UConn Today – The School of Business is making significant changes to one of its undergraduate programs, modernizing it to increase the emphasis on data analytics and creating a more direct pipeline to employment.
Beginning in the Fall, the Management Information Systems (MIS) program will become Analytics and Information Management (AIM). The new major will offer four concentrations: Business Intelligence, Application Development, IT Security, and Supply Chain Management.
There is a narrative around higher education that it is ossified and unchanging. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the UConn School of Business is testimony to the dynamic nature of higher education. Today I am excited to share several major changes in our programs. The biggest is the realignment of our MBA programs.
Specifically, we are reducing the number of required credit hours by 25% to better align our offerings with our competitors. We are also eliminating the requirement that students must complete a concentration. Taken together, these changes give our students greater control over what they study, and allow them to tailor their program to knowledge required for their chosen career path. These changes give more decision making and autonomy to our students and reduce mandatory requirements of the degree programs.
Historically, concentrations were deep learning in core areas such as finance, accounting, management, marketing, or management information. Today the world is changing, and aspiring professionals seek targeted knowledge and more diverse opportunities. Rather than a deep-dive concentration in finance, they may seek some data analytics and some project management. Our revised curriculum opens these doors to allow students to design the program of study that they seek, and their employer may prefer.
The core curriculum is little changed. The total credit hours are reduced, which shortens the time to degree and the program’s cost. The reduced electives allow students to tailor their education to their needs. As work lives grow longer and the pace of change accelerates, we expect the notion of life-long learning to grow apace. Young professionals and their employers will look for periodic enhancement of their skills and knowledge. UConn will stand ready to provide shorter updates on important topics in the form of certificates, badges, or other affirmations of additional knowledge.
In the last few years, and especially in response to COVID, we have learned how important flexibility is to our students. In response, we have created a fully online MBA offering. Equally important, we have enabled students to seamlessly combine some courses in the online format and some courses in a face-to-face modality as the demands of their personal and professional lives dictate.
Our admissions professionals are ready to talk with interested candidates about how these changes may affect their plans.
UConn Today – The UConn School of Business announced today that it has revised its MBA program, making it faster, more flexible, and more convenient for graduate students to earn their degrees.
Beginning in Fall 2023, the program will decrease the number of credits required to earn an MBA from 57 to 42. It will also change its concentrations and realign its core courses. The changes allow students to complete the MBA program faster—in just over a year if pursued aggressively—and at a lower cost.
UConn Today – Superstar Taylor Swift may have exceptional musical talent and a legion of devoted fans, but, a UConn scholar argues, it is her nearly flawless business strategy that has fueled her path to superstardom.
“Talent only gets you so far,’’ says Sami Ghaddar, a School of Business professor who specializes in business strategy. “I would say that Taylor Swift is a very savvy businessperson.
“In an industry where rivalry is intense, it requires well thought-out and prudent decisions to reap the rewards that she has. Taylor Swift is a person; but Taylor Swift is also a business.’’
UConn Today – Former Connecticut State Sen. Antonietta “Toni” Boucher ’02 MBA and her husband, Henry “Bud” Boucher, had a lot to celebrate in 2020. They had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and Bud, a management consultant and entrepreneur, had reached his greatest career success. The couple had always wanted to do philanthropic work, and now they would have the financial means to do so.
Imagine using your voice to summon an elevator—or several of them—to take you and your colleagues up to a meeting or asking the elevator for personalized directions to a nearby restaurant that could then be transferred to your cell phone.Continue Reading
UConn Today – The Russian invasion of Ukraine has captured the attention of Americans in ways that few other conflicts have, and created challenges that today’s business students will likely grapple with for the rest of their careers.
That’s the perspective of two leading business-ethics scholars who will be the guest panelists during a Feb. 20 program called “Business, Peace and the War in Ukraine: One Year Later.’’ It is part of the School of Business’ Equity Now speaker series that addresses prominent justice and human rights issues in business.
Professor Robin Coulter, head of the Marketing Department at the School of Business and Voya Financial Fellow, has been named a 2023 American Marketing Association (AMA) Fellow.Continue Reading
An insatiable curiosity, hard work, and a background in business development and planning helped UConn graduate student Olaoluwa ‘Ola’ Ogunseun and his team win a prestigious international competition.
Ogunseun won the U21/PwC Innovation Challenge, which brings together graduate students from 28 universities around the world. The four-month long competition, which ended in December, asked students to examine sustainability in business practices and recommend solutions.Continue Reading