With a world-class reputation for its undergraduate programs and master’s degrees, $1 billion in campus improvements and a reputation for bringing an international flavor to higher education, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo should be riding high.

But for the third time during the past two years, it’s friction between recently retired Cal Poly President Warren Baker and California State University Chancellor Charles Reed that dominates the headlines.

On July 30, Reed rejected Cal Poly’s plans to open an MBA program in downtown Santa Barbara this fall, instead offering the potentially lucrative opportunity to CSU Channel Islands, which will launch its South Coast MBA in 2011.

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