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Business Administration Master

This master’s degree program offers professional business leadership education based on a foundation of integrity, accountability, rigor, community, diversity, and service. The MBA Program is highly student-centered, career-relevant and strategically focused on the practice of managerial leadership. The Program is distinguished by its cutting edge curriculum that recognizes that organizational leaders do not deal with a single issue in an isolated, sequential and orderly fashion. Rather, managers deal with a multitude of issues simultaneously, in pieces, in an incomplete and erratic order. The Core Curriculum encompasses 4 academically rigorous semesters of theme-based modules. For those who were not undergraduate business majors, an additional semester of “Foundations” courses are required prior to commencing the Core Curriculum. Modules are presented in a sequential manner based on the expectation that students will proceed through the curriculum as a group or cohort.

Mount Saint Mary’s University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges .

MBA Admission Requirements

  • Completion of a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university
  • A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester units, or last 90 quarter units.
  • Complete Application
  • Application Essay
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Entrance interview with an advisor
  • On-site writing sample may be required
  • Three years of full-time professional experience preferred

MBA Foundations Courses

The following “Foundations” Courses must be completed prior to the start of Core Curriculum Modules. If they have been successfully completed by the student in his or her undergraduate academic work, they will be waived. They will be available to MBA students on an accelerated basis during the semester preceding commencement of the Core Curriculum Modules:

  • One semester of Economics (micro or macro—lower or upper division)
  • One semester of Accounting (lower or upper division)
  • One semester of Finance (upper division)
  • One semester of Management/Organizational Behavior (upper division)
  • One semester of Marketing (upper division)

MBA Financial Arrangements

Students are responsible for the financing of their education. Information and assistance is available and should be directly requested from the Office of Student Financing. For tuition and fees for the MBA Program, see the tuition expense section at the beginning of this catalog or visit the University Website at www.msmu.edu. Students who return from a leave of absence from the program will be subject to applicable current tuition rates upon their return.

MBA Program Requirements

The program offers the student a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. As such, each student must comply with “Academic Policies for Graduate Division” (see Academic Policies for Graduate Division) These policies include, among others, Grading Policies (see Grading Policies), Academic Probation (see Academic Probation), and Academic Dismissal (see Academic Dismissal).

If a student receives a letter grade of D or F in a course module, he or she may retake the course as a Directed Study (BUS 239) during the next semester at the prevailing per unit graduate rate. If the grade is improved to C- or higher, and the student remains in satisfactory academic standing, the student may proceed with his or her cohort. One repetition of a course is permitted. A student who receives a grade of D or F in more than 2 modules during a semester will not be allowed to proceed with his or her cohort and, further, will not be able to complete the courses as Directed Studies. Instead, he or she will need to join the next cohort in order to repeat these courses at additional prevailing tuition costs and fees. In order to graduate with an MBA, the student must successfully complete all modules of the curriculum.

Professional behavior is expected from MSMU students at all time. Students must abide by the ethical standards of the MBA Program, the Business Administration Department, the University both on campus and while working off campus on the Capstone Project or other assignment(s). The student, both as an MBA student and as a representative of Mount Saint Mary’s University, will consistently maintain the highest standards of honesty, integrity and service. If the expectations of the University or the MBA Program are not met, the student is subject to dismissal from the program.

MBA Curriculum: Design

The Program is organized around three broad general themes that effectively integrate business disciplines to give the organizational leader an effective set of tools to successfully and strategically manage the enterprise. These themes fall into 3 categories and are explored during the first three semesters of the Core Curriculum:

First Semester: Setting the Stage – External Global Business Environment . During the first semester attention is directed to analyzing and interpreting what is happening in the external environment, and how these conditions may subsequently impact the organization.

Second Semester: Designing the Organization’s Future – Internal Strategy. During the second semester, students asses the organization’s internal capabilities in order to successfully leverage them to obtain sustainable strategic advantage in the turbulent business environment.

Third Semester: Making it Happen – Implementation of Strategy, Travel/Study . In the third semester attention is on implementing the organization’s strategic plan. During this semester, the student will broaden his or her perspective by participating in an international travel study program. Because organizational leaders in the 21st century need to think globally, the MSMU MBA immerses the cohort in an international market as a complement to the study in the third semester. For example, the student might have the opportunity to examine global competition in a 9-day guided exploration of China.

The Fourth Semester of the Program is hands-on, practicum based

Fourth Semester: Concentration and Final Project . In the last semester, students utilize the knowledge they have gained in interpreting the signals of the external environment, developing solution-based approaches to problems and creating a fertile environment for positive and constructive change, and will focus on a concentration.

The three concentrations are:

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Project Management

Culminating Project

The Culminating Project clearly demonstrates students' achievement of the MBA learning outcomes from the prior modules and theme based semesters. This semester, the integrated curricular topics of critical thinking, global business, ethics, communication skills, entrepreneurship and strategic planning are applied to a real world, real time project. The student's performance on the Capstone Project is evaluated by his or her Peers, the Faculty Advisor, and the Project Site Leader (the student's or team member's employer or an outside corporate sponsor). These evaluations provide the forum for assessment of the students' ability to translate classroom theory to real world issues and to demonstrate their skill in working effectively in a collaborative, team environment. A grade of B or better is required for satisfactory completion of the Capstone Project.

Semester 4 Theme: Concentration and Capstone Project

(9 credit hours)

The student will select five units in his or her concentration area and will additionally complete a three unit final team culminating project which will emphasize the application of the tools learned to achieve organizational goals. The selected organization can be the student’s employer, an employer of one of the student’s team members, or an outside corporate sponsor. A one-unit course in Consulting helps students prepare for the final project.

Concentration

In the last semester, having gained knowledge in interpreting the signals of the external environment, developing solution-based approaches to identified/identifiable problems and creating a fertile environment for positive and constructive change, the student will focus on a concentration. The concentrations are:

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Project Management