California

State Farm Helps Strengthen High-Tech Education at CSUB

The opening of the new Science III Building on the California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) campus in 2008 saw the establishment of the State Farm Advanced Computer Lab.

Recently, David Hernandez, a vice president of operations for State Farm in California, met with university officials to present the final $50,000 installment of a five-year commitment to support the computer lab.

An estimated 400 to 450 students use the lab each academic year, and of the graduating seniors completing their degree in computer science, university officials say the students benefit from the lab in preparing for the standardized Major Field Test in computer science. Access to the lab has significantly improved students' performance on these tests over the past four years.

CSUB Provost Dr. Soraya Coley said, “These funds support the educational goals of the university and have been instrumental in the university's ability to mount a new degree program in computer engineering.”

State Farm’s $250,000 commitment assisted in the purchase of 33 high-level Sun Microsystems workstations. These workstations are state-of-the-art and are used for upper division, advanced classes in networking, operating systems, artificial intelligence, and graphics.

This funding of higher education at CSUB goes a long way in developing a skilled workforce, something that is essential for companies like State Farm to continue to operate in communities like Bakersfield.

Hernandez, who works in State Farm’s Bakersfield office, said, “We’re pleased to be able to offer this kind of financial support to enhance high-tech education on the CSUB campus … after all, we’re always looking for a skilled workforce to draw from when we have openings at our operations center, and CSUB has been and will continue to be a great resource.”