52 BCBusiness march 2018 kayla hUghes
University of Northern
British Columbia
OFFERING: Weekend mbA for
full-time workers
TARGET MARkET: Working pro-
fessionals looking for flexible,
in-class learning
kevin stewart was a senior it
manager for
UnBc when he thought
about applying for a promotion. "i
was told, 'don't bother. you don't
have a degree,'" he recalls. stewart
decided to pursue an
mBa, and lo
and behold, he found his employer
was his best fit.
UnBc's mBa program is a tale
of two cities. the school offers a
21-month weekend format at its main
campus in prince george and at
langara college in vancouver.
classes are held one weekend per
month with two additional one-week
sessions, giving students freedom to
continue full-time jobs.
the program emphasizes face-
to-face learning rather than online
course delivery, although students
collaborate remotely or face-to-face
between classes.
for stewart,
UnBc's location was
ideal, but he was most attracted to
the schedule and wanted to learn
in-person. "i really found that a
huge portion of the learning is not
just in the coursework but in some
of the conversations you're having
with your peers," he says. since
graduating, stewart has left
UnBc
to become program manager of busi-
ness technology at British columbia
lottery corp.
Jc Boutros was a vancouver-
based vice-president for pacific
canada for cleanmark group inc.–a
provider of cleaning services for busi-
nesses, hospitals and schools–when
he chose
UnBc's vancouver program
for similar reasons: a convenient
location and schedule, and real
human interaction. "the main thing
about
mBa programs is working in
groups, growing that network and
having that real, one-on-one time
with an instructor," says Boutros,
now a senior director for cleanmark.
UnBc's vancouver and prince
george classes aren't exactly alike.
"We do see a different population
between the two cohorts," says
cheryl Wallace,
UnBc's mBa direc-
tor. the vancouver students tend to
be in their 30s and have technology
or finance backgrounds, whereas the
prince george students are typically
in their 40s and have forestry or oil-
and-gas experience.
wORK IT OUT
uNbC MbA director
Cheryl Wallace ensures
that the program caters
to working professionals
