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Online MBA program offered by Kelley School of Business at IU
June 1, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Only a few seats remain in the first publicly offered class of an online, two-year MBA program developed by Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. The application deadline for the class is June 15.
Developed last fall with corporate members of the school's Kelley Executive Partners consortium, which included Cinergy, Federal Express and Rolls Royce, the Kelley Direct online program previously was available only to the companies' employees.
The Kelley School decided to "go public" in August with the 2002 class, making Kelley Direct one of the first online Master of Business Administration programs available from a top-ranked business school.
"This program was developed to satisfy a critical need in the distance learning marketplace," said Dan Dalton, dean of the Kelley School, adding that IU is committed to developing the online program with a "level of quality and rigor that is consistent with the university's reputation while providing worthy students who have full-time careers and families the opportunity to earn an MBA."
Toward this goal, the school collaborated with a select group of executive education clients to successfully launch a pilot offering last August.
"Our students already have achieved considerable success in their careers," said Richard J. Magjuka, associate professor of business administration and chairman of Kelley Direct, the school's new distance education department. "When considering an MBA program, they tend to shy away from full-time, residential programs. Work schedules have made it increasingly difficult for students to commit to be at the same location for 16 weeks in a row, which is the length of a typical semester."
The 48-credit-hour program is centered around Web-based courses and one week of residential experience at the start of each academic year. Students will access a variety of materials directly from the Web, including text, audio and video presentations, and virtual tours. An e-mail directory, online bulletin boards and online chats are standard features, along with traditional MBA course materials such as textbooks and business case readings.
Faculty who teach in the online MBA program include many that also teach in the Kelley School's well regarded full-time and half-time MBA programs, and are renowned for their teaching, research and consulting expertise. Class sizes will be kept small to foster thorough discussion between students and faculty on business theories and applications.
"I have been very impressed with the technology and the faculty. The tools and computer staff are exceptional, and the professors are totally committed. The program is demanding, but with the flexibility that allows me to balance my work and home schedule," said current student John Shade, an executive with Rolls-Royce.
A unique feature of the Kelley Direct program will be its use of a customized, Web-based learning tool, developed by the school, that integrates MBA program content into an imaginative computer environment.
"Over the years, employers have requested the school to develop 'company cohorts' of students who enroll in an MBA program at the same time," Magjuka said. "However, a key issue often emerges when companies realize that it is difficult for one office in a company to employ an adequate number of potential students who could be admitted to a high-quality MBA program each year.
"The Kelley Direct Online MBA program now allows the school to explore arrangements with companies who wish to develop their own cohort, by allowing companies to attract employees globally for their cohort," Magjuka said, adding that the school has been asked to establish student cohorts for companies with operations in Korea and China.
More details are available at the Kelley Direct Web site at http://mbaonline.indiana.edu or by calling 317-278-1566.
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)