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Maple Grove business program commences
A week before classes began here at SCSU, 22 students were already hard at work at the new Maple Grove business program.
One of only two AACSB-accredited programs in the Twin Cities area, the program was created to meet the needs of students who work full-time.
Students in this program have an average of 11 years of full-time work experience, compared to the four or less years of work experience the average SCSU MBA student has.
Students were recruited through an extensive ad campaign that included Star Tribune ads, but the most successful marketing tool was a direct letter that was sent out to 12,000 SCSU alumni in the Twin Cities area.
According to Michael Pesch, program director of the SCSU MBA program, over half of the people in the Maple Grove business program have an SCSU degree.
"We have a very loyal group of alumni from that area."
An added bonus is that the program will be near the Twin Cities area, but it is still outside the downtown portion of the city. Prime location has been a major deciding factor for students who chose to join the program.
Students will meet once a week for eight weeks. The calendar year will consist of five eight-week classes with 12 weeks of break spread out during that time. The program is expected to take 26 months to complete.
According to Pesch, many of the students are trying to balance school, work, and family, so, the schedule the program has created makes that a reasonable feat.
In these times of budget crises, projects such as this usually take a back seat, but due to the generous donation of technology and space at the Data Recognition Corporation headquarters by SCSU alum Russ Hagen, SCSU had no start-up costs. The program is entirely self-supporting, with faculty being paid with tuition revenues.
"He (Hagen) really stepped forward with this extremely generous donation."
Faculty for the program will commute 52 miles from SCSU to teach at the Maple Grove location. The first two professors have been scheduled for fall.
Cost of the program is $550 per credit, a going rate in the Twin Cities market. Total cost will be around $18,000, which is extremely reasonable for the area they are majoring.
The cohort system will be applied to the classes, which means that the students will remain with the same people through the entire program.
The program has space for 25 students, but is working with 22, as three had to drop out due to personal reasons. But Pesch is optimistic that the program will continue to recruit full classes.
Currently, there are plans for a second cohort to begin in March of 2004 and a third to begin next September.
Making this program a reality took the work of many different people.
According to Pesch, a lot of credit goes to SCSU President Roy Saigo, Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Spitzer, SCSU alum Russ Hagen, and Ali Malekzadeh, the former Dean of G.R Herberger College of Business.
MBA info.
Those interested in the program should contact Michael Pesch at (320) 306-3212. The next cohort is tentatively scheduled to begin in March 2004. Other questions about scheduling, problems and concerns will be answered.
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