Brandman received regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 2009, after the school was re-named. Prior to Brandman, which was officially started in 2002, the school was Chapman College, and before that, Chapman University. That was the name of the school when now business school dean Glenn Worthington started in 1995.

Worthington spearheaded Brandman’s efforts to create a MBA program that focused on meeting the needs of today’s workforce.

”We went out to stakeholders, established business board members and asked them what adds value,” said Worthington. “We did a lot of analysis and found four themes that run through our program – leadership, ethics, sustainability and corporate responsibility.”

School Reports: Brandman University | All Online MBA Reports

Based in Irvine, Brandman has 26 satellite campuses throughout California and Washington. Rather than asking MBA students to choose between fully-online, or in-class, Brandman students can create a blended program. But the school has seen the biggest growth in its online offerings.

“It’s just skyrocketing, which is good to see,” Worthington said. The program is offered in six eight-week terms, with two enrollment periods. He added the coursework itself is geared toward working adults, with limited busywork.

”We weren’t going to have four-hour long lectures; that doesn’t align with our students’ lives,” Worthingon said. Though the program is still in its infancy, Brandman’s prototypical student ranges between late 20’s-to early 40’s with 10-15 years of real world working experience. The school also embraces the use of adjunct as professors.

“Many times, they are practicing what they are teaching what during the day,” said Worthington. “It helps our students. They bring in new case studies. Running a business school is like running a business – we have to be continually improving.”

Worthington not only wanted to put the real world into the classroom, but also allow real world experiences to count as graduate-level class credits.

St. Mary’s, a large Orange County hospital gives its employees an opportunity to further their education by taking certification courses through the hospital. Brandman professors evaluated the certification manuals and decided to award St. Mary’s employees either three, six or nine credits toward its MBA program, depending on how many of the certifications they took.

It’s in line with Brandman’s extended education program. Adults interested in continuing their education can take online two-course mini-programs in highly-sought subject areas like accounting.

Worthington hopes these students find that online learning is suited for them and will continue on to complete a MBA with Brandman.

That is also his the hope with new Bachelor of Business Administration program currently in the development with Immersion Ventures. Aimed at the 28% of the Brandman undergraduate body that is Hispanic, the BBA begins being taught 80% in Spanish, 20% in English, and as the students nears graduation, the percentages are reversed. Worthington believes in two to three years, these grads will enroll in the MBA program.

– Alanna Stage, @alannatweets

“I am thrilled to be joining Northeastern University’s college of business administration and can’t wait to get started,” he said. “Northeastern is a very entrepreneurial place with world-class faculty staff, staff, and administration. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to ensure that the college of business administration continues to innovate and create new world-class programs and student experiences.”

School Report: Northeastern University | All Online MBA Reports

“Under the leadership of Hugh Courtney, Northeastern will develop the human and intellectual capital needed to drive our global economy,” said Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun in a recent story on the school’s website. “Hugh’s accomplishments in industry and academia bring the ideal combination of experience to foster innovation and advance the frontiers of knowledge in business and leadership.”

Courtney’s work in the business field has been published in the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly,  Optimize, Research Technology Management, and Strategy & Leadership. He has been featured in publications including Sloan Management Review, Business Week, Entrepreneur, and the Financial Times. His book, 20/20 Foresight: Crafting Strategy in an Uncertain World, was also a business bestseller on Amazon.com.

Courtney will be leaving a business school that was ranked #28 for MBA programs by the Financial Times for 2012, along with other notable high business school rankings by The Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. News and World Report, for a school that was ranked #38 by BusinessWeek for its undergraduate business school and #56 for its full-time MBA program.

“As vice dean at the Smith School, I helped lead our undergraduate, masters, and executive programs,” he said. “I learned how to get innovative things done in a large, complex and prestigious organization. Importantly, I also developed a passion for the crucial role that business schools should play in creating economic and social value, and a commitment to spending the rest of my career helping great institutions like Northeastern’s college of business administration achieve their missions.”

The former dean, Thomas Moore, retured in January 2011, citing health issues. Northeastern’s Professor Harry Lane stepped in as acting dean while the school began a search for Moore’s replacement.

Courtney said he looks to build on what Moore established in his six years as the dean of Northeastern University CBA.

“While I didn’t know Tom Moore personally, I do know that he was an outstanding, innovative dean who was well-liked and respected by all at Northeastern,” he said. “I know that he is missed dearly. While our faculty and staff will never forget Tom’s contributions to Northeastern and his untimely passing, I know that they are committed to building on Tom’s great work and moving on to the next stage in Northeastern’s impressive transformation.”

He added that no school can afford to maintain the status quo.  In order to be counted among the best business schools in the world, there must be the push to remain innovative in existing programs and in the growth of new course or degree offerings, he said.

He said he is looking forward to facing the challenge of growing Northeastern’s programs and raising the school’s profile.

“I have been fortunate to work for some great companies and universities in my life, but this is the most exciting leadership opportunity I have ever had,” he said. “Northeastern is a unique place and I am happy and proud to join its senior leadership team.”

Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration offers an online MBA program with eight different concentrations including: finance, healthcare management, high technology management, innovation and entrepreneurship, international management, marketing, operations and supply chain management, and sustainability. The program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

- Dustin Bass, @dbass_cmn

Collins, an Irish expat living in Singapore, told OnlineMBA.com’s via email about the new EMBA test, the growth of the MBA market in Asia and the future for these students.

Q: What are the concerns of MBA students in Singapore?

Collins: In general, MBA students living in Singapore are a mixed bunch as they are as likely to be from India, France and Vietnam as Singaporean. Generally speaking you can be assured that full time MBA students want a better career through skills improvement, credibility enhancement, and network access, while EMBA students want to add a serious intellectual afterburner through rigorous approaches to business methods in their already advanced careers.

“Across Asia in general, where education is one of the top ‘possessions’ people can aim to have, the MBA is seen to be a rite of passage for many professionals, this is far less prevalent in say Europe, where is it a much more personal decision.

Q: What are some of the differences in the US and Asian business schools’ environments?

Collins: “To be fair, US schools are less and less resembling their stereotype from 20 years ago, they are becoming more open to the world. US schools still lead the way in case study production, and place immense value in general on analytical and other “hard” skills. European business schools emphasize soft skills more, Asian schools are very career oriented, and value greatly overseas partnerships with establish US schools and European schools. The study environments vary as well, Asian schools do not yet officially emphasize extra-curricular fun and socialization to the extent that US and European schools do, who do this to build personal bonds between classmates as part of a more holistic approach to building successful long-term-minded business people. Asian schools on the other hand, work very hard to develop relationships with employers, perhaps a more successful shorter term approach.

Q: Do you see English business schools continuing to set up schools in Asian countries, or do you see Asian schools emerging for themselves?

Collins: “Definitely Western-originating b-schools will continue to influx into Asia, the hunger for education is massive, and the local providers have not developed sufficient track record in general. As one b-school professor wryly commented to me about the China market, he said the demand is huge, but the supply is huge too, meaning that it will take some time to decide which schools are long term successful in generating a process to consistently boost the careers of their clients. But, of course, let’s not forget that Asia moves fast, very fast, and the people are very discerning and good to compare options. It won’t be long before the really valuable players are identified, many of whom will be homegrown Asian schools like CEIBS, ISB and HKUST. Equally, many western schools that trade off being from English speaking countries will find that students demand that they want better access to faculty instead of faculty being flown in briefly from abroad on a module delivery basis.

“The key to understanding the success of business schools (or lack thereof) is tracking the success of the graduates. Once track record builds up and alumni networks are formed, Asian schools will hold their own, and Europeans and Americans will clamor for Asian business education.”

Q: Do you think that MBAs from abroad (not US) are better at problem-solving in emerging markets? How have you seen this?

Collins: “I would argue that it matters less which country people come from and more how their aspirations and personalities have been shaped by their upbringing when it comes to their approach to problem solving. People from developing nations are far more open minded to new ways of living and doing business as they have seen how ephemeral prosperity can be in a rapidly changing world. Hence, an a American hungry for change and inspiration will easily be the match of any citizen of Latin America or Asia who has been brought up with a sense of entitlement from a privileged background. The reverse applies equally in my view. What you learn from attending a global business school is that your nation of origin does not determine your personal hunger for a challenge. If you have been formed by experiences that teach you to stay agile, whether you are from a poor neighborhood in inner-city America or a recently emancipated region of the developing world, it’s your open mindedness to a better future that determines your creativity and drive to see and solve problems, to make the word a better place.”

– Alanna Stage, @alannatweets

Related

Part 1 of OnlineMBA’s Q&A with Michael Collins

Though it is a master’s program offered through the school’s Collins College of Business, it is not an MBA. The master’s takes a niche approach to the business of energy.

According to a Feb. 2 story in the Tulsa World, many of the students will be young engineers or geologists hoping to advance in their fields in the long-run, but not necessarily looking for or counting on an immediate promotion. The World reports that while the program plans to admit 25-35 applicants this year, it has garnered national and international interest already from nearly 75 people.

The program website states the master’s program lasts two years, with 10 required courses and two electives, making up 34 hours with no thesis.

Students can focus in energy law, energy finance, or strategic energy operations management. While the bulk of the courses focus on oil and gas, sustainable energy and the business of renewable energy and alternative fuels will also be addressed. Students can elect to take courses in oil and gas law, commodities trading, international petroleum transactions, and the future of energy in 2030.

The GMAT or GRE examination is required for admission, and students should have a minimum of two years of work experience. The cost per credit hour is estimated at $1,000, but the program web site advises potential students to plan for a total program cost of $37,000.

– Anna Schumann

A spokesperson for the school told  the Financial Times that the new EMBA test would “retain the relevant questions on quantitative and verbal reasoning skills found in the GMAT, but discard some of the more complex and esoteric mathematical and language questions.”

Michael Collins, Prep Zone’s cofounder, is a 2006 graduate of INSEAD’s MBA program in Singapore, discussed the exam with OnlineMBA.com via email from Singapore.

Q: In the Financial Times article, you say the test was formulated in response to the intense nature of the EMBA program. What things in particular?

Collins: “Well, let’s recall our slogan “I focus on what matters to maximize my potential”. MBA programs (Executive or full time) benefit from efficient class participation when discussing topics. Zoning in on the relevant material in a case means that the communication and learning process develops faster in the classroom. Modern MBA classrooms are for discussion rather than lectures. Hence, to prepare people for this environment, we developed a test that would evaluate people’s approach to managing logical, informative, and quantitative data from many different sources, understanding its relevance and being able to communicate their point succinctly.”

Q: What areas did you feel needed to be tested that weren’t adequately being tested by the GMAT?

Collins: “Communication was a key area. The old GMAT exam format had a 2-essay section (the new one retains one essay) that had become formulaic and hence a poor evaluator of class participation or communication skills, and it was recognized by several business schools that we had dealt with that the score for the hour-long 2-essay format was not a significant part of their evaluation of the candidate, So we removed the essay part, and introduced a case study presentation that would indicate not only the candidate’s ability to review and analyze a situation, but to offer a unique and cogent analysis.

“We also felt that the ability of candidates to handle many sources of quantitative data as part of a big picture business scenario was not being tested, the quantitative problems were very short in nature. Hence we developed the data Interpretation section, with mini case scenarios that measure quantitative fluency when reviewing a wider picture.”

Q: Tell me more about the case presentation portion? How is that facilitated?

Collins: “We love the case presentation! All the cases developed are rooted on real-world scenarios that businesses, through their management, faced. The case is delivered to the candidate to review and prepare slides based on some simple questions around the scenario. The candidate should identify what “matters” in the scenario and identify as an objective observer areas that the management needs to focus on that require action. Then, the candidate is asked to come up with new creative ideas to improve the scenario. Guidelines are created by the case creators (i.e. us) for the panel that review the presentation, and the candidate is evaluated based on how they analyze, and communicate their analysis and ideas.”

Q: By removing the writing portion, do you feel you are sending a message to EMBA students?

Collins: “We are not removing writing per se – the case presentation involves writing. Note that the GMAT does not communicate any analysis of the writing skills to the admissions team, it just gives a number. And we have proven beyond doubt that a formulaic approach to AWA writing delivers top marks consistently. Whereas the case presentation requires the candidate to communicate original ideas to other people for discussion and clarification, an excellent use of writing in the EMBA program. The EMBA program tests English proficiency through TOEFL scores or analysis educational record.”

Tomorrow: Collins discusses the growth of the MBA market in Asia.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Michael Collins was a graduate of the INSEAD EMBA program. He is a graduate of the INSEAD MBA program.

– Alanna Stage, @alannatweets

Meditation has been shown to produce a wide range of mental benefits when practiced on a daily basis. Studies have shown that it can actually change how the brain processes information and manages the effects of stress, depression, and anxiety. Those who practice meditation, research has demonstrated, are happier and calmer than their counterparts who don’t, so it’s no surprise that many high-stress businesses are catching on and making meditation a part of their corporate mission. Read on to learn about some of the companies that are leading the way in promoting on-the-job meditation.

1. Apple

   It should come as no surprise to those who know a bit about the life of Steve Jobs that meditation has long been promoted at Apple. Jobs often took part in meditation retreats, was married in a Zen ceremony, and maintained lifelong friendships with many monks. Some speculate that the mental control he gained from meditation was what helped him become so successful in creating new, innovative products for Apple. Whatever it was, Jobs wanted to pass on his love of meditation to others in the workplace, allowing employees of the tech giant to take 30 minutes each day to meditate at work, providing classes on meditation and yoga on-site, and offering the use of a meditation room.

2. Prentice Hall Publishing

   The publishing world can be a tough place to make a living, but this publishing company is trying to give workers a chance to shake off their stress and refocus while at work through meditation. Prentice Hall has created a meditation space in their corporate headquarters, which they call the “Quiet Room.” Employees can take a break and slip into the space for meditation, prayer, or just a moment of quiet reflection when they’re feeling particularly stressed out.

3. Google

   Even when you’re working at a company that offers unbelievable benefits like Google, things can get a bit stressful on the job. One of Google’s original software engineers and now head of personal growth (how cool is that job?), Chade-Meng Tan, has been working hard to bring meditation into the workplace. Tan spearheaded a program at Google in 2007 called “Search Inside Yourself” which helped more than 500 employees learn how to breathe mindfully, listen to their coworkers, and even improve their emotional intelligence. On a regular basis, the company also offers meditation space and meditation courses, believing that meditation can help improve not only employee mental health and well-being but the company’s bottom line as well.

4. Nike

   Nike’s motto “just do it” applies to meditation as well, it seems. The company is one of many big businesses incorporating meditation practice into their workplace. Employees of the athletic apparel giant have access to relaxation rooms, which they can use to take a nap, pray, or of course meditate. In addition to these quiet rooms, employees can also take part in meditation and yoga classes without ever having to leave the office.

5. AOL Time Warner

   In 2000, AOL Time Warner reduced its sales and marketing staff from 850 to just 500 people, leaving employees to shoulder a lot more work with a lot less help. In order to help employees deal with the stress of their new longer and busier days, the corporation added meditation classes into the work day. Workers could slip away from what, at the time, were 12 hour days into a class or a quiet room to help refocus, relax, and refresh themselves before getting back to their long days.

6. McKinsey & Co.

   Management and consulting firm McKinsey & Co. might be a strange place to find meditation happening, but the company is embracing meditation as part of a new HR strategy aimed at keeping employees happy and healthy. McKinsey partner and meditation aficionado Michael Rennie says, “What’s good for the spirit is good for the bottom line,” and the company is taking that to heart, developing meditation and self-analysis programs not only for their own employees but for other multi-million dollar corporations as well. In one case, a meditation program developed by McKinsey for an Australian client saved the business more than $20 million.

7. Yahoo!

   Yahoo! is another tech company that is doing what it can to reduce employee stress while at work. Employees of Yahoo! can take advantage of meditation rooms or engage with others who share their interests in a more mindful work day by taking free classes offered on-site.

8. Deutsche Bank

   A global banking and financial services company, Deutsche Bank has undoubtedly had a few rough years due to the global economic crisis, but employees may be getting a bit of stress relief just by walking through the doors of their workplace. Deutsche Bank is yet another multinational business getting behind the meditation-in-the-workplace trend. Despite the fact that the company may seem too traditional to embrace such a progressive policy, they’ve been offering meditation classes and quiet spaces on site for several years, hoping that it will help to reduce worker stress and lead to more level-headed thinking.

9. Procter & Gamble

   P&G’s CEO A.G. Lafley is dedicated to his own meditation practice and thinks it has a lot to offer employees as well. He has said, “You can not out-work a problem, you have to out-meditation it.” The company offers a wealth of health and fitness programs that include meditation classes and spaces in their major corporate buildings.

10. HBO

    While the programs HBO produces might turn viewers into couch potatoes, it doesn’t promote the same attitude in its employees. Instead, it offers a wealth of resources to help them stay healthy both mentally and physically, with gyms, free yoga classes, and meditation classes offered in the workplace. Perhaps the promotion of forms of mindful exercise and meditation helped inspire their new hit show Enlightened.

The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) awarded accreditation to the for-profit school’s undergraduate Bachelor of Science in business administration, the Master of Business Administration and the Ph.D in management programs.

In a press release, Dr. William Schultz III said, “With this announcement, all four of the largest programs in our school of management are now ACBSP-accredited. This accreditation is a reflection of our continuing efforts to provide our students with a superior educational experience and reaffirms our commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and scholarship.”

Walden is a fully-online college, offering online MBAs in 14 different specializations. Most students finish the program within a year and half at a cost of $29,930.

Related

ACBSP Signals Expansion With European Office
Accreditation and the Online MBA Student: ACBSP

The female entrepreneurs, hailing from 10 emerging markets such as Indonesia, Tonga, and Uzbekistan will take a mini-MBA “crash course” as part of the Thunderbird for Good program’s collaboration with Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Women initiative.

“There’s a really interesting mixture of people here that are all knotted together because they are globally-minded, very interested in the world, and understand that intersection between business and aspects of sustainability and social implications of business,” said Kellie Kreiser, the program’s executive director and assistant vice president. “That really makes a fertile environment for something like Thunderbird for Good.”

The Goldman Sachs project is just the tip of the iceberg for Thunderbird for Good.

Kreiser’s group heads up seven different programs, many geared toward fostering entrepreneurs in developing markets, especially Peru and the Middle East.

“Our mission here to educate global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide,” said Kreiser, a ’04 Thunderbird grad. “People that come to Thunderbird are just as likely to end up on Wall Street as they are to ending up in Africa working in a non-profit, or starting a social venture, or being an ambassador.

”If we really believe in our mission, we have to accept that global leaders come from everywhere,” she added. “They’re not just MBAs. They’re not just corporations. They are not just people that have the resources to come to a place like Thunderbird. They might not have the same education resources or speak English, but they are just as much a global leader as a MBA is.”

The program’s goal is to provide an educational experience for these such students, many of whom are women.

Project Artemis

T”Project Artemis is a two-week business education program at the Thunderbird home campus, which aims to build the entrepreneurial skills of promising Afghan businesswomen. Mentors assigned to each participant provide additional support for at least two years as the women return home to establish or expand their companies. The project was the brainchild of Ambassador Barbara Barrett (then a trustee of the school).

The program, which launched in 2005, has seen 63 Afghan women participate. There’s also been a second leg of the project started for women from Pakistan. So far, nine women have participated. In total, 128 women from Thunderbird for Good’s Middle Eastern projects have been helped.

“From the beginning it was clear that it was successful,” said Kreiser of the inaugural class of 15 students in 2005. “Not only the women loved and went on to do great things, but the Thunderbird community loved it because it was really wonderful for our students to really understand first-hand what it was like to be an Afghan woman.”

Project Artemis sparked Thunderbird to get involved with projects like the 10,000 Women Goldman Sachs project, which is also a program geared toward educating women in business worldwide. Goldman Sachs works with business schools around the world for this project, but Thunderbird was one of the first to join the investing group in this venture.

Project Artemis also launched Thunderbird into the strengthening women in Peru project, which sends Thunderbird students to the South American country to act as business consultants to female entrepreneurs, and the Jordan Partnership, a program run in alliance with Business Development Center (BDC) in Jordan, which is focused on business growth for the economic and social benefit for the country.

Online Learning’s role in emerging markets

“The online component is critical, and it’s only becoming more critical as we grow,” Kreiser said.

For Project Artemis, a large portion of the program is the online mentorship between business students and professionals and the Afghan and Pakistani women.

Thunderbird for Good also works with a company called MicroMentor which connects students and alumni with business owners, all online.

As Kreiser has worked to develop programs, she says many times people in the emerging markets have the capacity for using technology, but just haven’t had the same educational experience to show them the best way integrate or use it in their small businesses. She sees a huge opportunity for growth in this area.

Currently, Thunderbird for Good is developing an online education interface for the wives and female members of communities in Chile and Peru where there’s heavy mining. The online learning software will help the women create business plans.

“When we had that first group of women here from Afghanistan, we gave every woman a laptop, because they really didn’t have any computing power,” said Kreiser. “Many of the women didn’t even know how to turn it on. In 2012, the last group of women we had come from Afghanistan came in with their own laptops and they are facebook-friending us.

“So, I only see the online portion becoming more and more prevalent to this kind of work.”

The next horizon

“Technology is democratizing education,” said Kreiser. “People are able to find the information through these online platforms and level the playing field.”

Kreiser sees the next wave of MBA students not necessary coming from a certain part of the world, but rather from a certain demographic.

“There’s a real ground swell around educating women,” said Kreiser. “There’s an acknowledgement among many emerging markets that they’ll never pull themselves out of poverty and never will be competitive on a global scale if they’re only using half of their resources.”

She also sees a surge in younger students looking to entrepreneurship, finding new, innovative businesses to help their respective country.

“Thunderbird for years and years has been the place where the world comes to study,” said Kreiser of the school’s 65 year history. “I think the world is becoming more Thunderbird-ized, primarily because of technology. These online classrooms are going to continue to shrink the world.”

Thunderbird as named the best international business full-time MBA program in the 2012 Global MBA rankings compiled by the Financial Times.

– Alanna Stage, @alannatweets

This year’s conference will focus on getting local business people to think more internationally.

Last year, the conference brought out 130 students, faculty, and business professionals from the surrounding community to learn about networking globally.

“While the conference has an international focus, it primarily serves our local community. We want to offer opportunities to help people become more globally aware within the region,” said conference director Eric Schwarz, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sport Business and International Tourism through a press release.

During the conference, attendees will have an opportunity to tour the new $12 million School of Business building, which features a sustainable design and state-of-the-art educational technologies.

A representative from the school said there will be no postings or live broadcasts of the International Business on the Saint Leo University website or any other mode of communication, because attendees are required to pay a fee. There may be postings of proceedings of the conference on the web site following the conference, but that is to be determined.

Saint Leo alum Donald Tapia donated $4 million to the project. Tapia, who earned both his undergraduate and MBA online from the University, sits on the board of trustees and the building will be named in his honor.

Saint Leo is regionally accredited by Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate, bachelor’s, master’s and specialist degrees and holds a specialized accreditation from the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), which the school received in September 1999.

– Alanna Stage, @alannatweets