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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Professionals can earn master's degree credit with expanded Kelley School Executive Degree Programs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 21, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Kelley School of Business is expanding its credit-bearing certificate programs for executives worldwide while continuing to offer a top-quality experience that is applicable to the needs of the marketplace.

Executive Degree Programs offers graduate degrees and nearly a dozen credit-bearing graduate certificates in business analytics, enterprise resource planning, information technology service management, project management and other topics.

The program is building on previous successes in creating customized offerings for employees at major firms worldwide. Clients include General Motors, Ingersoll-Rand, John Deere, United Technologies Corp., Cognizant, Cummins Engine Co. and China International Marine Containers Group.

Executive Degree Programs also collaborates with international partner schools such as Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow and corporations in India offering graduate certificates in key topics. In addition, Executive Degree Programs partners with Sungkyunkwan University in Korea to provide the innovative EMBA -- the MBA for Global Executives -- which complements other residential and online graduate degree offerings at Kelley.

Dean Idalene Kesner said the new offerings by Executive Degree Programs enable the Kelley School to provide students at every level in their careers with a graduate education that makes them attractive to present and possible future employers.

"Anyone who is serious about business will tell you that you should never stop learning," Kesner said. "There are always new challenges. Executive Degree Programs allows professionals to refresh and expand their business education in a personal and tailored way. We're fortunate to be able to tap our extensive network of academic experts, corporate partners and global education partners to develop the most relevant and in-demand courses."

Executive Degree Programs serves students who aren't enrolled in its residential, part-time or online MBA programs.

"Executive Degree Programs has a focus that brings to bear our student body and partners who are more global in nature," said Richard Magjuka, faculty chair of corporate and executive degree programs at Kelley and an associate professor of business administration. "Because our student base is expected to be more senior and further along in their career development, we place even greater emphasis on executive coaching, executive development and human resources ... both within the curriculum and personally for students."

"Companies seek leaders within the organization," added Usha Venkataramanan, director of Executive Degree Programs. "When students come to our programs, they are already at a senior level, but then they use the courses to be seen very differently by those who will make decisions about their advancement at their firms."

Thus, input has been sought from the highest level of senior management at partner companies to ensure that the courses will meet their particular needs. Whenever possible, students are required to complete a Capstone project that raises their visibility within their companies and provides those firms with something of tangible value.

"Unlike other programs in the Kelley School of Business, we have a specific mandate to deliver our program in any blend of face-to-face or online instruction that makes the most sense for the client," Magjuka said. "We vary from zero to 100 percent, and no other program has that as a mandate to meet the needs of our students and their employers."

The same faculty who teach at Kelley's nationally ranked Kelley Direct Online MBA program and its residential MBA program do the majority of the teaching in Executive Degree Programs.

Today, about 800 students are enrolled in Executive Degree Programs, but that number also is expected to increase with a planned increase in general enrollment in the certificate offerings, beyond those at partner firms.

Magjuka said the great interest in the various certificate programs from corporate clients led the school to recognize that a larger demand exists on topics such as business analytics, marketing management and enterprise resource planning.

"Our approach has changed because we recognized that in the marketplace employees need more focused, concentrated courses of study that are intended to directly improve their skill and knowledge levels in critical areas," Magjuka said.

"We no longer think of certificates as providing general business fundamentals, which is how it used to be," he added. "We feel it is important to focus on where the greatest changes are taking place in the knowledge landscape."

An important new element of Executive Degree Programs is that classes in its certificate programs and its EMBA will be intertwined. Based on their performance while completing coursework for the certificate program, students may be able to apply their credits toward an EMBA and Master of Science in Information Systems graduate degree programs, subject to meeting the admission requirements.

Students enrolled in both the certificate and EMBA programs are required to have an undergraduate degree.

More information about Executive Degree Programs is available by calling 812-856-5366.

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