Education/training
Rotman rises to the occasion with its Morning MBA programRise, shine and studyUpwardly mobile business professionals seeking an edge will find it in the world's first MBA offered in the morning. |
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 [ 2007-08-01 ] |
Richard Powers is the assistant dean and executive director of the Morning MBA program offered by the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management.
Offered by the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, the three-year Morning MBA lets students complete most of their core courses on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7 a.m. to 8:59 a.m., with students out the door by 9 a.m.
"We did some research, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. People indicated the reason they hadn't done an MBA yet was that they had commitments during evenings and weren't prepared to give up their weekends," says Richard Powers, assistant dean and executive director of the Morning MBA. "Early morning classes make it easier for people to co-ordinate their schedules with their work and family priorities."
Launching this fall, the program will accommodate 50 students -- but has already received more than twice as many applications. In June, 150 people signed up for a sample class to find out more about the program.
In addition to the morning classes, students also take part in three one-week sessions at various points in their first two years of study. Electives, offered in the second and third year, may be taken in the morning, afternoon or evening, depending on availability.
The program features the same internationally renowned management education curriculum as the school's regular full-time MBA, which has been ranked by the Financial Times as one of North America's top 16 business schools. In the first year, which costs $58,000, students take part in courses such as Managing People in Organizations, Negotiations, Financial Accounting, and Leadership and Ethics. In subsequent years, courses include Operations Management, Managing Customer Value and Global Managerial Perspectives.
A key feature of the Rotman School MBA is an emphasis on what's called "integrative thinking," which enables managers to make effective business decisions that are often fraught with complexity, risk and ambiguity.
"Our trademark integrative thinking gives leaders the ability to look at business issues differently and apply integrative thinking concepts that take a number of variables into account," Powers says.
Students, who typically have employment backgrounds in finance, IT, human resources, marketing and accounting, are part of a class environment that emphasizes teamwork and often leads to network building. Upon graduating, students may turn to the Rotman Corporate Connections Centre to access current career-building resources.
The school's downtown location is just steps from St. George subway station and a few blocks from Bay Street, situating students near the city's financial district.
Ultimately, Powers says, the main draw for students will be the flexibility of working and studying at the same time, in a program format that suits their schedule and needs.
"When you're going to school part time and doing your MBA, there's a considerable job advantage in that you get to apply things you're learning almost right away in your work setting," he says. "Rather than going to school full time for three years, you get to keep your job and the income you're used to, and still learn new skills that you can use immediately in your workplace."
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