School of Business
University of Bridgeport
Admissions Presentation
Robert Gilmore, Ph.D.
Associate Dean
School of Business
Why Come to the UB School of Business?
--- At First Glance
• Curriculum Innovation
• Small Classes? How small are competitor classes?
• Students Work Closely with Professors
• Faculty have both professional experience and
academic credentials
• Students study in an international environment
Location Advantages
Particularly important for Finance, Accounting and Financial Services
Concentrations
Industry in Connecticut and New York!
e.g., Finance Industry
– Close to Stamford, CT --- Financial Services
– Close to Hartford, CT --- Insurance
– One Hour from New York City
Accreditation
•Licensed and accredited by the
State of Connecticut Department of Higher
Education
•Accredited by the New England Association
of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).
•Professionally accredited by the Association
of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs
Overview of Graduate Business Programs
• Graduate Program
– Master of Business Administration
– 12 Concentrations
• Curriculum and Pedagogical Innovations
Master of Business Administration
(M.B.A.) Program
• Program Description
• Admission Requirements
• What Is Special?
• Why Come to the University of Bridgeport?
Program Description
24 Credits --- Core Courses (May be waived)
30 Credits --- Required (Program Required Course,
Concentration Required and Elective Courses, and Capstone
Courses)
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54 Credits --- Completed typically in
3 semesters (18 months) to
6 semesters (3 years if student takes
9 credits a semester)
One Year (2 semesters possible – 30 Credits)
MBA Admission Requirements and Scholarships
• Bachelor Degree
• 950 = GMAT + (200*G.P.A.)
• GMAT (May be waived) --- 3.3 GPA, 3+years professional
experience
• TOEFL Minimum (550 Paper, 80 Internet)*
– *Take English Language Courses at UB if TOEFL is below 600
• Scholarships up to $5,000 depending on qualifications
1350 = $5,000,
1275 = $4000,
1200 = $3,000
Seamless Transfer to MBA
from Undergraduate
• Students who complete a UB undergraduate
degree with B or better in undergraduate
equivalent courses can waive the 8 Core
courses.
• They will only have to complete 30 credits.
MBA Curriculum – 4 C’s
– Core
– Concentrations
– Capstone
– Competencies
Core and Required
Core Courses --- Foundation and Breadth
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Accounting
Finance
Economics
Business Law
Management
Marketing
Statistics
Information Systems
Business Research (required)
Concentrations
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Accounting
Finance
Information Systems and Knowledge Management
International Business
Human Resource Management
Management
Marketing
Operations
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
General Business
• Financial Services
• Specialized Business
Innovation (Curriculum)
Financial Services
• Intended for those who need an understanding of
different financial services organizations
(e.g., Investment and Commercial Banking, Securities,
Real Estate, Insurance, and Financial Planning)
• Often Back Office managers need this knowledge
as financial services firms are integrated across
the financial services areas
Finance Compared to Financial Services
Financial Services
Finance
• Required
Required
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International Finance
Financial Derivatives and Risk Management
Investment Analysis
Managerial and Cost Accounting
Financial Derivatives and Risk Management
Money and Banking
Global Financial Services Regulation
Cases in Finance
• Electives
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FIN 760
FIN 762
FIN 764
FIN 767
FIN 768
Cases in Finance
Electives
Investment Banking
Insurance
Commercial Banking
Real Estate
Financial Planning
Advanced Financial Management and Policy
Management and Financial Institutions
International Financial Management
Financial Analysis and Modeling
Managerial Economics
Innovation (Curriculum)
Specialized Business
• Intended for those whose career path doesn’t fit into
the standard MBA concentrations
• Students may create their own combination of courses
to fit a particular career
– (e.g., 3 Marketing and 3 Information Systems)
– (e.g., 3 Human Resource Management, 1
Operations, 1 Information Systems)
• Must have approval of Faculty Advisor
Innovation (Curriculum)
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Required Courses
– Small Business and Entrepreneurship course
Creating the Students Real Business
– Small Business Practicum 1
– Small Business Practicum 2
• Electives
– Three courses in any discipline related to the business
that the student wants to pursue
International Business
• International Concentration
• International content Embedded in each course
as relevant to that discipline
• International Student Teams working together
Capstone Experience
Integration and Interdisciplinary
• Courses
– Strategy and Business Policy
– Computerized Business Simulation
– Internship or Applied Thesis
• Integrate their knowledge and skills
– Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing,
Information Systems, Economics, Law, Statistics, Research
• Application of concepts
• Understanding how all business areas work together
Competencies
• Employers want to hire students who can
write, speak, and compute!
• We are Emphasizing and will be Measuring all three
• Coding of Syllabi
– How much writing in each course
– How many oral presentations
– How much computing (math, statistics, computer skills)
• Learning Assessment --- Proposal --- Some assessment we can do
ourselves but some assessment requires financial support
• Because we measure we can control and adjust the amount of
various classroom activities according to learning outcomes
Competencies
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Innovation and Creativity
• Communication Skill within Team
• Organization Ability
Competencies --- Experimental
Can’t Sell this Yet
• Most universities talk about competencies
• We will Emphasize in teaching and Measure !
• Each class with Team Assignments:
– Students will evaluate each other in team context
– and professor will evaluate student in team context
• Cumulative rating across courses
• Students will know their strengths – help to make career
decisions
• Employers will know student strengths – help to make hiring
decisions
Content
• How do we ensure coverage of needed content?
• Courses have complete listing of common material that
all professors teach -- Done for Core courses now!
• List of common material is in the form of exam questions
• Code for application of concepts and skills in advanced
courses
• Exam questions may be used for waiver exams, capstone
examination, and as student study guides.
What we Teach
The I’s in You (Each Student) The 4 C’s of the Curriculum
Integration
Core
Interdisciplinary
Concentrations
International
Capstone
Competencies
Our Learning Goal for Student Success
• College graduates will typically have seven different careers in their
working lifetime. Thus, specific tasks that they are trained to do today
may not be useful tomorrow.
• Adapt and learn how to learn!
• We accomplish this by teaching fundamental skills and core knowledge on
which they can build and basic principles which they can apply to new
situations. We apply these skills and knowledge in advanced courses.
• Students are challenged in the classrooms with the wide variety of
assignments, projects, cases, presentations and exams, thus they learn
how to learn.
• Students are also challenged with working with students from many
different countries. This requires the practice of adaptation.
• Adaptation is also learned through the emphasis on Competencies
Vision for the Future
• Pedagogical Innovation
• International Business Education
• Establish Partnerships with other Universities
• Establish Centers of Excellence
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Center for Global Financial Services
Center for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Center for Retail and Sales Management
Center for Health Care Management
• External Funding Plan
Questions