If, as the saying goes, California leads the nation, then the University of California leads California.

That puts UC Merced, the newest and most innovative campus, at the spear point of not just the state, but the entire country. What happens here will ripple deeply, far into the future.

UC Merced stands at the center of a state filled with rich and diverse histories and heritages, and at the epicenter of a technical revolution at a time when the intricacies of the world’s most pressing issues are becoming more and more apparent to everyone.

There are no easy answers. Today demands unorthodox approaches to every question humans ask.

Because UC Merced pioneers and embraces cross-collaborations and new and unorthodox approaches to research and teaching, our students get well-rounded and inspiring understanding of the subjects they study from a variety of perspectives.

By doing everything just a little differently, UC Merced is training the next generations of leaders in fields that demand that kind of complex thinking now and for the future...

Christian Aguayo is helping build the future at UC Merced — physically and academically.

Aguayo is a project engineer for Webcor Builders, the contractor building UC Merced’s ambitious Merced 2020 Project that will nearly double the physical campus and making room for more students, faculty and staff.

He’s also part of the first 10-student cohort in the campus’s new one-year Master of Management program, UC Merced’s first professional graduate degree program.

The 2020 Project will wrap up, but the Master of Management (MM) degree program is just beginning.

The program puts a new spin on a traditional area of study, applying the expertise of a group of faculty members from diverse backgrounds to create a holistic educational experience that teaches management from different perspectives. Through it, the students will develop practical skills for working in an increasingly complex world.

Because UC Merced is such a young university, it is unconstrained by “the way things have always been done.” The interdisciplinary and innovative spirit at the university’s core aligns perfectly with the future of leadership and management, whether it’s corporate, governmental or nonprofit, MM faculty members said.

This is the kind of program that could only emerge at UC Merced.

“This is a professional program that will expose students to the real world, to the complexity of the real world,” said Professor Paul Maglio, chair of the Department of Management of Complex Systems and founder of the MM program. “We’re not interested in stripping away everything that makes management hard — we want students to understand how people, technology and nature operate together, and how we can better engineer these systems.”

All student activities will focus on the Triple Bottom Line: people, planet and profit.

Students in the MM program are embarking on a 12-month boot-camp that will provide them with the breadth of knowledge and experience demanded by today’s for-profit companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Every class is co-taught by at least two faculty members, and students will participate in individual work, small-group projects and a team-based capstone project. The program also provides the opportunity to travel locally and globally to see management and practices in action and in context.

Professor Anita Bhappu, chair of the MM program, comes from a traditional management background and said this program is unique.

“We’re combining faculty and disciplines in ways that are not traditionally done in other management programs,” she said. “This is the direction leadership is headed for the future.”

Two current, full-time UC Merced staff members, Taylor Fugere, the campus’s coordinator of women’s programs, and Marisela Angel, the management service officer for the campus IT department, are also among the first cohort.

Fugere said she heard about the program through Professor Alex Petersen, when she sat in on one of his classes.

“I really love how interdisciplinary it is and how it emphasizes the changing environment,” Fugere said. Her office oversees several leadership programs, so the work will be immediately applicable.

“I really love how

interdisciplinary it is

and how it emphasizes

the changing environment.”

-TAYLOR FUGERE

“I’m excited about

the variety in the

program. It’s not

just business

management.”

-marisela angel

Fugere said she also sees how the program will provide her with skills to adapt as UC Merced grows and changes.

For Angel, the program is a way of reaching a personal goal.

“I had wanted to get my master’s, and this is a great opportunity,” she said. “I’m excited about the variety in the program. It’s not just business management.”

Both have supportive managers who are making it possible for them to flex their work schedules or work part-time to accommodate the block of weekday afternoon classes. Aguayo said his supervisors are encouraging and will work with him on his schedule, too.

It’s not just the students who are anticipating the new program.

“What’s really exciting about it is that we, as faculty, are going to be learning, too, as the program evolves,” Bhappu said.

Other faculty members say they are looking forward to seeing how it will all work — the co-taught classes, the incorporation of so many different backgrounds and interests and the thrill of building a brand-new program from scratch — it’s all part of what draws many people to UC Merced in the first place.

“When they were hiring for the program, professors Maglio and (Leroy) Westerling had a specific philosophy — to bring all these different specialties together. It’s extremely trailblazing,” said Professor Catherine Keske, an environmental economist. “We all have very entrepreneurial mindsets, and that is definitely going to help us succeed.”

Petersen, who is an expert in complex systems, said he looks forward to teaching the students, many of whom have little or no real-world experience.

“I bring a technical perspective, and I can’t wait to show students how to apply data analytics to management — how and when empirical evidence can provide guidance in how to account for risk and uncertainty,” he said.

Faculty members say they are also interested in the structure of the classes, in which students will be divided into smaller work groups. Teamwork, Professor Russ McBride said, is a skill that shouldn’t be underestimated.

“Employers complain all the time about people’s inability to function within a team environment,” he said. “We’re going to give students experience working in groups on non-linear problems that have uncertainties — just like the real world.”

“I bring a technical perspective,

and I can’t wait to show

students how to apply data

analytics to management

— how and when empirical

evidence can provide

guidance in how to account

for risk and uncertainty”

-alex petersen

“I didn’t think we had anything like this for management,” he said. He was looking at MBA programs out of the area but got excited about the new MM program because it’s here in Merced, where he is happy.

“It’s only a small change for me, going into this one-year program, but it will be a huge step for my career,” he said. As the first in his family to complete college, Lemus said he was unsure about coming to Merced initially because he didn’t know about leaving home or whether he could do well at university. But in his four years here he built up his confidence. Now he is a role model for his younger brother, who plans to go to college, too.

Down the road, he said, he and his brother would like to start a family business.

That’s the kind of ambition MM faculty members are promoting and encouraging.

They are providing outreach to industry and plan to bring in industry partners to meet, mentor and network with the students. They have also set the ambitious goal of placing every MM graduate in jobs within six months of graduation — a measurable outcome that will demonstrate success.

“We have high expectations for ourselves,” Maglio said. “We want to help these students become T-shaped professionals — people who have more than just depth in their areas of expertise, but broad experience across many areas so that they can work with a variety of people."

“The kind of training we’re offering is exactly what companies and other organizations are looking for.”

“We want to help these students become T-shaped professionals — people who have more than just depth in their areas of expertise, but broad experience across many areas so that they can work with a variety of people."

-paul maglio