Yet another accredited business school to offer an online MBA. This time, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Article from the Chicago Tribune
Friday, June 5, 2009
NFL kicker completes MBA degree online
ASUNews
June 2, 2009
As a Dallas Cowboy, Billy Cundiff kicked a record seven field goals in one ”Monday Night Football” game in 2003. Today, his determination and drive have helped him to complete his MBA degree and land a venture capital job through the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He used the school’s highly ranked online MBA program even while attending NFL training camp.
“This is the best two-year investment I probably could have ever made in myself,” says Cundiff, who has spent five years in the National Football League. “The W. P. Carey MBA – Online Program gave me the flexibility to attend training camp with the Atlanta Falcons while still pursuing my degree. After being released by the team, the flexibility of the program allowed me to stay in shape, while also balancing family issues, such as my mother-in-law’s ovarian cancer treatments, my wife’s pregnancy and then my newborn daughter’s needs.”
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
BW Article: Degrees of Seperation
Article from Daniel Gross at Business Week about the financial impact on MBA students at schools like Columbia and Penn, and the contrast it has compared to business students at Wisconsin.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195845
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195845
Columbus State University Online MBA
Another AACSB accredited business school to begin offering an online MBA. Starting this Fall, Columbus State University in Georgia will offer an Online MBA from their D. Abbott Turner College of Business.
Clubs, Organizations, Institutes
Top MBA programs are built around top instructors, however well rounded MBA programs also provide a full range of services, such as Career services, networking, and clubs, organizations, and institutes. While certainly the quality of the instructors do matter quite a bit in differentiaing the top MBA programs, it is these other services that create a superior program that is able to attract the best students and distinguish themselves from other programs.
Online MBA programs have to date focused on the first issue by integrating online programs into already well established MBA programs, giving online students the same access to great faculty that on campus students receive. The Kelley Direct program has done this, by attaching the online program to the Kelley School of Business name, providing access to the great faculty at the Kelley School, and aligning the online program with the Bloomington Campus.
Kelley Direct, and the other top online MBA programs, however has only provided minimal services when it comes to the "other services". Career services, networking, clubs, organizations, institutes are not very well done in online MBA programs currently, and it quite possibly will be awhile for the schools begin to truly address these areas.
The full-time, on campus Kelley MBA program allows students the opportunites to participate in great programs such as the Leadership Development Institute, Bloomington Brands, Investment Banking Academy, and Consulting Academy. These programs, or similar, are not currently available to online students. This is primarly due to the nature of these programs, and historically the interests and intent of the students who attend an online MBA. However, if the composition of online students begin to closely resemble those of on campus students, the online students will suffer due to the lack of these programs.
I have setout to try to identify programs, groups, etc. that online students at the top MBA programs can participate in. I am looking for those opportunities that allow an MBA student to network, interact, or associate with other MBA students, wether at the same University or across multiple Universities.. Needless to say, my search is coming up a bit short, as most of these programs are geared at specific schools or programs.
The Washington Campus program is one that I have found. This program is a week long residency in Washington, DC with students from multiple MBA programs. It allows these students to visit federal agencies, interact with federal policy makers, and a congressional decision making simulation. It is offered multiple times per year.
The other group I have came across that seems to be open to online MBA students is Net Impact. This is a non-profit group that focuses on using business to improve the world. They have local chapters for the major universities as well as they have annual conferences. I am not sure on how an online student fits into this model, however it does seem available. I would welcome any comments for anyone familiar with this group.
Online MBA programs have to date focused on the first issue by integrating online programs into already well established MBA programs, giving online students the same access to great faculty that on campus students receive. The Kelley Direct program has done this, by attaching the online program to the Kelley School of Business name, providing access to the great faculty at the Kelley School, and aligning the online program with the Bloomington Campus.
Kelley Direct, and the other top online MBA programs, however has only provided minimal services when it comes to the "other services". Career services, networking, clubs, organizations, institutes are not very well done in online MBA programs currently, and it quite possibly will be awhile for the schools begin to truly address these areas.
The full-time, on campus Kelley MBA program allows students the opportunites to participate in great programs such as the Leadership Development Institute, Bloomington Brands, Investment Banking Academy, and Consulting Academy. These programs, or similar, are not currently available to online students. This is primarly due to the nature of these programs, and historically the interests and intent of the students who attend an online MBA. However, if the composition of online students begin to closely resemble those of on campus students, the online students will suffer due to the lack of these programs.
I have setout to try to identify programs, groups, etc. that online students at the top MBA programs can participate in. I am looking for those opportunities that allow an MBA student to network, interact, or associate with other MBA students, wether at the same University or across multiple Universities.. Needless to say, my search is coming up a bit short, as most of these programs are geared at specific schools or programs.
The Washington Campus program is one that I have found. This program is a week long residency in Washington, DC with students from multiple MBA programs. It allows these students to visit federal agencies, interact with federal policy makers, and a congressional decision making simulation. It is offered multiple times per year.
The other group I have came across that seems to be open to online MBA students is Net Impact. This is a non-profit group that focuses on using business to improve the world. They have local chapters for the major universities as well as they have annual conferences. I am not sure on how an online student fits into this model, however it does seem available. I would welcome any comments for anyone familiar with this group.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Bloomington / Indy Degree
I started my research into the Kelley Direct program last fall. At the time I initially started the research into the program, the big complaint about the KD program seemed to be the degree and transcript showing up as "Bloomington - Indianapolis". This seemed to be a subject that most alumni and current students had an opinion on, most of it being the degree and transcript being worded this way differentiated them from the Full-time Bloomington program. I completely agree with this, and thought it a huge negative for the program.
However, I soon realized that it was announced last Fall that beginning this Fall, 2009, students can register through either Indianapolis or Bloomington. Therefore, those of us who choose Bloomington as our registration campus will have degrees and transcripts that reflect this choice, and no mention of Indianapolis.
While this is very common knowledge by now amongst the current students, and most alumni, I wanted to mention it here for the benefit of prospective students. As with me, a prospective student conducting research on the KD program will run across older discussion board posts referring to this situation. However, rest assured that the issue has been resolved, at least for us who have yet to start. This is a huge positive step for the KD program, as they will now be able to grant degrees and transcripts that are identical to the FT Bloomington program.
The alumni of the program however still are left with degrees and transcripts reflecting this difference. Hopefully the administration will look after these alumni and make sure they have all the confidence in their degree that us hopefuls will have upon completion.
However, I soon realized that it was announced last Fall that beginning this Fall, 2009, students can register through either Indianapolis or Bloomington. Therefore, those of us who choose Bloomington as our registration campus will have degrees and transcripts that reflect this choice, and no mention of Indianapolis.
While this is very common knowledge by now amongst the current students, and most alumni, I wanted to mention it here for the benefit of prospective students. As with me, a prospective student conducting research on the KD program will run across older discussion board posts referring to this situation. However, rest assured that the issue has been resolved, at least for us who have yet to start. This is a huge positive step for the KD program, as they will now be able to grant degrees and transcripts that are identical to the FT Bloomington program.
The alumni of the program however still are left with degrees and transcripts reflecting this difference. Hopefully the administration will look after these alumni and make sure they have all the confidence in their degree that us hopefuls will have upon completion.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Washington State Online MBA
Washington State is the latest AACSB accredited school to begin offering an online MBA.
Fall 2009 In-residence
Date for this years fall in-residence are August 8th - 14th, a full 7 days.
It looks like the week has 3 objectives. One is a 1.5 credit hour course, C511 - Organizational Development & Change which takes place throughout the week. Two is an orientation to IU, Kelley, and the program. Third is networking, as there is a Group dinner on arrival night with Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business, and Sheri Brown, a professor at Kelley. Also during the week, there are some socials and dinner nights.
We will be staying at the Indiana Memorial Union, which is located on campus and will be walking over to the Kelley school each morning.
There are a few open dinner nights during the week, so I have begun researching what the must eat restaurants are in Bloomington. According to Bloomingpedia, Nick's English Hut is a must eat, as well as the Irish Lion seems very appealing.
I've been monitoring flights to Indianapolis from Richmond, and just today the price on all flights seemed to jump $20.
US News and World Report - Business School Rankings
Recently published US News and World Report ranking of the best graduate business schools has IU-Bloomington as #22
See the rankings here: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/items/01080
Choosing a Program
A common question that I get when I tell people that I am starting the Kelley Direct MBA program in the Fall is, "Why Indiana?".
Well, prior to choosing Indiana, I first had to choose to pursue an MBA. I have known for the past 5 or so years that I wanted to eventually get an MBA. However, I had envisioned myself getting the MBA in my early thirties. Just this past semester, I finished my MS in Accounting, and while there are numerous personal reasons I feel now is a good time to get my MBA, I also did not know how I would do with a break from school, ie. taking a few years off before the MBA program.
One thing however that made me nervous, is that the last time I looked (4 or 5 years ago), there were not a lot of well recognized MBA programs online, so I thought I would have to earn it through a lesser known school.
I started my research, that is to determine what possibilities were out there if I wanted to start now on my MBA, and initially came across sites listing those schools that are of course viewed as "online schools", and a handful of regionally accredited schools that had a good name, just maybe not for business. Needless to say, I was not "excited" about any of these schools. Yeah, it would be an MBA, but what sort of real value would it hold? Would I regret the decision years down the road by going with a lesser known school. That is when I happened upon the few great business schools that currently offer an MBA online. It was then time to determine which ones interested me, along with the few schools in town that offer part-time MBA programs.
My list ultimately came up like this:
1. Indiana University (Online)
2. Virginia Tech (In town, professional program)
3. Arizona State (Online)
4. Penn State (Online)
5. VCU (In town, executive program)
6. Florida (Online)
There were a few reasons for my list being ranked as this. First, the two in-town part time MBA programs, VT and VCU, I believe to be great programs and I have known people who had done these with raving reviews. The VCU program only ranked lower on my list due to the time and frequency of the class meetings, and the price. From the online programs, Indiana became my clear favorite, not only because the full-time MBA program is the highest ranked of those listed, it also allowed more flexibility in the timing (the others were lock-step programs), and IU also offered the option of building in a second degree towards the end of the program (I am thinking MS in Finance).
I applied, was accepted, and never even got around to applying at the other programs. However, I believe those online programs mentioned all seem to be great programs, and for different people, they may work out better than the IU program.
So ultimately, to the question, "Why Indiana?", I have to say that I have the option to earn an MBA and MS in Finance, I have flexibility in how quickly I progress through the program, and I am getting the MBA from the #15 ranked MBA program.
I feel content with my selection, and I look forward to beginning the program in the Fall.
Well, prior to choosing Indiana, I first had to choose to pursue an MBA. I have known for the past 5 or so years that I wanted to eventually get an MBA. However, I had envisioned myself getting the MBA in my early thirties. Just this past semester, I finished my MS in Accounting, and while there are numerous personal reasons I feel now is a good time to get my MBA, I also did not know how I would do with a break from school, ie. taking a few years off before the MBA program.
One thing however that made me nervous, is that the last time I looked (4 or 5 years ago), there were not a lot of well recognized MBA programs online, so I thought I would have to earn it through a lesser known school.
I started my research, that is to determine what possibilities were out there if I wanted to start now on my MBA, and initially came across sites listing those schools that are of course viewed as "online schools", and a handful of regionally accredited schools that had a good name, just maybe not for business. Needless to say, I was not "excited" about any of these schools. Yeah, it would be an MBA, but what sort of real value would it hold? Would I regret the decision years down the road by going with a lesser known school. That is when I happened upon the few great business schools that currently offer an MBA online. It was then time to determine which ones interested me, along with the few schools in town that offer part-time MBA programs.
My list ultimately came up like this:
1. Indiana University (Online)
2. Virginia Tech (In town, professional program)
3. Arizona State (Online)
4. Penn State (Online)
5. VCU (In town, executive program)
6. Florida (Online)
There were a few reasons for my list being ranked as this. First, the two in-town part time MBA programs, VT and VCU, I believe to be great programs and I have known people who had done these with raving reviews. The VCU program only ranked lower on my list due to the time and frequency of the class meetings, and the price. From the online programs, Indiana became my clear favorite, not only because the full-time MBA program is the highest ranked of those listed, it also allowed more flexibility in the timing (the others were lock-step programs), and IU also offered the option of building in a second degree towards the end of the program (I am thinking MS in Finance).
I applied, was accepted, and never even got around to applying at the other programs. However, I believe those online programs mentioned all seem to be great programs, and for different people, they may work out better than the IU program.
So ultimately, to the question, "Why Indiana?", I have to say that I have the option to earn an MBA and MS in Finance, I have flexibility in how quickly I progress through the program, and I am getting the MBA from the #15 ranked MBA program.
I feel content with my selection, and I look forward to beginning the program in the Fall.
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