The MBA Program Reimagined

The new MBA curriculum at the Erivan K. Haub School of Business is all about allowing students to choose the unique combination of specializations that fit their current job and career goals. The curriculum focuses on speed-to-degree, an emphasis on ethics and sustainability that has always made a Haub MBA stand out, and flexibility through stackable “microcredentials” that allow students to continually show their progress. “We were looking to create a transformational new MBA model that would allow students to create a program to enhance their careers and their capabilities, as well as provide value to their employers,” says Dean Joseph A. DiAngelo, Ed.D. ’70.

The new curriculum was created by a cross-functional team of current and former students, alumni, administrators and representatives from each academic department. One data point that was key to the development of the program is companies’ reticence across the board to pay for employees to pursue their MBAs, a trend that began with the 2007-2009 recession and has remained despite a competitive labor market. Just 49% of respondents to a 2018 Society for Human ResourceManagement survey said their employers offer graduate educational assistance, down from 61% in 2008.

Haub’s new MBA model, which can be completed entirely online, makes the case for employers to upskill their workforce through a stackable model of three certificates — a core certificate with foundational courses in management, finance, accounting and marketing, and then two specialty certifications of the student’s choice: marketing, finance, data analytics, data management, data science, leadership, real estate, accounting or human resources management.

The new structure also responded to student feedback expressing a desire to earn microcredentials or to get regular reinforcement along the way to earning an MBA, says Nicolle Clements, Ph.D., associate professor of decision and system sciences and a member of the task force. “Students didn’t want to wait two years to be able to update their credentials on their LinkedIn profile or to tell their manager they had achieved mastery in a subject,” Clements says. “This curriculum allows them to earn a certificate to show what they’ve learned throughout their time in the program.” Another change aimed at increasing speed-to-degree is that students without undergraduate degrees in business, who would have previously needed to take several foundational courses in a traditional format, can now do them asynchronously at their own pace and at a fraction of the cost. The curriculum also reduces the number of required credits to 36, creating a faster and more affordable path to a degree.

Saint Joseph’s Jesuit mission will continue to be at the heart of the program. The stackable MBA will allow for training and resources from the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Center for Business Ethics to faculty incorporating ethics content into the MBA.