It is a dilemma often faced by ambitious employees pursuing a position in upper management. They are willing to work toward obtaining a Master of Business Administration degree to improve their chances of being selected for a top-level job, but their busy work schedule prohibits them from making it to class regularly on a weekday evening.
Southern is creating a program that clears a pathway for hardworking professionals to obtain their degree in a timely manner and with classes at convenient times. Anaccelerated MBA program will be offered by the university for the first time starting in August.
“The MBA program itself is not new and the course work will be as rigorous as the traditional program. But it’s a new approach – an approach that meets the needs of more students,” says Samuel Andoh, director of the SCSU MBA program.
The program will include 17 courses for a total of 51 credits, which can be completed in 17 months. The courses will be taught during nine, eight-week sessions and students will generally take two courses during each session with a one-week break between each session. The final component of the program will be a special project.
Most of the courses will be a hybrid – split evenly between on-campus classroom work and an online component. The on-campus portion would be conducted on Saturdays.
“Going to class at 5 p.m. during the week can be very difficult and people generally aren’t going to want to quit their job to get a degree,” Andoh says. “But the combination of Saturday classes and online instruction is going to give individuals greater access to obtaining an MBA.”
Andoh says the accelerated courses will be as rigorous as in the traditional program, and will be taught by the same faculty members.
To be admitted into the program, students must have earned a bachelor’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA. They also must submit a resume, as well as two letters of reference attesting to their leadership potential, ability to work independently and as part of a team. Those who do not meet the GPA requirement must submit GMAT test results for evaluation.
“One of the nice aspects of this program is that it’s designed for people with all kinds of backgrounds,” he says. “That only enhances the experience of all of our students.”
Andoh says he anticipates that the first group of students to be numbered at 25. A second cohort is scheduled to begin amid the spring semester. The traditional MBA program includes about 150 students.
Anyone with questions about the accelerated MBA program may call (203) 392-5616 or (203) 392-5860.
