34 BCBUSINESS MARCH 2016 NIK WEST
B.C.'s business schools
are responding to this challenge by offer-
ing highly specialized programs and
delivery models—in some cases, almost
bespoke solutions. "Customized and indi-
vidualized education is what we see as the
way forward," says Zoë MacLeod, director
of the Centre for Coaching and Workplace
Innovation at Royal Roads University.
RRU pioneered a blended delivery
model when it began offering
MBAs in
2001, combining online coursework with
in-person residencies that allow students
to work full-time while they study. In
recent years,
RRU has also created exec-
utive-level certificate programs aimed at
cost-conscious students for whom even a
part-time program can be prohibitively
expensive. In 2015, it launched four new graduate certificate
programs in advanced executive coaching, change manage-
ment, workplace innovation, and organizational demand and
development—the same blended model
but on a much shorter six-month timeline.
Increasingly, time is as much of a
consideration as cost for students, says
MacLeod, who notes that in 2015,
RRU
broke its certificate programs apart into
individual courses that run nine weeks.
The benefit of offering courses à la carte
is that it's easier to get employers to chip
in, she says, with students more likely to
get funding for one course than a whole
program. "It's about being flexible but
still ensuring we're offering the topics
that people are interested in." Even for
those who opt for a full
MBA, special-
ization is fast becoming the norm: this
year,
RRU introduced two niche streams,
in European and Asia Pacific markets,
in response to student and industry
demand for international specializations.
SFU's Beedie School of Business has taken quite a different
approach to the question of specialization by focusing on the
INCREASINGLY, TIME IS AS
MUCH OF A CONSIDERATION AS
COST FOR STUDENTS, SAYS
ZOË MACLEOD OF ROYAL ROADS
UNIVERSITY, WHO NOTES THAT
IN 2015, RRU BROKE ITS CERTIFI-
CATE PROGRAMS APART INTO
INDIVIDUAL COURSES THAT
RUN NINE WEEKS—WHICH
ALSO MAKES IT EASIER TO GET
EMPLOYERS TO CHIP IN
○ ○ ○ ○
2016
MBA
guide
CUSTOM-FIT COURSES
Zoë MacLeod, director of the
Centre for Coaching and Work-
place Innovation at Royal Roads
University; Murray MacTavish,
director of TWU's MBA program
