BcBUsiness.ca march 2018 BCBusiness 49
V
anja Terzic is in a sunny
mood, as you might expect
from someone who escaped
Va ncouver's November
drizzle for Melbourne's blue
skies. The Bosnian-born
University of Toronto mech-
anical engineering graduate
is on a study exchange at
Melbourne Business School
to inish his
MBA from UBC's Sauder
School of Business. When Terzic is done,
he'll take a few weeks to travel around
Australia and India before return-
ing to B.C. to start the next phase
of his career. As lovely as the weather
is down under, his future is what has
him beaming.
Terzic's career started on a path that
aspiring corporate executives have fol-
lowed for decades. Do an undergraduate
degree in an in-demand …eld like engi-
neering. Work your way into manage-
ment roles. Then take a couple of years
o† to earn an
MBA and polish up some
business skills. From there, the C-suite
beckons, perhaps at a bank or a big con-
sulting …rm.
Wingtips and pinstripes aren't on
Terzic's agenda, though. "I've always
wanted to do something to help others,"
he says. "So when I heard about this
opportunity at Sauder to volunteer in
Kenya and teach a course in social entre-
preneurship, I jumped at it." His intern-
ship in Kenya last summer changed
him. He's going to pursue his newfound
passion for social enterprises instead of
chasing a life in corporate management.
Terzic is part of a trend that's reshap-
ing business schools in B.C. and across
Canada: more graduate-level business
students are deciding that the traditional
track through a full-time, two-year
MBA
program to a corporate career doesn't
suit them. They want their degrees to
expose them to and prepare them for a
broader range of challenges. They want
their education tailored to their varied
backgrounds, lifestyles and ambitions.
For some, this means seeking part-
time, distance or Žexible programs to
…t with their work schedules. For oth-
ers, it means pursuing specialized
MBA
programs like the master of technolo'y
at
SFU's Beedie School of Business. For
others still, it means pursuing even more
specialized, non-MBA
business master's
ChArTINg A NEW
C urSE
Across British
Columbia, business
schools are
responding to
changing student
demand with
MBA programs
that cater to a
growing variety
of professional
backgrounds and
career goals
by DEE hoN
2018
MBA
GUIDE
