of Librarian Amy Billerbeck. With more than 20 years working in the field, she is now developing new projects for her department along with Library Assistant Paola Fattorini. One major project
Do not hesitate to ask the librarians about online resources, new titles, useful tools for ESL students, recommended readings, local libraries membership and other available services. that is currently in the works is the creation of an online library catalogue that will allow students to access the university’s catalogue from anywhere in the world with a simple password. “I enjoy the daily life of a librarian, which involves research as well as being able to meet and help out so many dedicated, hardworking students everyday,” says Ms. Billerbeck, as she invites the students and the CalUMS community to approach the Library as often as possible. Topics such as economics, finance, business, and computer software are frequently requested, and our Library works
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Build your OWN KN
MEET YO THE LIBR Now bringing dozens of new
OWLEDGE
OU AT RARY titles every month!
Upper left: Library Assistant Paola Fattorini in her fort of books. Upper right: Student Victoria Petukhova enjoys a moment of quiet. Lower Right: New batch of IT books for February.
to make sure the right materials are always accessible. Library Assistant Paola Fattorini, on her part, wants the students to visit the Library not only for homework: “You can learn about good nutrinitional habits, languages, homopatic medicine, immigration laws, intriguing philosophical ideas, photography, interesting novels... we want you to stop by just for the pleasure of reading a good book.� With a new makeover and a growing catalog -which includes dozens of new titles every month-, CalUMS Library is also growing. Come and check it out!
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BEWARE OF THE
BEAR F
ew people know this, but an American Black Bear does not necessarily have to be black (ours, for instance, is blue.) In fact, there is not any other mammal in the United States that comes in more colors than our chosen mascot -for real: black, brown, cinnamon, blond, blue-gray, or white-, meaning that the Black Bear, the
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only species of this animal that lives in the Commonwealth of Virginia, also stands for diversity. Not to mention that the combination of fuzziness and strength that defines bears also fits our university’s spirit perfectly. Yes, we are Bears. From now on it will be our spirit animal, mascot and
ambassador in the field: All of our upcoming sports teams will proudly carry the name of CalUMS Bears. After some drafting and coloring, we came up with this appereance, smirk and all. Embrace it and make it yours, because this is now our identity. And chant with us: Be-ware-of-the-Bear, Be-wareof-the Bear!
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Prof. Peter Smolianski
C A L U M S MORPHEUS
Outside of the classroom, professor Smolianski is a man of quick comebacks and sarcastic smile, the witty guy who has an answer for everything and will not hesitate to show that he is the smartest person in the room. In class, however, he transforms in a patient, gifted educator that will go out of his way in order to explain a concept to his students (on any given evening, it is not unusual to find him wandering around the classrooms with his pupils, exploring network connectors and types of cables), and whose dedicated work was recognized with the 2015 CalUMS Outstanding Contribution Award. This is the story of a man who only sleeps 4 hours a day and who wasn’t actually planning to work on computers, but learned to love it. In his own words.
Matrix Portrait by MARIA MERKULOVA / Interview by GIOMAR SILVA
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ACTUALLY WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR. My mom is a medical professional; but, first year in science at high school, I had a terrible chemistry teacher. I hated him. So I did not understand the basic elements table, and without understanding the basics of chemistry you can’t be a doctor. But I never chose to be a computer engineer. YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT I GOT MARRIED WHEN I WAS 19. When I was 20 I became a father. So I graduated high school and I needed to go to college, and I was thinking more from the perspective of: What can I do to to make a living? And everyone who was smart around me was doing computers. It was okay at the
beginning, I didn’t really like it-like it. It was a job, but a high-paying one. In my very first job in the nineties, right after college, I was making $68,000 plus benefits. Even today, that’s good money. When I got that job I bought a brand new Chevy Suburban for $35,000. Cash! I WAS ALWAYS A VERY ARTISTIC PERSON. I am very creative. People think that computers are about science; they are not. They are about art. If you look at an Apple product, it’s all about art, not science. The core of technology is not purely in the engineering field, there’s a lot of creativity, ideas, innovation… it’s all about concepts. It’s not boring like mechanical engineering; you are not building cars, you are building user experiences.
So I never was, like, excited [about this profession], it was a good income, good thing to support a family. But then something happened and it was a breaking point for me. I remember the exact event: I was working at my second job. I had been there for 2 or 3 months, and it was only like a year and a half after college. And I overheard my boss and her boss, they were talking. The didn’t know I was listening to them, I was behind a cubicle. And he was telling her to give me some task, to do something they needed. And she was replying that this is too much work in such a short period of time, and there’s no way it can be done. And then he, her boss, told her: “Peter can do it.” And I got so encouraged when I overheard
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LEFT: At a Smolianski class, expect the unexpected: Teams working on an app for the Washingon Zoo. ABOVE: With his IT students while setting up the new CalUMS computer lab, in room 202, based in Ubuntu.
that! I was like “wow, he thinks that of me and I don’t want to let him down,” and I started working harder and harder, and I tried to understand everything better, and then I got really into it. And I believe that once you really understand something very well, you start liking it, because you know all the inside and the outside. I feel now like I can take on any technology, and it’s very empowering to know that you are just that good. And I know I am just that good. SO MY FIRST JOB WAS $68,000 a A YEAR, and from then on, more money and more responsibilities. And then, at some point, money flattens, because when you go from 0 to 68,000 a year, there’s a difference of 68. Go from 68 to 86 there’s 18, then go to 100, the difference is 14, then go to 106, the difference keeps getting smaller, and then you are stuck! And the money is not really a useful measure. You either start making some crazy money or need to find some other things to enjoy. So I found teaching.
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4 nights a week plus the weekend.
With nearly two decades of information technology experience, professor Peter Smolianski is teaching highly technical courses, overseeing innovative programs, and working with CalUMS students on cutting-edge projects.
I’VE BEEN A TEACHER FOR 5 YEARS NOW. It was also by chance. My wife, she is actually a full-time college professor. They needed someone to teach Computer Science at her college, because they had lost a professor last minute. I came in, and the next day I was teaching. I remember I spent a lot of time preparing, probably for 20 hours for my first class! But it was natural, I love it. Now I teach
I SLEEP ABOUT 3 TO 4 HOURS A DAY. I go to sleep around 2 or 3 AM and wake up around 6. It’s always been like that, I always hated to sleep. I feel like I’m missing too much. I have energy non-stop. I don’t know where it comes from. I’m lucky that I wasn’t born in the United States, because if I had, they would have diagnosed me as hyperactive, they would have given me ADHD medicine to try to slow me down. Where I came from they don’t do those things. I WAS BORN IN RUSSIA AND GREW UP IN ISRAEL. Came to the U.S. when I was 19. Haven’t lived with my parents since the age of 13. MY ADVICE FOR EVERYONE: MONEY IS NICE, BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH. In the US, the more money you make, the more things you want, the more you spend. For the past 2 years, I don’t spend more than I make. Which is different. How did I achieve that? My wife made me to.
SNOW 1
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1. Izabella Naggy. 2. Shravan Jangala. 3. Chaitanya Chinthoju. 4. Alina Turkevich. 5. Gopinath Vemireddy (and friends). 6. Suresh Suri. 7. Anastasia Barmina
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SEE YOU IN CALUMS SPIRIT WEEK! / APRIL 18 - 23 WINTER QUARTER CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 4 LAST DAY TO ADD AND DROP JANUARY 13 REGISTRATION FOR SPRING QUARTER FEBRUARY 8 - MARCH 7 ACADEMIC HOLIDAY FEBRUARY 15 / PRESIDENT’S DAY FINAL EXAMS PERIOD MARCH 7 - MARCH 12 WINTER QUARTER BREAK MARCH 14 - APRIL 3 SPRING QUARTER CLASSES BEGIN APRIL 4 LAST DAY TO ADD AND DROP APRIL 13 CALUMS WEEK APRIL 18 - 23 REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER QUARTER MAY 9 - JUNE 11 ACADEMIC HOLIDAY MAY 30 / MEMORIAL DAY FINAL EXAMS PERIOD JUNE 6 - 11 SPRING QUARTER BREAK JUNE 13 - JULY 4 SUMMER QUARTER CLASSES BEGIN JULY 5 LAST DAY TO ADD AND DROP JULY 13 REGISTRATION FOR FALL QUARTER AUGUST 15 - SEPTEMBER 4 ACADEMIC HOLIDAY SEPTEMBER 5 / LABOR DAY FINAL EXAMS PERIOD SEPTEMBER 5 - SEPTEMBER 10 SUMMER QUARTER BREAK SEPTEMBER 11 - OCTOBER 2 FALL QUARTER CLASSES BEGIN LAST DAY TO ADD AND DROP REGISTRATION FOR WINTER QUARTER ACADEMIC HOLIDAY FINAL EXAMS PERIOD FALL QUARTER BREAK
*DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Snow Illustration by CalUMS student Mehmet Karsan Ercin
ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2016
OCTOBER 3 OCTOBER 12 NOVEMBER 7 - DECEMBER 5 NOVEMBER 24 & 25 / THANKSGIVING DAY DECEMBER 5 - DECEMBER 10 DECEMBER 11 - JANUARY 2, 2017
STAY CONNECTED FOR NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS:
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