MARCH 2016 BCBUSINESS 35
SOURCE: GMAC 2015 APPLICATION TRENDS SURVEY
hyper-local. Its Prince Rupert-based Northwestern B.C. EMBA,
launched last fall, aims to fill an education gap in that part of the
province, drawing students from Terrace and Kitimat as well.
"We're really good at cultivating what's in our own backyard,"
says Valerie Zuccolo, manager of Teck graduate programs at
Beedie. "The idea was that this would focus more on the inter-
ests of the people who are living and working up there."
The three-year, part-time
EMBA is delivered in partnership
with Northwestern Community College and offers curriculum
tailored to regional interests, such as resource development,
First Nations organizations, and social and cultural issues
present in small northern communities. Like
SFU's Aboriginal
EMBA, another recently established specialization, the northern
program's entrance requirements place less emphasis on prior
post-secondary education than professional experience. This,
Zuccolo says, helps even the playing field in an area of the prov-
ince where not everyone has the chance to head to university
after high school. "We look more at where they've come from
and what they achieved when they apply."
At other schools, partnerships with specific industries, or
even companies, have been key to formulating new programs.
UBC's Sauder School of Business is working closely with the
mining sector to launch a specialized MBA in the next few years,
while UVic's Gustavson School of Business launched an
MBA this
year specifically for Telus employees.
And then there are the schools whose draw is less "what"
than "how." At Trinity Western University—one of two schools
in Canada to offer an
MBA specialization in nonprofit and chari-
table management—students are attracted to small classes and
business education that comes with a conscience, says Murray
MacTavish, director of
TWU's MBA program. "We come at it from
an intentional, values-based approach. We look at what it is to
do good business and do it well." Although a Christian univer-
sity, MacTavish says students of many faiths have participated
in the program and that the concentration on ethics and val-
ues jibes with a growing sensibility that business should benefit
communities in a holistic sense.
Students are also attracted to the intimate nature of the
TWU
program: each
MBA student sits down with MacTavish to outline
their schedule and goals at the outset, creating a personalized
education plan. "If a student misses a class, I'm emailing them.
You're noticed, you're on the radar," MacTavish says. "We're
attentive to each person's journey." Increasingly, it's a sentiment
that holds true at business schools across the province.
•
OVERALL APPLICATION VOLUME
CHANGE COMPARED WITH 10
YEARS AGO (2005 VS. 2015)
FULL-TIME
TWO-YEAR MBA
PROGRAMS
FULL-TIME
ONE-YEAR MBA
PROGRAMS
60%
53%
29%
34%
11%
13%
○ UP ○ DOWN ○ FLAT
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