Management (Applied)

This Pace+ Management (Applied) Certificate of Achievement program is a building block towards the completion of the Management (Applied) Associate of Science. The program's courses leverage the existing business knowledge, skills, and abilities each student brings to the program as it prepares students to advance in their careers and educational paths. The pre-planned pathway of coursework and competencies builds on prior learning, ensuring students are best prepared to succeed as they move through the program. For students with work experience, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to move up the career ladder to a professional role or to progress further along a professional career path in a variety of roles.

Topics include team management, interpersonal communication and working with others, business office technology, and business communication. The certificate provides preparation for potential careers, including General and Operations Managers, Administrative Services Managers, Facilities Managers, and Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers.

The existing certificate program has a history of approximately 10 completions annually. Because this new Pace+ modality provides access to a population for whom a traditional online or in-person classroom setting does not meet their needs, we expect that a different population of learners will enroll in this certificate program. We have also seen 20 enrollments in the associated degree pattern in the first 5 months of offering the degree.

“A primary mission of the California Community Colleges is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement.” (Ed Code 66010.4, item 3). This Business (Applied) Certificate of Achievement supports this mission by assisting students to progress along a pathway into positions such as Administrative Services Managers, Facilities Managers, Human Resources Assistants, etc., or to progress along an existing business-related career path in any industry.

This Management (Applied) Certificate of Achievement is taught in the direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) modality as part of the Coastline College Pace+ program. It will provide each learner with a survey of management functions. It also includes applied learning in the specific functions of project management, interpersonal communication, and team/personnel management. Courses emphasize the language of business and the common processes and procedures used across industries. Coursework in this certificate further emphasizes communication and technical skills, including commonly used workplace tools and applications. Competencies mastered in the program include: Business Thinking, Business Communication, Organization and Planning, Communicativeness, and Team Management.

A certificate in Management signals to employers that recipients may have obtained knowledge, may have practiced skills, and may have demonstrated abilities in planning, organizing, leading / managing personnel, improving processes, and communicating effectively within the company at large. There are projected to be 12,108 annual job openings in specific management occupations just in Orange County, related to this certificate (OC COE, “Marketing (Applied) Endorsement”, 2025). The Business and Entrepreneurship sectors ranks 3^rd among the top seven (7) sectors in the region, and entry-level hourly wages are $38.79, well above the self-sufficiency wage of $27.13 for Orange County (OC COE, “Paving the Path to Opportunity”, 2025).

This Pace+ Management (Applied) certificate builds on the learner’s pre-existing skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies. For those who are currently working, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to move up the career ladder to a manager role or to progress further along a supervisor/manager career path.

The college has licensed the Polaris® Leadership Model from Organization Systems International (OSI). A subset (6) of the 41 competencies in this model was selected as the basis for this direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) certificate in Management, to support early-career employees. As the competencies were mapped to courses, a multi-disciplinary certificate was developed. In response to employer and Advisory Board feedback, the program contains a Communication Studies (CMST) course and a Computer Information Systems (CIS) course.

• Do any active inventory records need to be made inactive or changed in connection with the approval of the proposed program? If yes, please specify.

No.

• Does the program replace any existing program(s) on the college’s inventory? Provide relevant details if this program is related to the termination or scaling down of another program(s).

No.

• What related programs are offered by the college?

Business pathways in the areas of general business, human resources, and marketing exist at the college. A Supply Chain Management pathway also exists at the college, but this certificate is separate from these programs, with different target jobs.

All other colleges in the county provide some form of business certificate. Within the region, demand for middle-skill managers remains high as this certificate supports a wide variety of professional positions across many industries. However, Coastline College will be the only college in the region offering this Management (Applied) Certificate of Achievement in a direct assessment, CBE modality, therefore not competing with the online, hybrid, and in-person offerings of the certificates below:

These certificates are very similar, which helps employers know that the same core set of management skills is incorporated into the certificate programs, giving employers confidence that candidates have foundational preparation for professional roles within an organization.

However, the Coastline Pace+ Management (Applied) Certificate of Achievement is significantly differentiated from the other offerings in its direct assessment, CBE modality.

We have seen 20 enrollments in the associated degree pattern in the first 5 months of offering the degree associated with this certificate. We therefore expect annual enrollments in this certificate, which leads to the degree, to be approximately 45 students.