The College of Business will be initiating its new Executive Master’s of Business Administration Program in January, allowing experienced business professionals to earn an MBA in 17 months. Chris Cox, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and Special Projects, said the EMBA program was created to meet the needs of working professionals who are interested in graduate study.
Cox said the new program will attract students who would not have typically chosen Nicholls.
“Most people who will enroll in our EMBA program would not have chosen to go the MBA route and instead would have pursued and EMBA somewhere else,” Cox said. “With the implementation of this program, Nicholls will be reaching students that we would not have reached otherwise.”
Admissions requirements for the EMBA program are similar to the MBA program except prospective students must have at least three, but preferably five, years of business experience, Cox said. Applicants are not required to have an undergraduate degree in business. The EMBA program replaces foundation courses required for the MBA with two weeks of “gateway” seminars to prepare students for graduate work, Cox said.
Cox said he is uncertain about how competitive admissions will be in January. Since there are only 20 seats available per class, admissions will be based on a first-come basis, pending prospective students meet the graduate requirements of the University.
Cox said the faculty members selected to instruct EMBA courses are the college’s “best of the best,” and their selection was based on their business, academic and research experience.
The EMBA program will use a hybrid approach, Cox said.
“Our faculty will be utilizing both the traditional classroom setting and online components, such as Blackboard discussion forums, making it much more convenient for working professionals to continue working while they pursue a graduate degree,” Cox said.
The EMBA is a lock-step program. This means students will start and complete the program together. This will allow the students to get to know each other better and develop deep, meaningful and lasting contacts, Cox said.
Cox said the key difference between the EMBA program and the traditional MBA program is what the students will bring to the classroom.
Classes will be delivered slight differently from the MBA, allowing experienced professionals from various fields to contribute to richer discussions.
The idea to create an EMBA program at Nicholls is not new.
“We wanted to create this program before, but we weren’t sure that we had a large enough market,” Cox said. “After receiving inquiries from the community, we learned that many people were traveling to other universities, UNO, LSU and Tulane, to participate in their EMBA programs.”
Unlike the EMBA programs at other universities, whose classes convene twice a week every other week, Nicholls EMBA classes will meet every other Saturday for eight hours of instruction.
All classes will meet at the Allied Health Building in Houma. Cox said he feels the program’s location will attract a different target audience, and it will be more convenient for people in the region to participate in the program.
