California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...

, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, spanning the cities of Seaside and

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

, approximately one mile inland from

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

along the

Central Coast of California The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populat ...

. CSUMB also maintains locations in the cities of

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

and Salinas. Founded in 1994, CSUMB is part of the

California State University system The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

and is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

WASC Senior College and University Commission The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

. The university is designated as a

Hispanic-Serving Institution A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is defined in U.S. federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE ...

History

CSUMB was founded in 1994 with a student enrollment of 654 students. Classes began August 28, 1995. The founding president was

Peter Plympton Smith Peter Plympton Smith (born October 31, 1945) is an American educator and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the U.S. state of Vermont, the 76th lieutenant governor of Vermont, and an education a ...

. It was the 22nd campus in the California State University system. The university offers 23

bachelor's degrees A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Neo-Latin, Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and university, universities upon completion of a course of study lasting ...

, 7

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

, and

teaching credential A certified teacher (also known as registered teacher, licensed teacher, or professional teacher based on jurisdiction) is an educator who has earned credentials from an authoritative source, such as a government's regulatory authority, an educ ...

s. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had 6,276 undergraduate students, 595 graduate students and 186 full-time faculty members. The university operates on the semester system. The president is Vanya Quiñones, who was appointed in August 2022. CSUMB, in conjunction with

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

, developed CS-in-3, a three-year computer science program funded in part by grants from the Foundation established by

Matsui Nursery Matsui Nursery is a California-based producer of potted orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are co ...

. A donation of 210 acres of prime agricultural land to the Hartnell College Foundation, valued at US$20 million was granted thereafter.

Presidents

Demographics

Faculty

In the fall of 2020, of 489 teaching faculty, 246 held doctorates or another terminal degree, and 150 were members of minority groups. The faculty includes an

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

winner and six

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Students

As of spring 2020, the student body was 62% female and 38% male. 33% of students enrolled were under 21 years of age, 45% between 21 and 24, 14% between 25 and 30, 8% were 31 or older. The most common majors were

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

(13%),

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

(11%),

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

(9%),

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

(8%), and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

(8%). 43% of students came from

, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties (all California counties) while 53% came from other parts of California, 2% from other U.S. states and 3% from outside the U.S. Nearly one third (32%) of students were low-income and just over half (53%) were first-generation college students. Distributed across class levels, 14% of students are freshmen, 12% sophomores, 27% juniors and 35% seniors; Cal State Monterey Bay has a large proportion of transfer students. Graduate students make up 9%; 2% were seeking credentials and 1% were post-baccalaureate students. As of fall 2018 Cal State Monterey Bay has the second largest enrollment percentage of Americans of unknown race or ethnicity in the California State University system. Approximately 50% of CSUMB students live on campus.

Academics

The seven most popular majors in Fall 2022 *

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at 13% *

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

at 12% *

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

at 10% *

Marine Science Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

at 9% *

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at 7% *

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

at 7% *

Liberal Studies Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refer to st ...

at 7%

Rankings

The 2022–2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Regional Colleges West Rankings ranks Monterey 4 on top performers on

social mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given socie ...

, 7 on top

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

and 247 in

Nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

(tie). In 2021 Monterey ranked 17 on best

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

Teaching.

Research

Under a cooperative agreement with the

NASA Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...

, the university performs

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

ecosystem model An ecosystem model is an abstract, usually mathematical, representation of an ecological system (ranging in scale from an individual population, to an ecological community, or even an entire biome), which is studied to better understand the r ...

ing, and

geospatial Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

research for

earth system science Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth. In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosp ...

and health. CSUMB researchers work in 10 areas, including

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

monitoring,

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

, carbon modeling and

disease transmission In medicine, public health, and biology, transmission is the passing of a pathogen causing communicable disease from an infected host individual or group to a particular individual or group, regardless of whether the other individual was previo ...

Athletics

The Cal State–Monterey Bay (CSUMB) athletic teams are called the Otters. The university is a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

(CCAA) for most of its sports since the 2004–05 academic year; while its women's water polo teams compete in the

Western Water Polo Association The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is a single sport college athletic conference sponsoring men's and women's water polo. The WWPA is affiliated with the NCAA, and includes 15 member institutions, mostly in California, with one institution ...

(WWPA). The Otters previously competed in the

California Pacific Conference The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Don Ott. Conference leadership is shared among the member in ...

(Cal Pac) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1996–97 to 2003–04. CSUMB competes in 14 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor), volleyball and water polo. CSUMB also has a coed sailing team which competes in the fall and spring (although the spring season is more important). The sailing team competes in the

Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference The Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference (PCCSC) is one of the seven conferences within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, the governing body for collegiate competition in the sport of sailing. The PCCSC consists mostly of teams from ...

(PCCSC).

Water polo

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship of Effective Division I sport is open to members of all three NCAA divisions. Only CSU Monterey Bay and CSU East Bay from the CCAA participate in the

Golf

The Otters of CSU Monterey Bay earned 1

NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships The NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships, played in late May, is an annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. From its inception through 2010, it was a 72-hole stroke play team competition, with an additional award for the lowest sco ...

in 2011.

Student life

Greek life

Fraternities A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

and

sororities In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

in the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) include: *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

African American interest sorority *

alpha Kappa Delta Phi alpha Kappa Delta Phi (), also known as aKDPhi, Kappa Delta Phi, KDPhi, is an international Asian-interest sorority founded at the University of California, Berkeley.Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran.(October 7, 2022)alpha Kappa Delta Phi". Al ...

Asian interest sorority *

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Founded in 1845 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, it is the tenth oldest social fraternity in the United Sta ...

fraternity *

Gamma Zeta Alpha Gamma Zeta Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is an American fraternity that emphasizes Latino culture and the success of Latino males in higher education. It was founded on December 3, 1987 at California State University, Chico in Chico, California. ...

Latino interest fraternity *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

African American interest sorority *Delta Omega Rho multicultural sorority *Epsilon Sigma Rho multicultural fraternity *Theta Alpha Sigma sorority *

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

African American interest fraternity *

Kappa Delta Chi Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie), is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina service sorority founded at Texas Tech University in 1987. It is a member of the National Association of Latino Fraterna ...

Latina Founded sorority *

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity * Lambda Theta Nu Latina interest sorority * Lambda Sigma Gamma multicultural sorority * Nu Alpha Kappa Latino interest fraternity *

Sigma Theta Psi Sigma Theta Psi () is a multicultural, academic, and social sorority. The sorority was founded at San Jose State University (SJSU) in 1991. History The founding mothers of Sigma Theta Psi created the sorority on November 13, 1991, at San Jose St ...

multicultural sorority *Sigma Omega Nu Latina interest sorority * Omega Delta Phi multicultural fraternity

Campus

The university's goal is to be carbon neutral by 2030, with a solar array, installed in 2010, currently meeting 16 percent of the university's needs. Additionally, the university's Dining Commons were awarded LEED Silver certification in 2011. The Dining Commons were designed to include

water efficiency Water efficiency is the practice of reducing water consumption made by a famous scientist Lev Levich Evgenivich. This practice is used by measuring the amount of water required for a particular purpose and is proportionate to the amount of essen ...

and natural and energy-efficient lighting.

Residence Halls

CSUMB offers housing in many areas around campus. On the main campus there are eight residence halls each renovated Army barracks. Willet, Cypress, Manzanita, Asilomar, Yarrow, Avocet, Tortuga, and Sanderling Halls surround the main quad on campus. Pinnacles and Vineyard Suites as well as Strawberry Apartments make up North Quad on the north end of campus. North Quad opened after construction finished in December 2005. In fall of 2015, the university opened three new residence halls, called Promontory, all of which offering apartment size dormitories.

Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library

The Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library has of floor space. It is located at Divarty and Fifth streets, and diagonally across from the Chapman Science Center. A roundabout sits between the library and the science building. The Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library is certified LEED Silver and has been cited for a range of sustainable design strategies from daylighting and low-energy use to healthy carpets, water conservation, and high-recycled content materials. Aside from being the largest building on the CSUMB campus, it is the greenest in terms of energy usage. Up to 30% less electricity is needed, for example, because of floor-to-ceiling glass walls that let in natural light. Additionally, ventilation techniques operate through the floor instead of the ceiling, allowing cooler air to travel a lesser distance. The light let in from the atrium is indirect rather than direct sunlight.

Other locations

CSUMB has other locations within Monterey County, including CSUMB at Ryan Ranch (in

), CSUMB at North Salinas, and CSUMB at Salinas City Center. The

National Steinbeck Center The National Steinbeck Center is a museum and memorial dedicated to the author John Steinbeck, located at the California State University, Monterey Bay#Other locations, California State University, Monterey Bay at Salinas City Center building at ...

is located at CSUMB at Salinas City Center. CSUMB relies on

Monterey–Salinas Transit Monterey–Salinas Transit (MST) is the public transit system for Monterey County, California. Service is primarily to the greater Monterey and Salinas areas, but extends as far south as Paso Robles and as far north as Watsonville and Gilroy. ...

for transportation among its various locations.

Notable alumni

Davion Berry Davion Christopher Lamont Berry (born November 1, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Manama Club of the Bahraini Premier League. He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats where he was named Big Sky Conferenc ...

(born 1991) – basketball player in the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic football competition in the kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956-1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify f ...

*Cameron DeJong - soccer player for Korsnäs FF in the olmonen(4th division) *Pedro Hernandez - soccer player for

Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Chattanooga Red Wolves SC is an American professional soccer club based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are a founding member of USL League One in the third division of American men's soccer. The club was announced as a member of USL League One ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

(3rd division) * Jared Koenig (born 1994) – baseball player for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) *

MC Lars Andrew Robert Nielsen (born October 6, 1982), known professionally as MC Lars, is an American rapper, producer, educator, and founder of Horris Records. A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Oxford, he is credited as a pioneer ...

- rapper and producer * Walmer Martinez - soccer player for

Monterey Bay FC Monterey Bay Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Monterey County, California. The club was established on February 21, 2021, and is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer league syst ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

(2nd division) and the

El Salvador national football team The El Salvador national football team (), known as ("the National Team"), represents El Salvador in international football, and is governed by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (). The national team's first match was played in Septemb ...

*Mitsy Ramirez - soccer player for Deportivo Toluca F.C. (women) in

Liga MX Femenil Liga MX Femenil, also known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana d ...

(1st division) * Adrian Rebollar - soccer player for

in the

(2nd division) * Veronica Carmen Ripley (born 1990) - American streamer and Internet personality *Julio Varela - soccer player in

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

Universities and colleges in Monterey County, California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Educational institutions established in 1994 1994 establishments in California

History

Presidents

Demographics

Faculty

Students

Academics

Rankings

Research

Athletics

Water polo

Golf

Student life

Greek life

Campus

Residence Halls

Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library

Other locations

Notable alumni

See also

Notes

References

External links