Part-time MBA program offered for those working full-time

Part-time MBA program offered for those working full-time

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Megan Puzey, a research specialist in the National Soybean Research Lab, wanted to get a master of business administration degree but was concerned that a traditional MBA program would conflict with her job and the international travel it occasionally demands. So when the Urbana campus founded its Part-time Evening MBA for Working Professionals last year, Puzey was delighted. “I could continue working at my job – which I enjoy – and be here on campus to do the program without any extra travel. It worked out well. This program was perfect for me,” Puzey said. The class schedule for the program is designed for people who already are juggling the demands of jobs and families, but want to prepare themselves for advancement – and don’t have the time to commit themselves to a regular, full-time MBA program. The program comprises 18 courses, or modules, that are four credit hours each, for a total of 72 credit hours. Each module lasts 10 weeks, and classes meet two nights a week for three hours each session. The curriculum is similar to the full-time MBA curriculum and helps students develop knowledge and skills in a range of management fields, such as finance, marketing and information technology. Students begin the program in January and complete their final class in June – 2 1/2 years later – with every July and August off so they can vacation and spend time with their families or just rejuvenate before continuing the program.

Puzey and 29 other students, part of the inaugural class, began course work in January. The class profile includes bankers, engineers and computer scientists, among other professions, who work at the UI, AmDocs, State Farm and other area businesses. To be considered for admission to the program, candidates must have at least two years’ full-time, professional work experience. However, many of the people in the class have substantially more. “It’s challenging,” Puzey said. “It’s a lot of information crammed into three hours of each lecture, but the best part about it is you’ve got a small enough class that you get to know everybody. There are such diverse backgrounds among the students, people working at different managerial levels, in different industries. There are people who’ve been on the job for 27 years, and people that are a bit newer to it. It’s a great mix of people.” And that mix really enhances the learning experience, enabling students to learn from each other during discussions and group projects. “I think that the real advantage of the part-time program is that you can pursue your education while you are still fully employed and furthering your career,” said Avijit Ghosh, dean of the College of Business. “And you can link what you’re learning in the classroom to the work that you’re doing with the organization.” Puzey graduated from the UI’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in 2001 with a degree in agricultural economics and has worked at the Soybean Research Lab since then. In addition to the six hours of classes, Puzey estimated that she spends at least 12 hours in group meetings and reading, plus several more hours studying each week. Prospective students are advised to allot at least 15-20 hours per week for classroom work, computer and research, and course assignments. In addition to full-time work experience, prospective students also need to have an undergraduate degree in any field and have taken the Graduate Management Admission test within five years of applying to the program. The College of Business launched the part-time MBA program after doing extensive surveys with UI alumni and businesses with 500 or more employees within a 75-mile radius of Champaign-Urbana. Mary Miller, associate dean of the MBA program, conducted the survey and said that many human-resource managers indicated that they have difficulty recruiting people and retaining them, and they hoped that the program might be an incentive for prospective employees. The university’s Executive MBA program was moved from the Urbana campus to Chicago two years ago, leaving a void in Central Illinois for people wanting to get an education in business and further their careers. Companies “overwhelmingly indicated that they were looking for a general MBA program that would prepare their employees for middle- and upper-level management,” Miller said. “They have people who have no business background but are working in a business environment, and in order to get promoted they need that broad, general knowledge of business.” The College of Business and the Office of the Provost are sponsoring two scholarships for university employees for the next class, which will begin in January 2007. For more information, visit the program’s Web site, which is accessible from the College of Business home page, www.business.uiuc.edu (click on “programs” at the top of the page, then “master’s” in the drop-down menu).

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