Undergraduate Programs

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS

As the largest undergraduate business program in the prestigious University of California system, students who earn their Bachelor of Science in business administration at UC Riverside are well prepared to become world-class leaders and scholars. The program is ranked among the top 100 in the nation.

Students have the opportunity to focus their studies in one of seven concentrations: accounting, business analytics, finance, information systems, management, marketing, or operations and supply chain management.

BY THE

NUMBERS

Enrollment in Undergraduate Programs

1,026 1,148 1,410 1,531

2017 2018 2019 2020

54.6%

first-generation students

47.6%

Pell Grant recipients

37%

underrepresented minorities

OUR GRADUATES AT WORK

$54,790

average starting salary

UP 8.5% FROM 2019

Bank of America

Chase City National Bank County of Riverside DHL Supply Chain Esri Foresters Financial

GEICO

Some of the companies employing our undergraduate students:

Goldman Sachs Hewlett-Packard Horizon Media

JCPenney Kaiser Permanente

Kohl’s New York Life Insurance PepsiCo PwC

RSM Squar Milner Walt Disney Company Wells Fargo Yelp

Transfer Student Finds an Academic Home and a Career

A weekend visit filled with friendly encounters led Nadeesha Hapuarachchi ’16 to a busy and fruitful two years at UCR’s School of Business, an accounting position with EY, and committed alumni involvement as a mentor

Nadeesha Hapuarachchi ’16

Nadeesha Hapuarachchi was looking for a university to transfer to; she was about to graduate with an associate degree from West Los Angeles College in Culver City.

“I was working at the time and couldn’t do an official campus tour on a weekday. So, I drove to Riverside one weekend just to see the campus,” says Hapuarachchi. “To my surprise, I found very friendly students to talk to about their UCR experience, and they were so nice to a random girl walking around asking questions.

“I made my mind up that day to attend UCR.”

Hapuarachchi knew she wanted to major in accounting, but she also “was determined to live the college life” at UCR. “I went all out on my extracurricular activities,” she says. She was a School of Business student ambassador, executive vice president of the Accounting Society, and vice president of Beta Alpha Psi, an honors organization for financial information students.

She graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting and then earned a Master of Accounting at University of Southern California in 2017. Hapuarachchi is currently a senior auditor in the Financial Services Assurance practice at EY in Los Angeles. “I was recruited from UCR for a summer internship at EY, and I then accepted a full-time position,” she says.

“The audit profession keeps me interested and plugged in to the world. The clients I work with are investment and asset management firms, private equity, and venture capital funds. So, I need to have a wide world view of market movements, global events, political events, and regulatory changes.”

Hapuarachchi also donates considerable time to UCR School of Business events, regularly meets with Accounting Society and Beta Alpha Psi members, and is active in the UCR Alumni Association’s 30-Minute Mentor program. “These programs expose students to what’s available in the working world when they graduate, and they are great forums to meet, learn, and be inspired by alumni,” she says.

“I was very fortunate to have undergraduate School of Business staff guide me through the process of recruiting and graduating—the credit goes to them for my success at UCR,” she says, and she is grateful for the network she established so early on.

“That is part of the reason I participate—so many times, I’ve seen a student change their perspective on things while having a conversation with me.”

The pandemic did not slow Hapuarachchi’s involvement: In the past few months, she’s attended virtual Accounting Society meetings, mentored two UCR business students through a program sponsored by EY, and facilitated a workshop at the 2021 Business Student Leadership Conference.

“The students get a lot of value from connecting with young professionals and recent graduates because we are closer to what they experience as a student,”

says the former transfer student who made a fateful campus visit one weekend. “There is a misconception that alumni giving has to be monetary donations or older alumni giving back. Young alumni can add significant value to the culture and life at UCR just by donating their time to events and mentoring. “For a first-generation college student like me, there was a lot of new information about the accounting profession and career paths that I didn’t know. By talking to alumni and colleagues, I came to understand my options.” — By Laurie McLaughlin

Transfer Mentors Ease the Transition for Community College Students

For students transferring from a community college to study business as a UC Riverside undergraduate, navigating their first quarter—with all classes and programs conducted online due to COVID-19—was a challenge. Fortunately, UCR’s School of Business Transfer Mentors—a team of seven students, pictured below, who also previously transferred to the university—contacted 350 new student colleagues over summer 2020 to assist with the many tasks involved in embarking on a successful school year.

“Transitioning from a junior college to a four-year university can be an overwhelming experience,” says management student Jackie Maslow ’21, a lead transfer mentor. “So, our program emphasizes the importance of designing a balanced course schedule.”

The program also offers a Business Core Class Survival Guide. “The guide is an in-depth exploration of each core class and includes tips from students and current professors,” says Diana Garcia ’22, who is studying information systems and is also a lead transfer mentor.

“Once students transfer into a four-year institution, they have to hit the ground running. The mentor program is a way to have a buddy running alongside them, supporting them along the way,” says Elizabeth Tisdale, professional academic advisor for UCR undergraduate business programs and the Transfer Mentors advisor.

The program has also equipped the mentors with abilities they’ll use in their careers, says Maslow: “By curating workshops and social events, we’ve been able to sharpen our organizational skills and develop close relationships—not only with our peers, but with the School of Business faculty.”

Follow the Transfer Mentors program on Instagram: @ucr.business.transfermentors

Sunaina Agarwal ’21 Jesus Barajas Mendoza ’21 Teresa Gan ’21 Diana Garcia ’22

Jennifer Leyva ’21 Jackie Maslow ’21 Juan Montes ’21

Putting an Education in Leadership into Action

Business student Chris Page’s volunteer leadership experiences augment what he’s learned in the classroom and provide a vision for his career path

Chris Page ’21

Just like everyone else, Chris Page ’21 had to pivot during the pandemic. As leadership development director for UCR’s Black Student Union, he created a structure to teach best practices in leadership to fellow members. His preference for in-person activities was thwarted by COVID-19 restrictions, so he turned to social media. “We explored basic leadership principles, including understanding the different types of leadership and the situations in which each of us fits best,” says Page of the digital sessions. “We also looked at how the values of a leader trickle down and contribute to the culture of an organization.”

Page “put together a program for this position and how it should be run in the future,” he says, for current and future students. “The program is also about reaching out to different community organizations or finding things that may be done around the community. Students can then use what they’ve learned to apply leadership theories generally or within political leadership, political activation, and as part of community organizations.”

During his studies toward a Bachelor of Science in business with a management concentration, he says, “I was interested in how the people inside the business get it done. I studied how I can make functions perform better than they were before.”

He put what he calls the “science of leadership and cooperation” into practice with many volunteer and student club activities, which stretched well beyond his involvement in the Black Student Union. He worked in campus housing during his time at UCR, and was the chairman of the design production committee for Future Business Leaders of America. He was also an ambassador with the undergraduate Student Ambassador program, and as an honors student, Page also found what he calls “one of the best friend groups I could’ve asked for of super-motivated students.”

A new graduate, Page plans to pursue a master’s in organizational psychology. “I’d like to move into either human resources or general team consulting,” he says. “I think that will be a really cool niche for me.” — By Laurie McLaughlin 36

Undergraduate Student Ambassadors Expand their Networks and Knowledge

Exceptional students represent the business school and interact with the business community

The Student Ambassador program within the School of Business selects about 20 undergraduate students each year to represent the school hosting events, mentoring prospective students, and participating in special events, speakers series, workshops, and field trips to develop skills in leadership, public speaking, group dynamics, and communication. These opportunities allow ambassadors to interact with business leaders in the community, which greatly expands each student ambassadors’ professional network.