UPDATE | From the Dean
As one incoming student put it, Wisconsin MBA students are finishing their first lap while students in other programs are still in the starting blocks.
This issue of UPDATE brings much good news from the School of Business. Let’s get straight to the major developments:
The beginning of the fall semester is always an exciting time. This fall is even more exhilarating, with the start of our new Wisconsin MBA program. It’s been more than two years in the making, and we couldn’t be more pleased with its launch.
MBA students who entered this fall were greeted with a totally reengineered program. For the first time, all students were divided into three “cohorts” to study and work in teams on a first-year core curriculum covering the key functional areas. The core curriculum constitutes about 70 percent of the first-year experience, with the other 30 percent devoted to each student’s specialization. The emphasis is reversed in the second year, with the bulk of coursework tailored to the specialization.
But it’s not just the curriculum that’s changed. It’s also the kind of student. We’ve worked hard to recruit students with clear career goals in specialized fields. We feel this gives our program a big advantage, since there is no need to devote time and resources to helping students choose a career focus. As one incoming student put it, Wisconsin MBA students are finishing their first lap while students in other programs are still in the starting blocks. Providing this kind of head start was a key goal in revamping the MBA program. Feedback from prospective employers on the new program has been extremely positive and we expect it to result in enhanced placement outcomes for our graduates.
We’re also excited about many best practices we are now able to implement. Incoming MBAs benefit from a year-long Professional Perspectives course that provides a variety of enrichment tools—from practical advice on career development to discussion of topical business issues.
I don’t want to give the impression that the Wisconsin MBA is a done deal. We are learning along with our students what works and what doesn’t. We will continue to fine-tune as we go along.
Still, it’s a remarkable accomplishment to have such a major change in place. All of our constituents helped make this happen: students who shared their experiences; faculty who spent many, many hours deciding how to structure the program; faculty and staff throughout the School of Business who took on the challenge of putting the new design into practice with ingenuity and enthusiasm; and most of all the alumni and other friends who have lent their time and expertise on our many center boards and their considerable financial resources to provide the margin of excellence in our programs.
With the new MBA strategy determined, we can begin to focus on other major opportunities for the School of Business—such as upgrading our already outstanding undergraduate business program and strengthening our commitment to scholarship. We’re already creating new leadership experiences for undergraduates. Our goal is to build a cohesive undergraduate business student community and to help students connect learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. We are confident that we can transfer many of the experiences used to enhance the MBA program to make our stellar undergraduate program even stronger. We must also provide more research support for our faculty to ensure that we maintain our hard-earned reputation for thought leadership. We will bring the same energy and commitment to strengthen these areas as we brought to our new MBA initiative.
I look forward to working with all of you to continue to advance the School of Business.
Michael M. Knetter
Dean