"A recent college graduate armed with a degree in marketing, but no real career direction, Adam Campbell was unsure what he wanted to do with his life. Then he talked to Mary Lee Kerr. Kerr, the MBA program director for the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics, told Campbell that he should consider the College's new MBA program. After doing a little research and a lot of thinking, Campbell decided to follow Kerr's advice and enroll in the intensive, 11-month program.
"I realized I could jumpstart my career and stay in my hometown at the same time," Campbell said.
Campbell's choice paid off. He's now a logistics analyst for Ryder working at Toyota's North American headquarters in northern Kentucky. He credits much of his success to his experience in the MBA program's Project Connect.
Project Connect pairs teams of students with business executives from Lexington and other areas to help students hone their business skills. The teams work on three projects for the business with a focus on new product development, supply chain management and mergers and acquisitions. The teams spend 50—80 hours per person over a 26-week period on each project, working with executives to identify issues and problems, then helping develop solutions. Each project culminates with a presentation to the business executive's management team.
"It's intimidating working with upper-level managers," Campbell said. "But it helped me realize they are real people, too - just a whole lot smarter than me. I gained a lot of experience talking with them and making presentations to them. It made me ask myself how I could mold myself to become like them, because they are obviously successful."
Paul Rooke, executive vice president of Lexmark and president of its Printing Solutions and Services Division, worked with students in the Project Connect program last year and is involved with this year's class as well. His role is to make sure the students are exposed to real-life problems that will help them develop their skills, but also will add value to Lexmark.
"Last year, during our opening discussions with students, some had a very narrow scope of what they wanted to do or could do," Rooke said. "But at the end of the program, that had changed, and they had a much broader view. It was clear that they had gained a lot of confidence."
In addition to Project Connect, UK's MBA program also includes several workshops to help students develop specific skills, such as managing conflict, interviewing, making presentations, and maximizing constructive feedback.
UK is not the only local university that has beefed up its MBA program. Eastern Kentucky University has made some changes as well. Because most of EKU's MBA students are part-time, the program is geared toward those who are employed.
Judy Spain, director of the 40-year-old program, said 86 percent of EKU's MBA students are part-time.
"We really cater to working people and admit students every fall, spring and summer," she said. "Most of our students are taking only one course a semester."
Recent graduate Mike Samples, 46, of London, is a perfect example. Samples is a small business owner whose sales have grown to $1 million. He wanted to earn an MBA to enhance his business acumen.
"All the classes were good," he said. "I didn't think statistics would be that useful, but it was because I was able to use a statistical forecasting program for my business that was pretty accurate."
Samples said the marketing courses helped him better define and reach his target market.
"I also refined my people management skills," Samples said. "Most of what I'd learned was in the Navy and that needed to be toned down a little."
In addition to making some changes in course descriptions and titles, EKU is adding to its program two new options, which are in the final stages of approval. The first is an accounting option that combines the core MBA courses along with nine hours of advanced accounting classes. The other new option is a unique blend of public relations, marketing and corporate communications.
This option focuses on individuals who are interested in areas such as, corporate communications, crisis communications, marketing, sports marketing or non-profit administration. When the option is approved, Eastern Kentucky University will be the only university in the country to offer such a degree, Spain said.
She also touts EKU's affordability and its accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is granted to only 10 percent of all business schools.
"Our discipline-specific professors also have real world experience, and we don't use graduate assistants," Spain said. "Our classes are small - no more than 25 students per class - because we want to get to know our students."
Spain said she sees no competition among Kentucky universities for MBA students because all the programs offer something unique.
"There's an MBA program out there that is appropriate for all lifestyles," she said. "With multiple options and areas of concentration, it depends on where an individual is in life and determining what suits him or her best."
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