We recently spoke with Dee Steinle, Executive Director of MBA at the University of Kansas about their Online MBA program.
Congratulations! Your program ranked #12 in the Midwest in our recently published 2019 rankings. What is the latest news with University of Kansas’ online MBA: any upcoming enhancements?
We are adding a capstone course to our curriculum starting in AY 2020. This course will be taught to OLMBAs in the second summer session of their program. We will focus on case-based learning, communication, and well-constructed deliverables. This course will enable us to assess learning outcomes of our core courses.
With 3 areas of concentration (Finance, Marketing, or Management and Leadership) which are most popular and why?
Management is by far the most possible elective area we offer. This stands to reason as our students tend to be experienced and need more training and dialogue about management.
How do students in the online MBA program interact with faculty?
OLMBA students interact with faculty in a variety of ways. As you can imagine, most of our faculty manage discussion boards for their classes. Our faculty are also available to students through email, Skype, and by phone. Many of our students live within driving distance, so they access faculty in person as well. Our online students are always invited and are welcome to participate in School-wide events on campus.
KU emphasizes the faculty and their research. Can you share a short example or highlight of faculty achievement in the program?
Regarding our faculty research highlights, below are a few you can choose from:
- Jill Ellingson, professor of human resource management and Dana Anderson Research Fellow, was recently named a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). The honor recognizes her distinguished contributions to the field, including her research on human resource management, individual differences and employment assessment.
- Suman Mallik, associate professor of operations and supply chain management, was honored with KU’s Byron T. Shutz Award for Excellence in Teaching during the annual KU Teaching Summit in August 2018. Mallik's research interests are in the areas of health care operations management, operations-marketing interface, supply chain management and operational problems in service industries.
- Susan Scholz, associate dean and Porter Faculty Fellow at the KU School of Business, received the 2018 Deloitte Foundation Wildman Medal Award from the American Accounting Association (AAA). Scholz was honored for her paper “Financial Restatement Trends in the United States: 2003-2012,” published by the Center for Audit Quality in 2014.
Do students work as a cohort or in another way?
Our students enter the program in loose cohorts. They start out with the same set of courses. As time goes by, not everyone keeps the same pace. We teach classes with group projects as appropriate. The cohort concept is necessarily “loose” for a population that demands flexibility.
What is unique about the structure of KU’s online MBA program?
Our program structure is unique in that concepts are taught in a very standardized way. We take great pains to make courses consistent with one another.
What companies typically recruit MBAs from your program?
Companies recruit from Full-time MBA programs, not Online MBA programs. I could discuss our Full-Time MBA career services but that is not germane to our Online program. We work with OLMBA students on career goals as needed and in a way that caters to their specific needs. Since most of them are working, they are doing an online MBA to enhance their existing careers.
What advice would you give a prospective candidate for your online MBA program?
I recommend that prospective students truly understand why they want/need an MBA. Having a clear reason for the credential will guide their process.
Why should a prospective MBA candidate choose University of Kansas?
Prospective MBAs choose The University of Kansas Online MBA because they get excellent value for their money. We have an outstanding brand. Most importantly, they will master business concepts and be ready to take those tools to work on day one.
Tell us about the career services and professional resources that are offered to online MBA degree candidates?
As mentioned above, we include OLMBAs in all school activities. They are welcome to be as involved as they wish. Career Services help is available to OLMBAs. Students are accommodated by our Business Career Services Center located on main campus. We serve students individual career needs.
What type of student typically enrolls in the KU’s online MBA program?
Students who enrolled in our OLMBA tend to be individuals with quality work experience who realize that an MBA will be a valuable credential in their career progression. Our students recognize the value of the KU brand.
Thanks to Dee Steinle for participating. For more interviews, check out our Online MBA Report Interview Series
