The Office of the Provost is offering to pay for two Urbana faculty or staff members to take advantage of the Illinois Executive MBA program for one simple reason: It’s good for business.
Scholarship applicants have until Aug. 1 to apply for the 20-month program, held on alternating weekends starting Sept. 7 at the Illini Center in downtown Chicago.
Richard Wheeler, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the university’s investment is well worth it because faculty and staff members return well-rounded and better prepared to lead.
“Many of our campus’s most dynamic leaders are alumni of the Executive MBA program,” he said. “We remain committed to developing our staff and providing them with leadership skills necessary to give our world-class institution a strategic advantage.”
Larry DeBrock, the dean of the College of Business, has taught university staff members enrolled in the program, and he said the program molds leaders.
“It’s a top-ranked program that teaches executives and senior administrators how to make better decisions that support their organization’s people as much as their profit,” he said. “I know firsthand the value it brings to our campus.”
Tracy McCabe, assistant dean of external and alumni affairs and a past graduate of the program, said the program quickly changes how an employee perceives the organization of which he is a part.
“This program helps administrators look at the entire organization, and how all organizations work,” he said. “It trains employees to be accountable for the entire organization and gives them responsibility for overall operations.”
McCabe said the scholarships’ application process is highly competitive and usually attracts upper-management candidates – including faculty members pursuing a management track.
“It’s not unheard of that a faculty member might want to pursue this degree,” he said. “There’s a lot of self-selection before anyone even gets to the application process.”
One of the leading criteria for candidates is 10 years of supervisory or managerial experience.
“Right there, that rules out a lot of people,” he said. “You’re looking at people at a different stage of life in their careers.”
The scholarships cover the Executive MBA program’s all-inclusive tuition, fees and executive-education amenities – an offer usually reserved for fee-paying corporations that regularly send executives to the training program.
It also covers the required 10-day trip to China, where program participants will conclude a consulting assignment created during their immersion training in Chicago. The six-month process will lead to the development of a solution for several corporations receiving Executive MBA-led consultation.
McCabe said among the most valuable training benefits is the class size, which rarely is more than 50 students.
“Instructors are accessible and the face time is amazing,” he said.
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