Academic Program Review for the 5th Year MBA Program Boler School of Business John Carroll University

Prepared by the 5th Year MBA Committee Scott Allen

William Elliott Marc Lynn

Beth Martin James Martin

Walter Simmons Kris Tibbs

Mariah Webinger

March 10, 2016

Academic Program Review for the 5th Year MBA Program in the Boler School of Business at John Carroll University February 10,2016 Preface John Carroll University is a Jesuit Catholic university (one of twenty-eight in the United States), founded in 1886, and located in University Heights, Ohio. Our mission is to “inspire individuals to excel in learning, leadership, and service in the region and in the world.” Throughout our 127 year history, we have dedicated ourselves to providing Jesuit education not only to enrich the lives of graduates, but also to challenge them to enrich the lives of others in order to create a more just society. These aspirations are expressed in our shared Jesuit mission of forming “men and women for others.” Our success is evidenced by extraordinarily strong retention rates, high persistence rates, and enviable four-year graduation rates. Our alumni make a difference, whether they rise to prominence or work with integrity and dedication in their careers and communities. Operating on a semester calendar, John Carroll University is a four-year, not-for-profit University which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees through the College of Arts and Sciences and the John M. and Mary Jo Boler School of Business. According to the 2014-2015 JCU Factbook, JCU offers 45 undergraduates degrees, with a full-time tuition of $34,600. There are 193 full-time faculty members, 225 part-time faculty members, and the student to faculty ratio is 14.3/1. JCU has approximately 3,000 undergraduates and approximately 600 graduate students. JCU has more than 41,000 alumni and the endowment sits at roughly $200,000,000. Because of its dual AACSB accreditation, the programs of the John M. and Mary Jo Boler School of Business rank among the world’s best. Because of our mission and vision, our graduates go into the business world with a different attitude than those that graduate elsewhere. The Boler School of Business’s mission is to develop and inspire tomorrow’s leaders through educational excellence in the Jesuit tradition. Our vision is to be recognized as one of the best Catholic business schools in the country through developing outstanding socially responsible leaders. The Boler School’s reach stretches far beyond John Carroll’s campus. More than 500 companies in Northeast Ohio are owned or operated by John Carroll alumni, providing a significant economic impact in the area. Additionally, Boler alumni lead organizational efforts nationally and internationally, ranging from Fortune 500 companies employing thousands of people to nonprofit NGO’s that are improving the lives of people all over the world. Many of our students are involved in on-going community service projects in the Cleveland area that have a consistent, positive impact, including Boler Community Day, during which Boler students, faculty, and staff come together to give back to the Greater Cleveland community. Our efforts have affected hundreds of Cleveland area residents. In addition, Boler students work to impact those beyond our borders by both helping with Medwish, a non-profit organization committed to the recovery and recycling of donated medical supplies, and participating in immersion trips to Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Program Summary The Boler 5th Year MBA program is a cohort style program that is administered through the dean’s office in the Boler School of Business. The program is designed for students just graduating with an undergraduate degree and requires the equivalent of 6 3-credit principles/foundation courses as prerequisites plus 30-33 required credits in the program itself (30 hours for JCU business majors, 33 hours for all others). The program is designed to be completed in 3 terms. Initiated ca. 2000 to further

enhance the development of accounting majors as they pursued the 150 hour requirement for the CPA exam, this program has undergone a number of changes over the years. By AY 06-07 the program was opened to all majors on campus. As a 5th year program at JCU, the program primarily targets JCU undergrads for admission. More recent changes have been implemented in the curriculum. Between the years 2004-07 the curriculum was adjusted by removing macroeconomics from the core of the program and shifting operations analysis from a pre-requisite course to a core course. In 2010 we implemented an internship requirement for all students in the program. In the spring of 2013 we began to evaluate the curriculum and pedagogy as a whole and what we were trying to accomplish with the program. We made changes to the curriculum (approved by the faculty in the fall 2014) including:

A required international trip course,

2 in-depth study courses emphasizing applications in business and professional development that replaced a broad range of electives, and

A data analytics course that replaced the more narrow operations analysis course.

Facing continual resource constraints, in AY 15-16, the required international trip course was made optional and the 2 in-depth study courses were changed to 2 elective courses at some other university (still to be determined). Due to a number of changes in internal operations and changes in external market factors, we experienced a downward trend in enrollments that began in 2011. The re-design of the program was the first step in recovering a strong base of students. Following the curriculum changes that were implemented for the 2015-16 cohort, the faculty also agreed that a change in pedagogy was necessary. The plan is to have a more consistent approach toward teaching classes in the program that is focused on case-based teaching. The first step in this change is to have the faculty teaching in the program develop their skills for the case method of teaching. Due to some internal challenges, that step has been put on hold for a year. The management structure for the program has changed over the years. Currently the program has an Assistant Dean responsible for recruiting, marketing, and student management. This individual is also responsible for those same activities for three other graduate business programs. There is now an associate dean responsible strictly for graduate business programs. Both individuals report to the Boler School dean. Faculty members teaching in this program are from all three departments in the Boler School and also teach in the other graduate business programs and in courses in their relevant undergraduate majors.

I. Mission & Learning Outcomes a. Mission Statement

The mission of the Boler 5th Year MBA Program is “starting with the foundational elements of business, we will develop effective organizational problem solvers and decision makers”. Although never formally accepted by the BSOB Dean, this developmentally-focused mission in one form or another has been the guiding principle of the program from its inception. This mission, along with the learning goals and curriculum design is informed by the Boler School’s core values and mission, the Jesuit heritage of Ignatian Spirituality, and Jesuit perspectives on leadership and pedagogy.

b. Student Learning Goals

The following are the learning goals for the Boler 5th Year MBA program, approved in May 2015.

5th Year MBA Program Learning Goals & Objectives

1. Managerial level knowledge of the functional areas of business.

2. The application of analytical and quantitative techniques to solving business problems

a. The identification of appropriate analytical techniques for defining and understanding a problem

b. The ability to identify multiple solutions to a problem based on analytical insights

c. The ability to connect activities of an organization to the financial performance of the firm

3. Effective influential communication skills for oral presentations and written communication

a. The ability to effectively communicate quantitative and qualitative information during oral presentations

b. The ability to effectively communicate quantitative and qualitative information in written form

4. Effective leadership of self and others in problem solving situations

a. An understanding of their own personal work style and the factors that affect their effectiveness in different work settings

b. The ability to craft an effective leadership plan of action for a given situation

5. The evaluation of the ethical dimensions of business problems and the application of an ethical framework while solving business problems

a. The identification of ethical aspects of business problems

b. The inclusion of ethical aspects of business problems during analysis of business problems

c. The application of an ethical framework while effectively solving business problems

6. The application of multiple aspects of social responsibility in solving business problems

a. The application of the triple bottom line (financial, social, environmental) while solving business problems

b. Consideration during problem solving for those who are marginalized in society

c. University Graduate Academic Learning Goals

The following table links the program learning goals to the University Graduate Academic Learning Goals. Appendix G contains two tables linking course offerings to the program learning goals. Together they indicate the strong linkages between course offerings and each of the University Graduate Academic Learning Goals.

University Graduate Academic Learning Goals

5th Year MBA

5th Year MBA

5th Year MBA

5th Year MBA

5th Year MBA

5th Year MBA

Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4 Goal 5 Goal 6

Demonstrate an integrative knowledge of human and natural worlds beyond the undergraduate level

X

Develop habits of critical analysis that can be applied to essential questions, issues and problems in the field

X

Apply creative and innovative thinking to critical issues in the field

Communicate skillfully in multiple forms of expression

X

Understand and promote social

justice

X

Apply a framework for examining

ethical dilemmas of a particular field

of study

X

Employ leadership and collaborative skills

X

d. Contribution to Boler Core

Not Applicable.

e. Other University-wide Program Connections

Over the past three years, the 5th Year MBA program has shared courses with two graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and with the Professional MBA and the MSAC programs in the Boler School of Business. Recent changes in the curricula of the Professional MBA, 5th Year MBA and the MSAC programs have reduced the overlap in courses for the future (see discussion of curriculum for details).

The M.S. in Communications program requires Principles of Marketing (MK 521), Organizational Behavior (MN 531) and Strategic Human Resource Management (MN 588, formerly an elective in the 5th Year MBA program), along with Leadership (MN 550) all taught by faculty teaching in the MBA programs.

The M.S. in Nonprofit Administration program requires Principles of Marketing (MK 521), Accounting for Nonprofit Organizations (AC 572), Economics for Nonprofit Organizations (EC 501), Leadership (MN 550) and Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (MN 591). AC 572 and EC 501 were developed specifically for the Nonprofit Administration program. MN 550 and MN 591 have sections offered specifically for the Nonprofit Administration students. Although some of these courses are officially part of other

graduate programs, the faculty members teaching in the 5th Year MBA program also teach these classes. In addition, Strategic Human Resource Management (MN 588) is an elective for the Nonprofit Administration program.

The Boler School of Business will continue to offer all of the Boler courses required for the MS in Communications and MS in Nonprofit Administration programs.

Historically, the 5th Year MBA program has shared MN 592 (Strategic Management) and all of the electives with the Professional MBA program. Both programs have, in the past, offered five concentrations (Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing and Global Business) with a minimum of three electives in each area of concentration. The MN 592 requirement has been changed for the Professional MBA program starting with AY 2014-15. The elective requirement for both programs has changed starting with AY 2015-16. As a result of these changes, there will be minimal overlap between the programs. See the discussion of the curriculum in Section III for details.

II. Faculty a. Faculty Profiles

The Boler School does not have a Graduate Faculty as some business schools do. The following table identifies the full-time tenured & tenure-track faculty members, the full-time visitors and executives-in-residence, and the part-time instructors who have taught in the 5th Year MBA program during the past 3 years as a part of their broader teaching responsibilities in their departments:

Full-Time, Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty Who Taught in the 5th Year MBA Program (Summer 2012-Spring 2015)

Credentials Rank Areas of expertise Teaching Load for previous 3 years

Scott Allen Ph.D., Antioch University

Associate Professor

Leadership & Management

3/3

Robert Bloom Ph.D., New York University

Professor Accounting

Alison Dachner Ph.D., Ohio State University

Assistant Professor

Human Resource Management & organizational Behavior

3/3

Jenna Drenten Ph.D., University of Georgia

Assistant Professor

Marketing (Consumer Behavior)

3/3

William Elliott Ph.D., University of Arizona

Professor Corporate Finance, Investments, M & A

2/2

Tina Facca-Miess

Ph.D., Goettingen University

Associate Professor

Marketing Mgmt./Strategy

3/3

Simran Kahai Ph.D., Auburn University

Associate Professor

Global Economics 3/3

Marc Lynn Ph.D., Cleveland State University

Associate Professor

Information Systems 3/3

Rosanna Miguel

Ph.D., University of Akron

Assistant Professor

Human Resource Management & Organizational

3/3

Behavior

Scott Moore Ph.D., University of Kentucky

Assistant Professor

Finance 3/3

Frank Navratil Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Professor Economics & Finance 4/4

Gary Porter Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Associate Professor

Finance 3/3

Walter Simmons

Ph.D., Wayne State University

Professor Economic Development, Health Economics, Immigration

2/2

Mark Treleven Ph.D., University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Associate Professor

Supply Chain/Operations Management & Quality Management

3/3

Charles Watts D.B.A., Indiana University

Professor Operations & Supply Chain Management

3/3

Mariah Webinger

Ph.D., University of Nebraska

Assistant Professor

Accounting 3/3

Gerald Weinstein

Ph.D., Kent State University

Professor Accounting 2/2

Andrew Welki Ph.D., Penn State University

Associate Professor

Economics & Sports Economics

3/3

Feng Zhan Ph.D., York University

Assistant Professor

Finance 3/3

Full-Time Visitors and Executives-in-Residence Who Taught in the Professional MBA Program (Summer 2012-Spring 2015)

Credentials Rank Areas of expertise Teaching Load for previous 3 years

Anthony Aveni CFA; MBA, Case Western Reserve University

Executive-in-Residence

Finance 2/1

Thomas Bonda J.D. Cleveland State University

Visiting Instructor

Marketing & Entrepreneurship

4/4

Donald Dailey CPA; BS, University of Dayton

Executive-in-Residence

Accounting 2/1

Jaume Franquesa

Ph.D., Purdue University

Visiting Assistant Professor

Strategic Management

4/4

George Goodrich

CPA; BSBA, John Carroll University

Executive-in-Residence

Accounting 2/1

Michael Ph.D., Illinois Visiting Human Resource 4/4

Malone Institute of Technology

Assistant Professor

Management

Part-Time Instructors Who Taught in the Professional MBA Program (Summer 2012-Spring 2015)

Credentials Rank Areas of expertise

Akande, Olayemi Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Part-Time Instructor

Management/Organizational Behavior

Anderson, Gerald Ph.D., Indiana University

Part-Time Instructor

International Finance

Babb, Thomas MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Baker, David Ph.D., Kent State University

Part-Time Instructor

Strategic Management

Carfagno, Kerrie MBA, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Part-Time Instructor

Marketing & Environmental Sustainability

Joseph DiFranco MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Goldman, Andrea MBA, Cleveland State University

Part-Time Instructor

Human Resource Management

Gooden, Otis MBA, Cleveland State University

Part-Time Instructor

Economics & Statistics

Harf, Steven MBA, Northwestern University

Part-Time Instructor

Marketing

Hicks, Michele MBA, University of Minnesota

Part-Time Instructor

Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management

Jadallah, Jadallah MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

James Marder Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

Part-Time Instructor

Operations Research/Management Science

Martinez, Edwin MBA, Carnegie Mellon University

Part-Time Instructor

Economics

Nardi, Nicholas MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Nedley, Jason MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Nettis, Jack MA, New Mexico State University

Part-Time Instructor

Strategic Management

Palombo, Vincent D.B.A., Walden University

Part-Time Instructor

Operations/SCM

Pollick, Andrew MBA, Human Resource Management

Part-Time Instructor

Human Resource Management

Santos, Rolando Ph.D., Northeastern University

Part-Time Instructor

Economics

Spencer, Sidney MBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Economics

Stuppy, Charles MA, Cleveland State University

Part-Time Instructor

Human Resource Management

Torok, Robert MBA, Cleveland State University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Trew, Andrew J.D, University of Bristol

Part-Time Instructor

Ethics & Social Responsibility

Patti Weiss MBA, Cleveland State University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Wittine, Eric MBA, Case Western Reserve University

Part-Time Instructor

International Marketing

Zajaczkowski, Kenneth

CPA, BSBA, John Carroll University

Part-Time Instructor

Accounting

Summary of scholarship, impact and engagement for full-time tenured & tenure-track faculty members

Scott Allen

Dr. Allen’s research interests include emotionally intelligent leadership and leadership development in emerging leaders. Dr. Allen has published three books on leadership and leadership development and has published numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Leadership Educators, Journal of Leadership Studies, The OD Journal, SAM Advanced Management Journal and Leadership Excellence. Dr. Allen is also a faculty member of the Cleveland Clinic’s Samson Global Leadership Academy, serves on the board of the Association of Leadership Educators and Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and consults, facilitates workshops and leads retreats across a wide range of industries. He received the Wasmer Teaching award in 2011 for teaching excellence. Dr. Allen was awarded the Boler School’s Mulwick Scholar designation beginning in the fall of 2014 in recognition of his superior research record.

Robert Bloom

Dr. Bloom’s research interests are primarily in accounting education—specifically, integrating the accounting and finance curricula, integrating financial accounting standards and income tax regulations in intermediate accounting, and integrating IFRS into the accounting curricula. He has published numerous articles in journals such as Issues in Accounting Education, Accounting Historians Journal, Journal of Accountancy, CPA Journal, and Strategic Finance. Additionally, he is the coauthor or coeditor of nine books on a variety of topics, including accounting theory and policy, inflation accounting, and accounting education. In 2008, he received the Innovation in Accounting Education Award from the Academy of Accounting Historians for his work in teaching and research on American historical ledgers. In 2010, he received a Certificate of Merit from the Institute of Management Accounting for his coauthored paper on stock option accounting. He is a member of the editorial review board of Accounting Education: An International Journal.

Alison Dachner

Dr. Dachner’s research interests include improving HR practices such as training, development and informal learning and the value of organizational outcomes associated with interpersonal relationships and social capital development in the workplace. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Management Education and The Academy of Management Annals. She is a frequent presenter of her research at internationally recognized conferences such as the Academy of Management, OBTC, American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Dr. Dachner is a member of The Academy of Management, the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Jenna Drenten

Dr. Drenten was a member of the Boler faculty for two years (2012-2014) and is now on the faculty at Loyola University – Chicago. Her research interests include ethnographic research exploring adolescent consumer culture and identity development. She has published chapters in two books (Marketing Dynamism and Sustainability and Online Consumer Behavior: Theory & Research) and numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Business Research, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Research for Consumers and Advances in Consumer Research.

William Elliott

Dr. Elliott is the Edward J. and Louise E. Mellen Chair in Finance. His research interests are in stock splits, security issuance, capital structure, valuation, executive compensation, and mergers. His work has been published in premier journals including the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Business, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Financial Intermediation, Financial Management, and the Journal of Corporate Finance. Dr. Elliott has presented his work at numerous conferences and universities. He is a member of the American Finance Association, the Financial Management Association and the Eastern Finance Association

Tina Facca-Miess

Dr. Facca’s research interests include developing the Integrative Justice Model as a framework for business ethics based on Ignatian spirituality and the application of statistical analysis at the intersection of business and the least advantaged in society. Dr. Facca has published numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Marketing Strategy, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Jesuit Business Education and Probability and Mathematical Statistics. Most recently, Dr. Facca (with her co-author N. Santos) won the Best Paper Award at the 2015 Macromarketing Conference. In addition to her research and teaching activities, Dr. Facca is also on the planning board for the WUJA 2017 World Congress, she is the president of CJBE and is an advisory board member for Holy Name High School.

Simran Kahai

Dr. Kahai’s current research interests include economic development in developing countries and foreign direct investment. She has published in multiple journals such as Journal of Applied Business Research, International Business & Economics Research Journal, Journal of Law and Economics, Transportation Research, The Review of Industrial Organization, Antitrust Bulletin, and Global Business and Economic Review.

Marc Lynn

Dr. Lynn’s research interests include expert systems, system development and migration strategies, and legal and ethical issues in information systems. Dr. Lynn was instrumental in leading the Boler School of Business to membership in the SAP University Alliance Program and he currently is a board member for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.

Rosanna Miguel

Dr. Miguel’s research interests include recruitment and selection of employees in non-profit organizations. Dr. Miguel comes to JCU with approximately 15 years of consulting experience. She has coauthored a book on emotionally intelligent leadership and has published articles in numerous journals including SAM Advanced Management Journal, Journal of Business & Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Journal of Leadership Education. Dr. Miguel is involved in numerous university service activities including several search committees for the department, school and university.

Scott Moore

Dr. Moore’s research interests include the influence of governance mechanisms on corporate and financial institution performance and whether the articulation of a firm’s business model in its registration statement influences its IPO valuation. He has published articles in a variety of journals including The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Financial Review, The International Review of Financial Analysis, Financial Practice and Education, The Journal of Financial Education, and Global Perspectives on Accounting Education. Dr. Moore received the Wasmer Teaching Award in 2008 for teaching excellence and was selected as a JCU Entrepreneurship Fellow in 2009. He currently serves on the Investment Advisory Board of the Hattie Larlham Endowment Fund and is actively involved in multiple committees with the Midwest Finance Association.

Frank Navratil

Dr. Navratil was dean of the Boler School of Business from 1985-2005. His research interests include the impact of federal fiscal policies on regional economic growth. Dr. Navratil’s articles have appeared in a variety of journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Research and Southern Economic Journal. After returning to the faculty in 2005, Dr. Navratil has remained active in AACSB, serving on AACSB committees and acting as peer reviewer and as a mentor and advisor for several schools going through the accreditation process. He consults regularly with schools to assist them with accreditation, strategic planning and quality improvement processes.

Gary Porter

Dr. Porter retired from JCU in 2013. His research interests were focused on understanding the structural and managerial factors affecting the performance of mutual funds. His articles were published in journals such as Financial Services Review and Journal of Applied Finance.

Walter Simmons

Dr. Simmons has been appointed Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and International Programs in the Boler School of Business starting in AY 15-16. Dr. Simmons research interests include labor economics and economic analysis of the law. Specifically he has researched and published articles on the economics of litigation and the disposition of medical malpractice claims, the earnings gap between

West Indian immigrants and their descendants in the U.S., and the dimensionality of the economic performance of West Indian immigrants in the U.S.

Mark Treleven

Dr. Treleven’s research interests include quality management, dual-resource-constrained systems, supply chain management and part and process commonality. His publications have appeared in journals such as Decision Sciences, Journal of Operations Management, IIE Transactions, and Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management. He is very involved in the Decision Sciences Institute, having served in various capacities including Program Chair and President of the Midwest Region and was certified at the fellow level by APICS.

Charles Watts

Dr. Watts’ research interests are in the areas of supplier development, purchasing and materials management, supply chain management, warehouse location and rationalization, scheduling and the theory of constraints. His articles have appeared in several different journals including Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Management Science, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, and International Journal of Production Research. Dr. Watts is heavily involved in the Midwest Decision Sciences Institute and International Supply Chain Education Alliance (International Standards Board, RFID Certification Board and Education & Certification Programs).

Mariah Webinger

Dr. Webinger’s research interests are in the areas of accounting practices in financial institutions and forensic research techniques. She has co-authored a book chapter and has published articles in several journals such as Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, Accounting Education: An International Journal, Research in Accounting Regulation and Compensation & Benefits Review. In addition, Dr. Webinger has served as a reviewer for several accounting and finance journals.

Gerald Weinstein

Dr. Weinstein’s research interests are in the areas of tax and accounting education. He has published numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Accounting Education, and The Tax Advisor. With his co-authors he received the IMA Gold Medal for a multi-author paper in 2002 published in Management Accounting Quarterly. In 2006, Dr. Weinstein received the Wasmer Teaching Award for teaching excellence and in 2009 he was recognized as the Outstanding Ohio Accounting Educator. Each year he leads the Accountancy students in the IRS' Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program preparing free returns for low income people. Dr. Weinstein has served on several boards of Not-for-Profit organizations over the years and he is presently serving on Montefiore's Finance Committee and is acting as Treasurer of Quire Cleveland.

Andrew Welki

Dr. Welki is Chair of the Economics and Finance Department. His research interests include urban problems, economic education and sports economics. His work has been published in journals such as Managerial and Decision Economics and the Journal of Business Education.

Feng Zhan

Dr. Zhan’s research is primarily focused on market microstructure, law and Finance, corporate governance and international finance. Feng Zhan has published in journals such as Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Business Ethics, among others. He received a 2015 Wasmer Summer Research Grant at John Carroll University. He is the academic advisor for JCU’s CFA research challenge team. The JCU team took first place in the CFA local competition in 2015.

b. Faculty Development & Evaluation

Faculty Development Opportunities

The University and the Boler School provide an array of development opportunities for teaching and research. The Boler School will provide funds for faculty members wishing to learn a new pedagogical approach (e.g., online teaching). The Wasmer Teaching award is given each year to a member of the faculty for teaching excellence. Course development grants for innovative courses are provided by both the Boler School and the Provost’s office. The Boler School awards Wasmer summer research grants to support faculty research activities. The Boler School will provide funds for faculty wishing to acquire knowledge in a new area of research expertise. The Provost’s office has the Kahl Endowment fund that will provide funding for international travel for the purpose of international curriculum or research development. The Boler School provides full funding for travel for at least one conference paper presentation. The Boler School sponsors the Mellen Speaker series that brings a NEO CEO to campus each semester to speak about company challenges and opportunities facing their company. Across the university there are a number of speakers every year for the personal and professional development of faculty and students. All faculty members are invited to all speakers in Boler and across the university.

Teaching Evaluations

All Boler faculty members conduct student teaching evaluations in every course every semester. The evaluations are reviewed by the department chair and the associate dean for faculty and students.

Annual Faculty Evaluations

Each year in September, all faculty members submit an annual evaluation highlighting their teaching, research, advising and service activities for the previous year. These evaluations are reviewed by the department chairs and the dean.

Creative Pedagogical Community

To date, the faculty members who teach in the core and capstone courses of the 5th Year MBA program have not created a community for pedagogical discussions. One of the goals of the AY 2015-16 is to create this community to meet on a monthly basis during the academic year to discuss pedagogy, curriculum design, student satisfaction, faculty coverage in the program, assessment activities, results from assessment activities, and responses to the results of assessment activities in order to “close the loop.”

c. Professional Service and Community Engagement

As the summary descriptions in section II.a. and the CVs of the faculty members in this program indicate, the faculty are very involved in professional organizations, university service and community engagement. For example, Dr. Navratil is highly engaged with AACSB, Drs. Allen, Treleven and Watts are

highly engaged in their professional organizations and Dr. Facca-Meiss is highly engaged in the non-profit community in Cleveland.

III. Curriculum a. Curriculum

From its inception, the 5th Year MBA program was designed to provide recent graduates with very little business experience a more advanced understanding of managerial practice in business. As such, the program was designed as a very traditional MBA program. Over the years some modifications to the curriculum have been made to adjust for changes in the competitive MBA marketplace, student feedback and faculty observation.

A course sequence description of the current curriculum can be found in Appendix B.

Subsequent to satisfying the program’s foundation courses, students matriculate through three types of courses: core, in-depth and capstone courses.

Foundation Courses

The six 3-credit foundation courses are prerequisite to the program itself and may be satisfied with pre-determined undergraduate equivalents. These foundation courses are Accounting (AC 521), Economics (EC 521), Finance (FN 521), Marketing (MK 521), Organizational Behavior (MN 531), and Statistics (EC 522).

Core of the Program

The core of the program consists of six 3-credit classes that provide breadth of understanding of functionally oriented managerial decision making. The classes are Leadership (MN 550), Managing Costs, Budgets and Profits (AC 551), Business Decisions Using Economics (EC 551), Managing Financial Resources for Business (FN 551), Managing Marketing Resources for Value Creation (MK 551), Analytics-Driven Business Insights (MN 556).

Electives/In-Depth Study Courses

When we launched the 5th Year MBA program, we used the same electives as the Part-Time MBA program was using. This included offering 5 concentrations of 3-4 electives in each (Accounting, Finance, Global Business, Management, and Marketing). As enrollments in each program dropped, we necessarily started canceling electives each semester. This resulted in student dissatisfaction in both programs, and the necessity of having students take electives online at other universities (e.g., Scranton).

In September 2014, to overcome this challenge, the faculty decided to change the requirement of 3 electives (one of which was required to be an international course) to three in-depth study courses that all students will take (one of which was required to be an international course with a trip). In the Fall 2015 it became clear that we were not going to be able to effectively offer these classes and so we have shifted to offering one international course and having the students take the other two electives at another school.

Capstone Courses

The two 3-credit capstone courses include Corporate Ethics and Business Environment (MN 591) and Strategic Management (MN 592).

Appendix G provides the mapping of courses to learning goals to show the coverage of the program learning goals throughout the curriculum.

b. Course Profile

Each course in the 5th Year MBA program is offered once per cohort. Class size depends on the size of the cohort but generally is between 15-25 students except for electives which in the past tended to have fewer students. We have changed the model of electives to better manage student loads and provide a stronger educational experience for the students. The discussion in III.c. (Enrollment Trends) provides a more detailed examination of class sizes.

Overall, there were 141 class offerings during the past 3 years including foundation courses, required courses (core and capstone) and elective courses. Of those 141 offerings, 40% were taught by full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty. Another 15% were taught by full time visiting faculty and 45% were taught by part-time faculty. The following table breaks this down further for required, elective and foundation courses. The most full-time tenured or tenure track faculty coverage is in the required core offerings at 51%. Electives and foundation courses are more heavily covered by part-time faculty and visitors. The lowest coverage of courses by full-time tenured or tenure track faculty was in the Capstone courses at 0%.

Type of Offering Total Offerings

Taught by Full-Time Tenured /Tenure-Track

Taught by Visitors & Executives-in-Residence

Taught by Part Time

Required Core 41 51% 12% 37%

Required Capstone

20 0% 15% 85%

Electives 53 47% 11% 43%

Foundation 27 37% 26% 37%

Total 141 40% 15% 45%

List of Classes in the Current Curriculum

AC 551. MANAGING COSTS, BUDGETS AND PROFITS 3 cr. Prerequisite: AC 521 or equivalent. Emphasizes

the role of accounting information in an organization’s decision making with an emphasis on planning

and control. Topics include activity-based costing, just-in-time production systems, product costing, cost

behavior, operations budgeting, capital budgeting, and responsibility accounting.

EC 551. BUSINESS DECISIONS USING ECONOMICS 3 cr. Prerequisite: EC 521 or equivalent, and EC 522 or

equivalent. Students will learn the application of analytical constructs in economic theory to practical

problems, challenges and opportunities confronting organizations. Topics include demand analysis,

production and cost analysis, market and pricing analysis, capital budgeting, and government policy.

FN 551. MANAGING FINANCIAL RESOURCES IN BUSINESS 3 cr. Prerequisites: FN 521 or equivalent and

AC 551; Students are strongly encouraged to take EC 551 prior to FN 551. This course is a study of

financial decision making within corporations. Students will learn about risk analysis, cost-of-capital

concepts, money markets, capital markets, and other selected topics which promote the understanding

of effective and efficient use of financial resources for the future success of the organization.

MK 551. MANAGING MARKETING RESOURCES FOR VALUE CREATION 3 cr. Prerequisite: MK 521 or

equivalent. Students will study challenges and opportunities in organizations from a marketing

perspective. The emphasis in this course is on understanding the nature of market and customer

behavior as the drivers for building value creating strategies in organizations and the implementation of

those strategies. Topics in this course include the elements of marketing strategies and plans along with

the effective development and use of and organization’s resources for creating sustainable success in

the marketplace.

MN 550. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS 3 cr. Prerequisites: MN 531 or equivalent.

Comprehensive assessment of the student’s leadership and managerial skills, followed by classroom

discussion of leadership and managerial skills, exercises, and an individual skills analysis review session.

Develops skills awareness and career management strategy.

MN 556. ANALYTICS-DRIVEN BUSINESS INSIGHTS 3 cr. Prerequisite: EC 522. Business analytics and big

data are critical tools for effective business decision making. This course uses qualitative analytical

techniques and quantitative descriptive and inferential analytical techniques to provide insights for

business decision making. Students will learn techniques for classifying people and processes into

segments or categories for performance metrics, drawing insights, and generating solutions. Students

will also learn to apply predictive analysis techniques to sales forecasting challenges as well as

estimating the impact of activities on performance of the organization

MN 562. GLOBAL BUSINESS 3 cr. Prerequisite: Permission of Assistant Dean for Graduate Business

Studies. Students will study the challenges businesses face in a global environment. Economic, social,

technological and political factors will be explored as well as technical issues in international business.

This course includes an international trip with on-site visits to organizations and cultural experiences

within the countries visited.

MN 591. ETHICS AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 3 cr. Prerequisite: AC 551, EC 551 & MK 551.

This course considers the social, political, legal, and ethical constraints on business policies and

managerial decision making.

MN 592. CORPORATE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 3 cr. Prerequisite: Completion of at least eight of the

Core and In-Depth Study courses. This course examines the effective use of resources and capabilities of

the firm to create sustainable competitive advantages for the future success of the organization.

Environmental analysis and the strategic planning process are applied to a variety of business situations.

Changes since last AACSB self study:

We have made four changes in this program since our last self-study based on student feedback:

1. Based on employer recommendations we implemented a required internship for all students in the program.

2. Based on student dissatisfaction with elective course cancellations and a lack of full time faculty availability, we are outsourcing the electives to another university (still to be determined).

3. Based on student dissatisfaction and our own analyses, we decided to strengthen the pedagogy in the core and capstone classes. Shifting to a more consistent pedagogy across, we decided as a faculty to develop case-based teaching methods. This decision was put on hold until AY 15-16 to determine the exact resource development needs.

4. Based on competitive pressures and student feedback we will start offering, but not requiring, an international business course that includes an international trip.

Noteworthy Program Elements

The internship requirement plus the optional international trip course are the notable curricular elements. In addition, we offer JCU students a 25% tuition scholarship and the program is designed to be completed in one year.

c. Enrollment Trends

As can be seen in Appendix D, enrollment in the required cohort courses (core & capstone courses) has ranged from 4 to 27 (Mean = 13) over the past three years. This level of enrollment is, on average, marginally sufficient for the financial sustainability of the program. At the same time, this level of enrollment suggests we could easily absorb more students to reach a comfortably consistent peak of 25 students per cohort without a re-allocation of faculty resources. A second cohort per year would require a re-allocation of faculty resources.

Over the past three years we have run 53 offerings of electives that included 23 different courses. The electives offered over the past three years have had an enrollment range of 4 to 22 with a mean equal to 9 (see Appendix D). These electives are shared by multiple programs. Many of these courses have had low, but financially sufficient enrollments. In addition, 11 electives have been cancelled in the past three years as a result of insufficient enrollments (see Appendix J). It is this pattern of low enrollment and cancellations in electives that stimulated the faculty to change from the 3 course elective/concentration model that spread students across 5 concentrations to the current one international course (trip optional) and 2 outsourced electives.

IV. Student Learning a. Pedagogy

Pedagogical Approach

When the program was launched in 2000, the intent was for the courses to be taught using the Harvard Case Method of teaching. During the mid-1990s the Boler faculty went through an extensive development seminar on using this teaching method and had been using the method in the Part-time MBA program. Although this was the approach used at launch, over time as the faculty resource became strained and departments began relying on part-time faculty and visitors, the pedagogy approach to individual courses became inconsistent. Limited communication across instructors exacerbated the inconsistency. Currently some instructors use the actual Harvard case method, some use cases as examples in lectures, some use cases as group project/presentations, some don’t use cases at all but instead use traditional lectures with readings and homework assignments.

Teaching Effectiveness

Our experience with teaching cohorts of students has taught us that each cohort forms a “collective attitude” toward teaching methods and topics and this “collective attitude” will be different for different cohorts. In part this is a function of the attitude toward risk and uncertainty and toward learning in general. When this is combined with aspects of group dynamics a “collective attitude” is formed. Sometimes cohorts embrace the uncertainty that comes with learning advanced business topics outside of their domain of undergraduate major and sometimes they have a less than enthusiastic attitude toward those topics. Because of this, end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching tend to be quite variable across classes and cohorts.

A better measure of student satisfaction with teaching would be an end-of-program measure of how far they think they have developed and changed in this program. Combining this measure with assessment measures at the beginning and end of the program could give us an outstanding measure of the effectiveness of the program. It may be that observation by faculty at the capstone presentations in the Strategic Management class could provide us with an indication of the extent to which students have grown and transformed in their knowledge, skills and professional demeanor. In addition to providing us with data regarding program learning, this may also be a tool to communicate to the students the extent of their growth through the program. We need to discuss a measurement mechanism as a group during the AY 15-16 year for implementation.

Grade Trends

As the following table indicates, 51% of the grades issued by full-time faculty over the past three years were A or A- and 66% of the grades issued by part-time faculty during that period were A or A-. A grade of B- or lower is considered unsatisfactory in the Boler Graduate Programs.

Full-Time Part-Time Combined

A 30% 41% 35%

A- 21% 19% 20%

B+ 18% 16% 17%

B 17% 12% 15%

B- 7% 5% 6%

C+ 2% 2% 2%

C 2% 2% 2%

C- 0% 0% 0%

D+ 0% 0% 0%

D 0% 0% 0%

F 1% 0% 1%

W 2% 3% 2%

Community of Reflective Practice

One of the issues to date in this program is that there has been no opportunity developed by the faculty for a community of reflective practice. This is due in part to the use of so many part-time and visiting faculty that there has been little consistency in who teaches in the program. As we have found in the

Professional Part-Time MBA program, meeting monthly provides the opportunity to discuss student performance, pedagogy, curriculum design, student satisfaction, faculty coverage in the program, assessment activities, results from assessment activities, and responses to the results of assessment activities in order to “close the loop.” These discussions foster a sense of collegiality and facilitate creativity in pedagogy, course design, and curriculum design and we should do the same for the 5th Year MBA program.

b. Advising

The Associate Dean is designated as the advisor for all students in this program. The Assistant Dean for Graduate Business Programs handles most of the routine aspects of advising. Faculty do not advise students in this program, however, all Boler faculty participate in Cohort Advising for freshman and sophomore level students and advise students in their respective undergraduate major areas. The typical cohort advising load (freshman & sophomore students) for most Boler faculty is 20-25 students and the undergraduate major advising loads typically range from 10-30 students for each faculty member.

c. Experiential Learning

Students in this program are very recent graduates and are not generally working full time. Therefore, based on employer recommendations, we have implemented an internship requirement for all students in the program. This internship gives students an experiential opportunity to learn how business concepts they are learning in class are applied in higher levels of management in an organization. Additionally, the new International Business with trip course is designed to also involve an extensive amount of fieldwork combined with reflection on business content.

d. Professional Development, Post-Graduation, & Alumni Outcomes

The 5th Year MBA conducts an exit survey during the student’s last term before graduation. From the 98 graduates in the past 3 years, 61 responded to the exit survey. Approximately 84% (51) of responding students had acquired a job at that point in time and 16% (10) were still seeking. Of the 84% who had acquired a job, approximately 50% had positions in accounting firms after graduation and 50% were landing in non-accounting industries. This ratio of accounting to non-accounting positions matches pretty closely the percent of students in the program who are accounting and non-accounting students.

V. University Support and Resources

The Boler School allocates a portion of an Associate Dean’s position, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Business Programs and the Graduate Business Programs Associate to manage this program. In addition, for faculty members, the Boler School also funds three Mulwick Scholar positions, three Wasmer Fellow positions, summer research stipends, travel for conference presentations, development opportunities for new teaching methods, course development grants, and speakers from the business community.

Because of the consistency issues in the quality of delivery, we need to maintain a reserve of full-time faculty members committed to teaching in this program. As our faculty continues to age, the issue will become much more important in the next few years.

VI. Student Learning Assessment

As we began collecting evidence of learning five years ago, anecdotal evidence from student exit surveys, employers, and faculty suggested significant dissatisfaction with the level of learning and with the overall experience in the program. During the next five years the 5th Year committee met to consider root causes and solutions. Understanding the constraints of the university and the faculty, we chose to focus on minor improvements in the curriculum (changes in the electives, shift to a data analytics course in the core), an internship requirement, and a more consistent emphasis on the Harvard Case Method of teaching. During that time we re-wrote the learning goals for the program and developed a more formally structured assessment plan that is scheduled to be implemented in AY 15-16.

VII. Comparative Position a. Comparison with Direct Competitors –

The following table compares the Boler 5th Year MBA to competitor schools in NEO. Data was taken from each school’s website, some of which lack clarity. In addition, for the accounting students seeking to satisfy the 150 hour rule, almost any school can provide the additional hours to reach 150 hours.

AACSB Tuition/credit Number of Credits

Unique Features Apparent Marketing Efforts

Case Western Yes $1,245 48 credits Global Reputation & Sustainability & Health Care Classes

Much More

Cleveland State

Yes $410 39 credits? Health Care Classes

Much More

Kent State Yes $495 39-57 credits Traditional Curriculum; Ten areas of concentration

Much More

U. of Akron Yes $461 36-42 credits Traditional Curriculum; Ten areas of concentration

Much More

John Carroll University

Yes $855 33-51 credits Integrated curriculum; leadership development; community engagement throughout program

--

Baldwin-Wallace

No $895 38 credits Traditional curriculum; 6 different tracks

Much More

Lake Erie College

No $628 36 credits Traditional curriculum

Much More

Malone No $645 36 credits Traditional ?

College curriculum

Ursuline College

No $771

36 credits Traditional curriculum

More

Ashland University

No $632 36 credits Traditional curriculum

?

Indiana University Wesleyan

No $550 42 credits Traditional/Online Much More

Phoenix University

No $740 36 credits Traditional/Online 8 different concentrations

Much More

b. Comparison with Exemplars

Examination of the Bloomberg/BusinessWeek rankings of MBA programs reveals rankings of Part-Time MBA programs and rankings of Full-Time MBA programs. Although Boler’s 5th Year MBA program is full-time, it is not structured in the traditional full-time MBA program that is ranked by Bloomberg. Therefore, finding exemplars based on national rankings is not immediately apparent. Compounding the difficulty is the naming of these programs varies by school, so a search is necessarily extensive. Programs may be called 5th Year, Accelerated, 3+2, or have any number of other monikers (e.g., Seattle University’s program is called the Bridge MBA). Therefore, at this time, we have chosen to expend our efforts on evaluating our own strengths, weaknesses and challenges to decide on a direction for the future. Once that direction is identified, then we believe it will be an advantageous use of our time to explore what other programs exist and to learn from their key elements.

c. Unique Features

The internship requirement, the opportunity for an international trip, and the data analytics course are differentiators for this program.

VIII. Conclusion a. Summary of Program Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

The internship requirement is a strength as it gives students an opportunity to experience the concepts they are learning about in class.

As the exit surveys indicate, our students acquire jobs at approximately the national rate for traditional full-time jobs (according to the Bloomberg/BusinessWeek survey).

More recent innovations in the curriculum such as the international trip course option and the outsourcing of electives to another school, if delivered well, will be a strength in terms of value to students and in terms of a more even enrollment in all classes throughout the curriculum.

The undergraduate 5th Year MBA coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences has established a structure for communicating with undergraduate students about the 5th Year program and annually has a significant number of students in the pipeline for the program.

The Pre-MBA Scholars program that was initiated two years ago will have the ability to capture student interest as first year students in a more intentional manner and provides the opportunity to keep the students focused on the 5th Year MBA.

Weaknesses/Challenges

During the past 3 years we have enrolled approximately 15-20 students each year at a declining rate. The good news is that we have significant capacity for growth without additional resources. The bad news is that we were enrolling 30-50 students per year up until 3 years ago.

Research with students suggests a number of reasons for the decline including an improved job market for non-accountants, a lack of perceived value in the degree, an image of the program as simply a series of courses to take, courses that are too similar to the undergraduate courses in the Boler School, inconsistent quality of delivery, instructors disconnected & disengaged from the program and an overall lackluster experience of students.

The challenge for this program is to consistently recruit from the market and to consistently provide a positive and exciting growth experience so graduates will become our “evangelists.”

Historically, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Business Studies has been responsible marketing communications, recruiting students into the program and for student management activities. This is a heavy burden that results in inconsistencies on the marketing and recruitment side.

We are very understaffed in this program. Over the past 3 years, full-time, tenured or tenure track faculty have taught 51% of the core classes, 0% of the capstone classes, 47% of the electives and 37% of the foundation courses. We need to develop a small cadre of full time faculty across academic rank who are committed to this program.

There are a variety of technology issues that present challenges for us. We have no real assistance with instructional design for using technology in MBA programs (the technology group is great for short term solutions to problems, but there are no long term avenues to pursue). There is no consistency in the use of technology either in the classroom or in online modules for courses.

The 5th Year MBA program does not involve the business community beyond the internship requirement. It would be good to have a small group of companies who were community partners in the program and knew they would either provide projects for our classes or speakers for specific topics.

The foundation courses present a significant barrier for students who have not completed the undergraduate equivalents. This is because of a lack of flexibility in the scheduling of those courses and a perceived “disconnect” between the foundation courses and the program itself.

We have no end-of-program measurement of how far students think they have developed in the program. This is not the same as teaching evaluations for individual courses. Because word-of-mouth is critical for this type of program, we need this information as a measure of satisfaction with their education.

There is a disconnect between each of the courses in the program. Students express the sense of simply passing through each of the courses rather than understanding how the different courses connect to each other and are intended to develop their business decision making. At the same time, instructors in the program experience the same disconnect between what they are teaching and what instructors in other courses teach.

The Harvard Case Method of teaching may not be the strongest pedagogy for this program given the nature of the students. Lecturing with PowerPoint slides may also not be the best method. As these are the two most common methods in the program, we may have a systemic

pedagogical approach that is disconnected with what students need in order to develop the required skill sets. b. Action Plan

i. Vision Statement

The mission of the Boler 5th Year MBA Program is “starting with the foundational elements of business, we will develop effective organizational problem solvers and decision makers.”

The vision for operationalizing this mission is not well defined at this point. Producing this vision should be the first step in turning this program into a powerful, highly desired leader in graduate business education.

ii. Improvements Using Current Resources

We must work on several areas of improvement this year, many of which require no new resources:

The core faculty in this program must begin meeting as a group to define the vision for this program. Specifically, we must determine the strategy we want to pursue to realize the mission of the program. This strategy must be focused, divergent and compelling for students and faculty.

Once the vision is developed, a set of goals must be identified for achieving the vision: curriculum development goals, student satisfaction goals, student recruitment goals, etc.

We must develop a list of specific concepts related to program learning goals and then identify ways to connect those concepts across courses to provide perceived continuity throughout the program as well as to develop a stronger set of skills required for the job market of the future.

As an on-going process, assessment has yet to be implemented. It is currently a cumbersome process and needs some streamlining. We must work on creating a more sustainable assessment process for the program this year while at the same time we need to begin the collection and evaluation of assessment data.

We must develop an end-of-program measure that will include satisfaction with the program, how they have developed throughout the program and whether they would recommend the program to others.

We must develop clear roles for each task that must be done: Who is responsible for assessment, curriculum development, recruitment, engaging alumni, etc.

We need to develop a small group of faculty who want to create something incredible for our students.

We need to develop a set of non-negotiables for specific skills that will be taught in each course. The faculty will need to be “normed” to these.

We must assure that the content and methods in each course in the program are directly and transparently related to the program learning goals.

iii. Improvements Requiring New Resources

Some of the following may require new resources, some may require a re-allocation of existing resources and some may require leadership from the dean:

For this program to be a thriving, dynamic program, we need to consistently enroll about 25 students in each cohort. This would be an increase of about 10 students, on average. This is certainly not insurmountable, but will take a consistent marketing and recruiting effort that is creative, flexible, and responsive and one that resonates with the current generation of students. This needs to be a consistently top priority supported by the university administration. If the decision is made to have two cohorts starting each year, then considerable resources will be needed to achieve that level of recruitment and to have effective faculty coverage of courses.

We need to build a group of faculty who are enthusiastic about being a part of this program and are willing to “go the extra mile” to create an exciting, challenging and transformational experience for the students. Whether this requires new resources or not depends on how this is brought about, but at the very least, we will need the direction of the dean’s office to support this.

The program needs someone who can teach the International Business Trip course on a regular basis. Whether that comes about through developing current members of the faculty, or including that expertise in new hires will depend on the dean’s office.

We should consider developing a fund for subsidizing the trip costs for the students. Although optional, we believe an international experience designed correctly will be of great benefit to these students. The cost of the trip may present a barrier for some students so being able to subsidize the trip would definitely be attractive to more students and may be a big selling feature for increasing enrollment.

We need to develop technology expertise among all faculty members teaching in this program for pedagogical and course design purposes. We will need the direction and assistance of the dean’s office for this.

We should consider the multitude of ways in which we can include the business community in this program. Because the students have virtually no business experience, using the business community in a variety of ways can add a strong experiential learning component for the student experience. We should develop some kind of mechanism for managing the set of relationships as a network of partners with this program. Again, the dean’s office will be instrumental in direction and assistance.

IX. Discussion Questions

The following questions have been raised by the faculty as we have been engaged in the program review process:

1. How can we use technology to enhance learning in courses and improve convenience for students?

2. How can we continue to stay connected to the business community to learn the needs of managers for the future? How can we build in a continuous improvement process that is tied to needs of future managers?

3. How can we build a faculty resource for this program to assure its sustainability? How can we develop a set of engaged, full-time faculty for this program?

4. Is there a different model for faculty coverage that will be more effective that might make more sense given our resource constraints?

5. How can we streamline the assessment process so that it is a manageable process? 6. How can we better reinforce learning and development throughout the program to make the

experience even better for the students? 7. How do other universities teach the core classes to students coming from a variety of

backgrounds? 8. How can we get funding to subsidize the costs for students participating in the required

international trip course? 9. How do other universities maintain a level of excitement and enthusiasm among faculty and

students in this type of program?

Appendix A – Current Professional MBA Program Governance Structure

Dean of Boler School of Business

Graduate Programs Associate

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and International

Programs

Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs

5th Year MBA Program Committee

Appendix B – Course Sequence for 5th Year MBA Program

Go to http://webmedia.jcu.edu/boler/files/2015/06/JCU-Boler-5th-Year-MBA-Curriculum.pdf to see the complete sequence of courses.

Appendix C – Curriculum Vitae for Full-Time Tenure & Tenure-Track Faculty

Here is the link to the CV’s for full-time tenure and tenure track faculty who taught in this program during the past 3 years.

https://drive.google.com/a/jcu.edu/folderview?id=0B-aQnrFVEtX0cU91UjV6X1BiV2s&usp=sharing

Appendix D – Course Enrollments for the 5th Year MBA Program (Summer 2012-Spring 2015)

Professional MBA

Course Summer 2012

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Summer 2013

Fall 2013

Spring 2014

Summer 2014

Fall 2014

Spring 2015

Foundation1 AC521 5 8 6 12 10

EC521 6 10 9

EC522 6 8 6

FN521 8 12 9

MK5212 15 28 9 12 11 20

MN522 11 8

MN5312 11 9 12 8 9

Core AC 551 6 8 9 10 8 9

EC 551 16 11 16 13 4 19

FN 551 12 14 10 7 12 17 5 13

MK 551 21 13 8 21 19

MN 550 24 21 27 6 24

MN 556 26 8 16 15 16 6 20

Electives1 AC561 6

AC563 11 6

AC5723 17 22 19

AC575 14

AC5834 5 6

AC5844 7 3 4

AC585 20 12 10

AC592 11

EC561 17 8 7

FN561 7 12

FN583 5

FN584 9 7

FN585 7 4

FN598 6

MK555 7 7

MK558 10 9

MK561 8 14 12 8 9

MK/MN580 9 9

MK/MN/FN595 9

MN561 6 10 19

MN579 4 9 7

MN587 8 5

MN5882 15 15 8

MN589 10 11 8

Capstone MN 591 20 8 15 12 11 13 7 8

MN5921 29 10 25 17 4 25 12 15 1Foundation courses, electives and MN 592 are shared by both the Professional MBA and the 5th Year MBA programs. In addition, the accounting electives are also part of the MSAC program. 2MK 521, MN 531 and MN 588 are also a required part of the MA in Communication Management and MA in Non-Profit Administration programs. 3AC 572 is a required course in the MA in Non-Profit Administration program as well as an elective in the MBA programs. 4AC 583 and AC 584 are cross listed with AC 483 and AC 484. The undergraduate enrollments in those classes are not reported here.

Appendix E – Syllabi for Required Courses

Here is the link to the syllabi for the required courses in this program over the past 3 years.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-aQnrFVEtX0MWFsVGRoWGxNOU0

Appendix F – Syllabi for Courses Offered as Part of the Boler Core

Not Applicable

Appendix G – Curriculum maps connecting 5th Year MBA courses to program learning goals.

A. This table maps the general common body of knowledge (CBK) areas (Goal 1) to the courses in which they are taught (beyond the topics represented in the other learning goals).

General Areas for Managerial CBK coverage

AC 551 EC 551 FN 551 MK 551 MN 550 MN 556 MN 591 MN 592

Accounting X

Finance X

Marketing X

Economics X

Quantitative Analysis

X

Strategy X

B. This table maps learning goals 2-6 to the courses in which those goal topics are taught.

5th Year MBA Learning Goals

AC 551 EC 551 FN 551 MK 551 MN 550 MN 556 MN 591 MN 592

2.a X X X X X X

2.b X X X X X X

2.c X X X X X X

3.a X X X X X

3.b X X X X X

4.a X

4.b X

5.a X X

5.b X X

5.c X X

6.a X X

6.b X X

Appendix H – Reports on Assessment of Student Learning for 5th Year MBA Program

The committee has reviewed macro level data regarding the performance of the program and has spent the past 3 years crafting alternative program designs around the program’s learning goals. We also developed an assessment plan that is to be initiated during AY 15-16 starting with assessment of Goal 1. As we gather assessment data we will begin to evaluate changes in pedagogy, curriculum and program design.

Appendix I – Assessment Plan

Assessment Plan for 5th Year MBA Program Learning Goals Accepted May 2015, Plan accepted August, 2015

I. Learning Goals and Objectives

Learning Goals & Objectives

1. Managerial level knowledge of the functional areas of business.

2. The application of analytical and quantitative techniques to solving business problems

a. The identification of appropriate analytical techniques for defining and understanding a problem

b. The ability to identify multiple solutions to a problem based on analytical insights

c. The ability to connect activities of an organization to the financial performance of the firm

3. Effective influential communication skills for oral presentations and written communication

a. The ability to effectively communicate quantitative and qualitative information during oral presentations

b. The ability to effectively communicate quantitative and qualitative information in written form

4. Effective leadership of self and others in problem solving situations

a. An understanding of their own personal work style and the factors that affect their effectiveness in different work settings

b. The ability to craft an effective leadership plan of action for a given situation

5. The evaluation of the ethical dimensions of business problems and the application of an ethical framework while solving business problems

a. The identification of ethical aspects of business problems

b. The inclusion of ethical aspects of business problems during analysis of business problems

c. The application of an ethical framework while effectively solving business problems

6. The application of multiple aspects of social responsibility in solving business problems

a. The application of the triple bottom line (financial, social, environmental) while solving business problems

b. Consideration during problem solving for those who are marginalized in society

II. Learning Goals Mapped to 5th Year MBA Core Courses

C. This table maps the general common body of knowledge (CBK) areas (Goal 1) to the courses in which they are taught (beyond the topics represented in the other learning goals).

General Areas for Managerial CBK coverage

AC 551 EC 551 FN 551 MK 551 MN 550 MN 556 MN 591 MN 592

Accounting X

Finance X

Marketing X

Economics X

Quantitative Analysis

X

Strategy X

D. This table maps learning goals 2-6 to the courses in which those goal topics are taught.

5th Year MBA Learning Goals

AC 551 EC 551 FN 551 MK 551 MN 550 MN 556 MN 591 MN 592

2.a X X X X X X

2.b X X X X X X

2.c X X X X X X

3.a X X X X X

3.b X X X X X

4.a X

4.b X

5.a X X

5.b X X

5.c X X

6.a X X

6.b X X

III. Mapping Program Learning Goals to University Graduate Academic Learning Goals

University Graduate Academic Learning Goals

5th Year MBA Goal 1

5th Year MBA Goal 2

5th Year MBA Goal 3

5th Year MBA Goal 4

5th Year MBA Goal 5

5th Year MBA Goal 6

Demonstrate an integrative knowledge of human and natural worlds beyond the undergraduate level

X

Develop habits of critical analysis that can be applied to essential questions,

X

issues and problems in the field

Apply creative and innovative thinking to critical issues in the field

Communicate skillfully in multiple forms of expression

X

Understand and promote social

justice

X

Apply a framework for examining

ethical dilemmas of a particular field

of study

X

Employ leadership and collaborative skills

X

IV. Assessment Method and Location

Embedded assignments will be used to assess each of the learning goals. Goal 1 will be assessed in each of the relevant core classes as part of the final exams in those classes. Goals 2-4 will be assessed using case analyses, reports and/or presentations in MN 592. Goals 5-6 will be assessed using case reports/presentations or project reports/presentations in MN 591. For goals 2-6 rubrics will be applied by a small team of faculty.

V. Assessment Timing

In general, because this is a cohort program and each course is offered once per cohort, we will assess each goal each year, until results are satisfactory. Once we reach a satisfactory level of assessment results, we will assess every other cohort.

VI. Rubrics The rubric for Goal 1 will be the percentage correct on the individual components for that topic. Rubrics for Goals 2-7 will be developed based on the AAC&U assessment rubrics.

Appendix J – Additional Information

1. Course Cancellation Table for Summer 2012-Spring 2015

Summer 2012

Fall 2012 Spring 2013

Summer 2013

Fall 2013 Spring 2014

Summer 2014

Fall 2014 Spring 2015

MN 522 MN 522 MN 522

MN 531

AC 561 MK/MN 581

FN 585 FN 583 FN 584 FN 583

MN 598 MK/MN 581

MK/MN 580

FN 584

MK 595A