Title: “Advancing Economic Development in Nigeria Through Strengthening
Business Management Education and Technology Competence”
Project Goal
We request funding from the Higher Education for Development (HED), an affiliate of the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for an institutional partnership
between the University of Lagos, Nigeria and Kansas State University and its affiliates to develop a
program that would strengthen the graduate business education in Nigeria with particular reference
to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Lagos in Nigeria. The project
proposes to develop a state-of-the-art graduate business management program that would produce
adequately trained business managers for the Nigerian business environment. The project supports
the USAID/Nigeria strategic objectives to 1) increase demand for quality education and training, 2)
strengthen the administrative and institutional capacity, and 3) build the next generation of Nigerian
business leaders.
The specific goal is to strengthen the UNILAG MBA program and create a model for
transformation that can be transferred to other MBA programs in Africa as shown in Figure 1. The
implication of this goal is that the MBA program must begin a process of both short and long-term
change that will move it from where it is currently to a new level of functioning that is informed by
world-class standards and employer expectations. This goal means there must be a commitment to
work continuously over the next three years to make the UNILAG MBA degree significantly more
competitive and comparable to that of any one else’s in the world. It means the pursuit of
excellence in modern management education where the skills taught are the skills needed.
Project Objective
Six objectives are associated with the project goal. These objectives are: (1) to engage a
senior leadership team in sustainable change management for continuous program improvement; (2)
to assess, redesign, and implement a revised UNILAG MBA curriculum consistent with
international standards and the needs of the private sector; (3) to introduce updated pedagogy,
including the use of technology in instruction to increase teaching effectiveness; (4) to provide
opportunities for faculty development and collaborative applied research; (5) to engage the private
sector in the UNILAG MBA program; and (6) to better prepare students for and link them with
career opportunities.
Change Management
Private Sector Engagement
▪ AACSB Seminar & Conference
▪ Faculty Incentive Grants
▪ Faculty Development Grants
▪ Workshop Presentations
▪ Hampton University Executive
Leadership Summit
Business Curriculum
▪ Re-design of Courses
▪ Innovative Pedagogies
▪ Continuous Improvement
Career Services
Assurance of Learning
▪ Skills-building workshops
▪ Internship Coordination
▪ Career Fair
▪ Placement Tracking
▪ Assessment Plan
▪ Employer Surveys/Focus
Groups
▪ Established Process
Strategic Visioning
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Accountability
Sustainability
▪ Business Advisory Council
▪ Employer Relations
▪ Alumni Seminars
▪ Executive Lecture Series
▪ Distinguished Alumni Award
Faculty Enhancement
Program Components
The six objectives translate into the following program components: (1) Change
Management; (2) Curriculum Development and the Assurance of Student Learning; (3) Innovative
Pedagogies; (4) Faculty Enhancement; (5) Private Sector Engagement; and (6) Career Services. For
convenience, each program component is described below in terms of the
transformational issues to be addressed and component activities, outcomes, and performance
indicators and metrics.
Change Management
Change is difficult for any organization and for African organizations, the challenge may be
even more difficult. Long traditions of doing things a certain way, faculty with long tenures,
autocratic leadership styles, and layers of bureaucracy can all combine to make the process of
change very difficult to manage. Even when people acknowledge the need for change, buying into
and actually facilitating change is easier said than done. On the other hand, without widespread
understanding and support for change, the normal human dynamics of resistance, fear, and inertia
will surface to vigorously reinforce the status quo.
A Change Management Team, composed of senior leadership and major stakeholders of the
UNILAG MBA program, will be created to address:


Institutional change dynamics and the forces that will propel the program forward and those
that will impede the change process.
Clarification and reformation of mission, vision, and core values.

International standards for business management education and the need for curriculum
assessment, re-design, and development.

What private sector employers want in UNILAG MBA graduates.

Incorporation of the project plan into an internally-driven strategic and operational plan for
transformation.
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
The creation and coordination of work groups that correspond to project components.

Admissions standards and procedures.

Faculty hiring projections and procedures to increase the possibility of more diverse hires.

Sustaining the effort in order to achieve both short-term and long-term benefits.
UNILAG faculty and administrators will be helped to take ownership of and lead the process of
change. Needed transformation is not something that can be done for them or to them, only by
them and with them. The efficient functioning of the Change Management Team will contribute to
long-term and sustainable continuous quality improvement.
Component methods will include: (1) a retreat for the MBA faculty at the beginning of each
program year; (2) monthly meetings of the Change Management Team; (3) visits to UNILAG by
relevant American project personnel; (4) mission clarification and strategic planning; (5) work
group formation and coordination (6) attendance at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools
of Business - AACSB International seminar on Strategic Management and the conference on
Continuous Improvement; (7) attendance at the Hampton University Executive Leadership Summit,
and (8) systematic reviews.
Component outcomes will be: (1) an understanding of and commitment to sustained change
management and continuous improvement by a team of academic leaders and stakeholders; (2)
clarification and reformulation of MBA program vision, values, mission, and goals; (3) an updated
strategic management plan; and (4) reformulated plans for the technology infrastructure and access;
admission standards and procedures; and faculty hiring procedures consistent with a commitment to
diversity.
Component metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) retreat schedules and
learning outcomes; (2) retreat participant lists; (3) participant evaluation of the retreats; (4) the
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Change Management Team membership rosters; (5) monthly meeting minutes and the attendance
rosters for the Change Management Team; (6) the membership roster for component work groups;
(7) the revised strategic management and operational plans; (8) revised planning documents and
policy statements on technology, admissions procedures, and faculty hiring; (9) annual component
reports; and (10) year-end reports documenting the accomplishments, challenges, and plans of each
work group for the subsequent year.
Curriculum Development and the Assurance of Student Learning
The work group created here will focus on the disciplinary structure of the curriculum, the
courses in each disciplinary area, the content of these courses, the learning outcomes associated
with each course, and how student learning is assessed.
The UNILAG MBA faculty have an average tenure of 28 years and have been teaching the
same classes the same way for a very long time. In addition, this faculty share a certain perspective.
Most of them are economists who think of business management as applied economics. What is
needed, however, is not only or largely an understanding of economics, but advanced modern
methods for the management of decision-making in complex organizations existing in fast-paced
and ambiguous environments. Moreover, the entire curriculum needs to be evaluated against
international standards and private sector expectations to identify strengths and areas in need of
improvement. This baseline assessment will provide a starting point for curriculum transformation.
Activities will include:

A review of the disciplinary structure of the curriculum measured against international
standards.

A review of core courses in each disciplinary area to determine the extent to which these
courses reflect recommended course offerings in each area.

A review of the topics covered in each course in each disciplinary area to determine the
extent to which these topics reflect recommended content and workplace relevance.
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
A review of core courses to determine the degree to which they have issues of business
ethics, social responsibility, the values of community involvement and volunteerism,
honesty, diversity of ethnicity and gender, and globalization woven into them.

A review of core courses to determine their relevance to “the Nigerian perspective and
business environment,” and their use of business cases that have “Nigerian” relevancy and
implications.

A review of all courses to determine how clearly learning outcomes and methods of
assessing student learning are specified.

A review of the internship and capstone experiences.

Offering Faculty Incentive Grants and opportunities to work with consultants and a Business
Advisory Council to make improvements in the existing courses and develop new courses
needed in the re-engineered MBA curriculum.
Component methods will include: (1) review and discussion of international standards for
graduate business management education programs and of private sector needs; (2) extensive,
systematic curriculum reviews aided by project personnel and consultants; (3) monthly progress
reports to the Change Management Team for their input; (4) attendance at the AACSB International
seminars on Graduate Management Programs, Assessment and Continuous Improvement; (5)
interfacing with the Business Advisory Council for their input; (6) using incentive grants to
motivate faculty to strengthen existing courses which align well with international standards and
private sector needs, to remove and/or reform courses that meet standards and needs weakly, and
develop new courses to fill gaps; and (7) implementation of a wholly revised MBA curriculum.
Component outcomes will include: (1) greatly improved faculty understanding of
international standards for business management education, of Nigerian private sector needs, and of
the importance of having clear student learning outcomes and methods of assuring student learning;
(2) a Blueprint for Curriculum Transformation based on a full assessment of the existing
curriculum; and (3) a fully revised MBA curriculum.
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Component metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) work group meeting
minutes and attendance rosters; (2) the monthly reports to the Change Management Team; (3) the
quality of the Blueprint for Curriculum Transformation as assessed by the project consultants and
the Business Advisory Council; and (4) the quality of the revised MBA curriculum as determined
by the consultants and the Business Advisory Council; and (5) annual reports to the Change
Management Team.
Innovative Pedagogies
Opportunities must be provided for UNILAG faculty to learn how to diversify their teaching
methods for greater teaching effectiveness. The lecture and the textbook can no longer be the
primary modes of delivery. Rote memorization is not the most desirable level of learning. There is
much mounting research which indicates that students learn best when engaged in dynamic,
participatory, case-and real-world focused pedagogy. Moreover, the use of technology to support
classroom instruction has become part of the gold standard in promoting student learning.
K-State has developed an outstanding web-based learning management system called AXIO.
This system features online assessment and grade book, classroom lectures, case material, chat
rooms, whiteboards, live collaborations, etc. This important piece of instructional technology is a
unique aspect of what K-State can contribute to this project and it can be easily adapted to fit the
needs of the UNILAG MBA program. In addition, AXIO is hosted at K-State which alleviates the
need for system maintenance at UNILAG.
Component activities will include:

Learning about active teaching and methods to increase teaching effectiveness and building
the capacity of faculty to teach this to other faculty.

Compiling, sharing, and selecting business cases that have been developed by the Lagos
Business School and the International Finance Corporation’s Global Business School
Network.
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
Learning about the use of AXIO technology in classroom instruction and building the
capacity of faculty to teach this to other faculty.

Opportunities for UNILAG faculty to visit Kansas State University and learn about cutting
edge pedagogies through our Center for Teaching Excellence.

Opportunities to observe K-State College of Business classes and discuss classroom
instruction with faculty.
Component methods will include: (1) a series of workshops on innovative pedagogies to
improve teaching effectiveness which cover topics such as collaborative learning; the pyramid
exam, “think-pair-share,” use of the business case study, inquiry-based learning, preparing students
to teach modules, in-class exercises on interpreting diagrams and performing calculations, etc.; (2)
exposing this work group to Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers
by Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross which covers 50 techniques that can be used and adapted by
all college teachers; (3) a two-part workshop for this group on “Ten Things that Teachers Can Do to
Help all Students Learn More”; (4) attendance at the AACSB International seminars on Teaching
Effectiveness and Continuous Improvement (5) as courses are redesigned, members of this work
group will meet with faculty to help infuse innovative pedagogies; and (6) working and training on
the use of AXIO technology in classroom instructionAXIO technology will be implemented using a
provided wireless mobile computer classroom (cart) that will be used by multiple courses in the
revised MBA program.
Component outcomes will be: (1) a significantly improved understanding of innovative
pedagogies by a critical mass of faculty; (2) the ability of faculty to teach other faculty about
innovative pedagogies; and (3) the introduction of technology into classroom instruction; and (4) redesigned courses that have been infused with innovative pedagogies.
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Component metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) workgroup meeting
minutes and attendance rosters; (2) the monthly reports to the Change Management Team; (3)
workshop learning outcomes and outlines of activities; (4) workshop participant evaluations and
assessments of learning; (5) documentation of courses that have undergone pedagogical reform; and
(6) annual reports to the Change Management Team.
Faculty Enhancement
The heart of any academic program is its faculty. Their quality, vitality, and diversity
largely determine the quality of the program. Hence, recruiting, developing, supporting and
rewarding faculty in the right ways have to be constant concerns. Certainly, as the UNILAG MBA
program is transformed through continuous improvement, the enhancement and professional
development of the faculty must occur simultaneously. This component provide professional
development opportunities to enhance the excellence of UNILAG MBA faculty.
Activities in this component will target the entire MBA faculty and include:

A constructive review of the last five years for all faculty to include professional
development activities, publications/presentations, consultations, research program,
community service, and self-reports of perceived strengths and areas of desired growth.

Offering Faculty Development Grants to support professional growth in ways that conform
to international curriculum standards and private sector expectations.

Opportunities for faculty to:
-
learn about the role of diversity in post-graduate education and the business case for
diversity and internationalization.
-
engage in collaborative applied research with K-State College of Business faculty.
-
attend international business conferences to expand knowledge and to build and/or
expand the network of colleagues in the same discipline.
Component methods will include: (1) a systematic review of all faculty; (2) development of
individual self-reports on strengths and areas of desired growth; (3) generating and reviewing
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individual faculty professional development plans; (4) granting visiting UNILAG faculty access to
K-State library holdings; (5) symposia featuring outstanding faculty development efforts; (6) using
Faculty Development Grants to support faculty professional development; and (7) connecting
UNILAG faculty to collaborative research opportunities with K-State faculty.
Component outcomes will include: (1) individual development plans for faculty; (2) greatly
expanded learning opportunities for faculty; (3) increased financial support for faculty development;
(4) increased research collaborations; (5) an expanded network of colleagues; and (6) enhanced
faculty competence and enthusiasm.
Component metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) faculty data, selfassessments, and individual professional development plans for a minimum of 85% of the faculty;
(2) 30 faculty development grants awarded; (3) the number of collaborative research projects
involving K-State and UNILAG faculty; (4) documentation collected each year on colleagues added
to faculty networks and the value of these; (5) annual reviews of the faculty professional
development plans noting what has been accomplished and what needs to be accomplished in the
subsequent year; and (8) annual workgroup reports submitted to the Change Management Team.
Private Sector Engagement
The private sector is both the beneficiary of MBA education and the crucible in which talent
and skills can be honed. Hence, the private sector should be a critical player in business
management education. In Nigeria, international businesses and spin-offs comprise a very rich and
specialized resource because they expect sophisticated management, decision-making,
technological, and ethical practices. Because of this, they can be potent program advisors,
exceptional trainers, and leadership developers. At present, the private sector is not engaged with
the UNILAG MBA program. UNILAG, on the other hand, does not know the degree of satisfaction
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employers have with their graduates or what these businesses really expect of them. What is very
clear is that better relationships between the private sector and the UNILAG School of Business
would be very mutually beneficial. Two private sector partners have now been established with
many more in the pipeline. They are Honeywell Flour Mills of Nigeria and Albarka Airlines, Plc.
Both companies have pledged their full support toward the project.
The goal of this component is to engage the private sector in the UNILAG MBA program.
Activities in this component will target businesses in Nigeria, and will include:

The creation of a business advisory council consisting of senior to top-level managers to
meet on a regular basis to discuss the curriculum, technology needs, and other issues.

Developing more internship and final-year practica sites so students can gain more practical
experience.

Developing more business case studies.

The creation of a distinguished executive lecture series to expose MBA students to
prominent CEO’s and real-world business problems.

The identification of alumni and creation of an alumni database, distinguished alumni
award, and an alumni seminar to reconnect them to the MBA program, the faculty, and the
students.
Component methods will include: (1) work group discussions of the value, creation, and
functioning of business advisory councils led by the Partnership Co-Directors; (2) writing the first
plan for the UNILAG School of Business Advisory Council with vision, mission, and goal
statements; term limits; fees for participation; etc.; (3) soliciting representation on the Business
Advisory Council from medium to large businesses in Nigeria; (4) professional orientation and
training of the BAC members; (5) semi-annual meetings of the BAC; (6) monthly work group
reports to the Change Management Team; (6) working with the Business Advisory Council to
develop more internship sites, case studies, final-year practica sites and to create special programs
for bringing alumni and executives into contact with students and faculty.
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Component outcomes will include: (1) increased knowledge about and understanding of the
value and functioning of a business advisory council among a critical mass of faculty; (2) a
functioning Business Advisory Council; (3) an increased number of internship and practica sites;
and (4) an alumni seminar, and executive lecture series, and a distinguished alumni award.
Component metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) workshop learning
outcomes, schedule of activities, and participant evaluations including an assessment of learning;
(2) the list of businesses solicited for participation on the council, the solicitation letter, and the
response letters; (3) the Business Advisory Council membership roster with at least 10 major
businesses represented; (4) BAC and workgroup meeting minutes and attendance rosters; (5)
monthly work group reports to the Change Management Team; (6) annual comparisons of the
number of internships and practica sites at the beginning of the year and at the end; (7)
documentation of executive lectures, alumni seminars, and distinguished alumni awards; and (8)
annual component reports submitted to the Change Management Team.
Career Services
The MBA degree is supposed to be one’s ticket to enter meaningful management
employment. In fact, one indicator of program effectiveness commonly used in the United States is
the percentage of graduates employed in their fields six months after graduation. One way to
enhance performance on this indicator is to intentionally engage students in career development
activities and then link them with employment opportunities.
In America, separate Student Affairs units offer extensive, professional, and technologyassisted career services. Kansas State University has an exceptional operation of this type with a
full complement of professional staff, newly-renovated facilities, and a very visionary and engaged
director.
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Our African counterparts are not as fortunate and yet, they need to become involved in
activities similar to those provided by first-class operations or else risk developing a class of underemployed, underpaid graduates. Such persons do not speak well of one’s educational programs.
For this component, a Career Specialist will be hired to help the UNILAG MBA program
develop the capacity to provide some of the career and employment services that will benefit their
graduates and link them to private sector employment. Activities in this component will include:

Building relationships with employers to promote the value of the UNILAG MBA graduate.

Creating more internships and coordinating internship placements.

Providing basic career development skills building workshops to include: (1) writing
professional résumés and cover letters that attract attention; (2) interviewing techniques; (3)
appropriate business attire; (4) business etiquette; and (5) how to network.

Networking and leveraging connections and opportunities with existing alumni.

Sponsoring a career fair either alone or in conjunction with a consortia of schools of
business.

Tracking placement of graduates and administering employer satisfaction surveys.
Component methods will include: (1) a workshop with faculty on career services led by the
Career Specialist and the LBS consultant; (2) training/capacity-building to offer a core group of
career services; (3) an annual career fair; (4) tracking placement data for graduates; (5) employer
satisfaction surveys; and (6) monthly reports to the Change Management Team for their input.
Component outcomes will include: (1) an understanding among a critical mass of faculty of
career services and the value they add to one’s program and students; (2) the capacity to offer career
services, including; (3) a career fair; (4) a tracking system for graduate placements; (5) a system for
evaluating employer satisfaction with UNILAG MBA graduates; and (6) utilization of this
employer feedback to improve the UNILAG MBA program.
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Metrics and performance indicators will include: (1) the faculty workshop learning
objectives, schedule of activities, and participant evaluations including assessments of learning; (2)
offering at least five skills-building workshops in project years 2 and 3; (3) documentation of a
career fair with at least 20 employers present in project years 2 and 3; (4) a report of graduate
placement; (5) a report on employer satisfaction and how satisfaction data can be used to improve
the MBA program; (6) monthly work group meeting minutes and attendance rosters; (7) monthly
reports to the Change Management Team; and (11) annual reports of workgroup activities submitted
to the Change Management Team.
Sustainability
How this project will be sustained after the three years of grant support is a very important
consideration. There are several ways in which the project activities become self-sustaining and
this can be explained as follows:
First, by the end of the project, the Change Management Team will have become a highly
cohesive and efficient driver of change. They will have been well-trained in many areas and they
will have grown in commitment to continuous quality improvement. They will have achieved
functional autonomy for maintaining momentum beyond the grant period.
Second, the revised curriculum will be a major achievement that will not need to be repeated
in such full measure for a number of years. Fine tuning can occur continuously and without major
effort. The revised curriculum will bring new recognition and esteem to the UNILAG MBA
program and there will be no need to turn back to the old curriculum. The program would have
endangered a new culture of continuous improvement.
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Third, the Business Advisory Council will also continue after the grant period. It will be a
strong external driver of change and it will press for continual alignment between private sector
needs and the skills taught.
Fourth, use of the AXIO learning platform will continue. Faculty will have the ability to
teach its use to each other. AXIO will be hosted by Kansas State University and accessed remotely
by UNILAG faculty and students through the Internet. By hosting the technology remotely, this
will resolve the problem of maintaining and updating the technology which can be very resource
intensive. The award-winning customer support of AXIO will be available to UNILAG MBA
faculty and staff to immediately respond to any questions that may arise.
Fifth, as a result of attendance at AACSB International programs, the UNILAG MBA
faculty will have become part of a robust network of world-class business management programs.
UNILAG faculty will be motivated to want to continue in this new status.
Sixth, the K-State/UNILAG Institutional Partnership that results from this grant will be very
strong by the end of the project. We will seek new grant opportunities and continue to work
together on collaborative research, student and faculty exchanges, and study abroad programs.
Three areas will need fiscal resources for project sustainability. These areas are: (1) the
Career Specialist position ($7,200), (2) the greatly reduced annual license fee for AXIO ($10,000),
and (3) faculty development funds ($20,000). The money needed here, approximately $37,200, will
be addressed in part through the BAC. Initially, their fees for participating on the advisory council
can be used to offset these costs. As time goes on, corporate donations can be solicited. As the
quality of the MBA program improves, tuition can be increased and the resulting revenue streams
committed to these needs. Moreover, entrepreneurial projects can be developed which produce
revenue for these needs.
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Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
The monitoring of the project includes the collection of extensive baseline data on the
existing courses in the UNILAG MBA program on; faculty development and productivity in the
five years previous to project implementation; employer expectations of MBA graduates; employer
satisfaction with UNILAG graduates; on the assessment of student learning, and internships.
Monitoring of the project is further aided by having the LBS consultant working closely with the
project in Nigeria and by having the Partnership Co-Directors travel to Lagos frequently to advance
the project objectives and to inspect operations for compliance with timetables and deliverables.
All-faculty meetings at the beginning of each project year and frequent workgroup meetings are
strategies designed to keep people committed to the project and to resolve any problems that may
occur. The Project Co-Directors recognize the importance of faculty approval of end-products and
seek it in accordance with faculty review process. The outcomes for each component have been
clearly defined, as well as metrics and performance indicators. Many tangible outcomes exist.
Either things have been done or they have not. Accountability has been structured into the very
fiber of the project through monthly meetings and reporting structures. Moreover, the project has
been organized in three clear phases which build on one upon the other. In the first year, activities
are aimed at preparing for and embracing change. People are learning what they need to know,
breaking out of “their shells,” and engaging with new people with new ideas. In the second year,
the same people make change happen. They are the ones revising courses, learning new
pedagogies, engaging in applied collaborative research, visiting K-State, interacting with the private
sector and alumni, and adding value to their graduates. According to Mescon1, people and structure
provide the makeup of organizations, at the end of the day, people drive success.
1
Mescon, T. S. 2006. http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/enewsline/Vol-5/Issue-11/email/Deans.htm
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In the third year, changes are institutionalized. The new curriculum with updated pedagogy
is implemented, strategic and operational plans exist, the assessment process is ready, and more.
Each activity in each workgroup depends on the successful completion of preceding activities. All
of this has been thought out and planned in great detail.
For HED and USAID, there will be semi-annual progress reports generated by the
Partnership Co-Directors and the year-end reports from the Change Management Team.
For final project evaluation, an external consultant of considerable expertise has been added
to the team. Project objectives are clear. Results are tangible. Metrics and performance indicators
are there. He will travel to Lagos and assess the impact of the project and see for himself whether
what we say has occurred, in fact, has occurred. In addition, he will assess the satisfaction of all
major stakeholders in the project with the project: namely, faculty, administrators, students, alumni,
executives, and employers. His final report will go straight to HED and USAID. He will give the
Partnership Co-Directors a verbal debriefing, along with any recommendations for improving
similar projects in the future.
Project Personnel
The project personnel of this grant form a very strong team of diverse people with
interlocking and complementary skills and experiences.
Ike Ehie will serve as partnership Co-Director. Ehie is a professor of management and the
Associate Dean in the College of Business at Kansas State University. He holds a Ph.D. degree in
Engineering Management from the University of Missouri, Rolla. Ehie chairs the Assessment
Committee in the College of Business and has been integrally involved in the AACSB reaccreditation process of the College coming up in 2008/2009. He served as a consultant of United
17
Nations Development Program (UNDP) to develop supply chain curriculum at the Lagos Business
School in Nigeria.
Myra Gordon will serve as the partnership Co-Director. Gordon is Professor of Psychology
and the Associate Provost at Kansas State University. Gordon brings 20- year track record in
working in higher education in West Africa and in the empowerment of women in Africa. She has
senior level curriculum development experience and has had career services report to her. Gordon
knows Nigeria and has first hand knowledge of the business education in Nigeria.
Yar Ebadi is the senior personnel. Ebadi is the dean of the College of Business
Administration at Kansas State University and has served in that role since 1996. Ebadi was
successful in developing the most powerful business advisory council on campus with over 50
company executives as members. Ebadi will be helpful in developing an effective business
advisory council for the UNILAG MBA.
William Harvey will serve as senior consultant. Harvey is the President of Hampton
University, an HBCU school and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in Educational Leadership. His
commitment to expansion and innovation in academic programs has resulted in 76 new academic
programs being implemented under his watch among which is a graduate program in Business
Administration (MBA). Harvey has transformed Hampton University from a small black college to
a world-class leader in the field of higher education. Harvey specializes in executive leadership and
development of entrepreneurial culture.
Enase Okonedo will serve as senior consultant. Okonedo is the Director of the full-time
MBA, Executive MBA and Careers and Admission at the Lagos Business School at Pan African
University.
Her areas of specialization include financial management, financial strategy, and
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corporate accounting. Okonedo is a certified public accountant and received her MBA from the
International Graduate School of Management (IESE) in Barcelona. Okonedo will serve as the onsite consultant and will address best practices for the Nigerian context across all workgroups.
David Martin will serve as the assessment consultant. Martin is the Dean of the College of
Business at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Martin is one of the four presenters of the
AACSB Applied Assessment Seminar and has conducted assessment workshops many universities
n the US and around the world. Martin is currently serving as a mentor to AACSB-candidate
schools and serves on the AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation Peer Review Team.
Roger McHaney will serve as a curriculum. McHaney holds the Coffman Distinguished
Teaching Scholar Chair from Kansas State University and is a professor of information systems.
McHaney has served as a curriculum consultant for many universities wishing to develop new
programs in information systems. McHaney will be responsible for reviewing the MBA courses and
curriculum at the UNILAG MBA with a special emphasis on technology and information systems.
Amir Tavakkol will serve as a curriculum consultant. Tavakkol is a professor of finance
and has a Ph.D. in Economics from Kansas State University. Tavakkol is the chair of the Course
and Curriculum Committee of the College of Business at Kansas State University. He will be
reviewing the UNILAG MBA curriculum with special focus on course revision and redesign.
David K. Smith will serve as external evaluator. Smith is professor of marketing at
Southeast Missouri State University and a visiting professor of the Lagos Business School at Pan
African University, Lagos Nigeria. Smith served as a Fulbright Scholar in Nigeria and his
assignment involved developing case studies with senior level business executives associated with
the Harvard Business School Club of Nigeria. He later taught the case studies to MBA students at
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the University of Ibadan, the University of Lagos, and the University of Nigeria. In 2002, Smith
was awarded the Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of marketing after completing a
textbook on Marketing Management in Nigeria. Smith has an excellent background to serve as the
external reviewer of the program.
David Darling is senior consultant in strategic planning and visioning. Darling is specialist
in community development with an extensive experience in strategic visioning and planning. He
has held a number of strategic visioning and planning in academic institution and recently guarded
the College of Business at Kansas State University through its strategic planning process. Darling
has his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in Agricultural Economics. His combined experience on
economic development and strategic planning will be an asset to the project.
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