look to Centenary’s Executive MBA program.
For several years, Sylvia Harrison would regularly make the hour-long drive from her work in Texarkana, Texas, to Centenary College in Shreveport. Harrison was a student in Centenary’s Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) program, a decision that, she says, made a great impact on her career.
Harrison’s decision came as she was adapting to her role as project manager at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System, and seeking tools for success.
“I reached the point in my professional growth where I knew what I didn’t know. I needed to learn more.”
Harrison, now Director of Network Services for CHRISTUS, felt ready to “move up.” CHRISTUS Chief Operating Officer Jason Rounds suggested the Centenary Executive MBA, the same program he had previously completed.
“‘Executive’ implies the student has achieved a supervisory or decision-making level accompanied by responsibility and accountability,” says Centenary EMBA Professor Dr. Harold Christensen. “Most of our students have advanced beyond the level of what they are actually trained for and find themselves having to do budgets and supervise others.”
EMBA Professor Dr. Betsy Rankin describes students as coming “from all walks of life,” including a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Some students are current and former military. “What is important,” Rankin adds, “is that the student have some experience working in a role in which they are responsible for overseeing others and are expected to be involved in decision-making for their company.”
Harrison remembers wanting an MBA program she could attend in person and not online. “I thought I would get more networking and interaction by being there in class.”
Centenary EMBA courses are taught from a senior management perspective emphasizing the business skills and knowledge needed to shift from functional expertise to broad-based leadership and strategic thinking. Students are typically rising leaders with at least five years of professional work experience and daily responsibility for managing people, projects, products, data or budgets. That experience, Rankin suggests, enables students to immediately see the applications of what they are learning in class and apply this learning in their jobs.
Harrison agreed. “It’s not just me going to class; it’s the real world. Everyone in the class is a professional, and we’re talking. More of the class is spent talking about our experiences, what we’ve learned and how we’ve applied things from class.”
Katie McCullin, Project Manager for ReachLocal, says her Centenary EMBA changed how she considered issues related to work processes. She says the Centenary curriculum and the interaction with students from other backgrounds showed how organizations might be comprised of many parts, but those parts and people all need to be moving in the same direction.
“The Centenary EMBA molds you to be a professional who understands the big picture,” says McCullin. The “big picture” comes together at the program’s conclusion, when students create a business plan for a new company.
Centenary limits enrollment in the EMBA program to maximize interaction among students and faculty. The five 10-week terms per year help students balance the demands of jobs and families with those of a comprehensive MBA program. Students may complete a degree in as few as 18 months. Neither an undergraduate degree in business nor any prerequisite business classes are required.
Though Centenary is largely an undergraduate college, Rankin observes that Centenary’s strength in the undergraduate liberal arts adds a distinctive element to the EMBA program. “All classes involve critical thinking, whether it’s discussing an ethical issue, managing a diverse labor force, or which statistical method is appropriate for analyzing different types of data. We also stress both oral and written communication.” Presentations and classroom discussions are key course components along with written case study reports, written market analyses, and written answers to discussion questions on exams that require synthesizing the material.
Centenary Provost Dr. Jenifer K. Ward maintains that employers increasingly recognize the value of critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity and are looking for prospective employees who demonstrate those skills. “Because the Centenary EMBA is grounded in the liberal arts tradition that emphasizes those capabilities, and is offered in an intimate small college environment, we believe our graduates are better equipped with what employers expect to see and look for when hiring, regardless of the student’s undergraduate education.”
LEARN MORE:
Centenary College EMBA, visit centenary.edu/mba or call EMBA Program Coordinator Pat Gallion at (318) 869-5141
