Darden to Offer Executive MBAs
The University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration plans to join the ranks of schools that offer master's programs for executives who don't want to leave their jobs to advance their careers.
The university formed a committee in April to study the need for such a program "after we saw an increasing number of inquiries from companies and people in the region," said the school's dean, Robert S. Harris.
Once the curriculum and other details are in place and university and state officials approve, Darden hopes to launch its program in 2006 with an inaugural class of 40 to 45 students.
Darden's plans reflect a national trend in which business schools are responding to the fact that fewer people want to give up a fairly high-paying job for two years to pursue their MBA, Mr. Harris said.
The Graduate Management Admission Council, which tracks business-school trends, found that 78% of full-time programs it surveyed saw a decline in applications in 2004 from the previous year, and 53% of executive MBA programs reported an increase. This was at least in part because of increasing financial concerns of applicants in general and women and minorities specifically, the council said.
Since 2001, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has offered a two-year MBA program in San Francisco for West Coast executives in addition to its longtime executive MBA program in Philadelphia. Northwestern University and the universities of Chicago and Michigan are among other highly ranked schools that offer executive MBA programs.
Virginia Tech started its executive MBA program in February at the university's northern Virginia campus to target employees of corporations in the Washington area, including the World Bank, Accenture Ltd. and Time Warner Inc.'s America Online.
Darden's executive MBA program will have the same core curriculum as the regular program but will be geared more toward leadership development and will be designed for people who have worked for about 10 to 12 years, as opposed to the average two or three years for typical MBA candidates.
更多美国商学院推出在职MBA项目
弗吉尼亚大学(University of Virginia)达顿商学院(Darden Graduate School of Business Administration)计划追随其他院校，面向那些不愿离职进修的人推出在职硕士课程。
这所大学4月份时专门成立了一个委员会研究这类项目的需求状况。学院主任罗伯特?哈里斯(Robert S. Harris)说，打电话来询问这类项目的公司和个人越来越多。
待课程安排和其他一些细节问题处理完，并且获得了大学和州政府官员的批准后，达顿商学院将在2006年推出该课程，最初的班级可能招收40-45个学生。
达顿商学院的计划反映出商学院正在根据美国的新形势作出调整，如今愿意放弃高薪工作攻读两年MBA课程的人正在减少，哈里斯先生说。
追踪商学院发展趋势的研究生入学管理委员会(Graduate Management Admission Council)发现，接受其调查的MBA项目中，78%的全职项目今年申请人数较2003年下降；但53%的在职项目申请人数都增加了。研究生入学管理委员会表示，这至少在一定程度上是由于申请人对财力问题更加担心，女性及少数种族人群更是如此，哈里斯说。
宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)的沃顿商学院(Wharton School)从2001年开始在旧金山为美国西海岸的管理人士开辟了为期两年的MBA项目，之前沃顿只在费城有这样的课程。西北大学(Northwestern University)以及芝加哥和密歇根的著名商学院也有类似的在职MBA项目。
弗吉尼亚理工大学(Virginia Tech)的在职MBA课程今年2月份在弗吉尼亚北部校区刚刚上马，主要针对华盛顿地区公司员工，如世界银行(World Bank)、埃森哲(Accenture Ltd.)和时代华纳(Time Warner Inc.)旗下美国在线(America Online)等。
达顿的在职MBA项目具有其他普通MBA项目的核心课程，同时将更加注重培养学生的领导才能，适合具有10至12年工作经验的人士。而普通MBA项目平均只有2至3年的工作经验。
