University of Missouri - Kansas City
Bloch School of Business and Public Administration
Summary Fall Semester 2002
Experience UMKC
MAITZ Martin
Student ID: 990022546
15 E 53rd Street
Kansas City, Missouri, 64112
Tel.: (816) 523 – 5434
e-mail: mm7r9@umkc.edu
Content
Content ................................................................................................ 2
General Information ......................................................................... 3
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 3
Personal Background .....................................................................................................3
Financial Affairs...............................................................................................................3
Personal Experience........................................................................ 4
Activities ........................................................................................................................... 4
Host family ....................................................................................................................... 4
University ............................................................................................ 5
General and Classes ......................................................................................................5
Level of learning ..............................................................................................................5
Summary ............................................................................................. 6
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General Information
INTRODUCTION
On the next few pages I try to give a short impression about my stay in USA – from 23.
July 2002 to 22. December 2002 - and Kansas City at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City. Because of the student orientated– activities, spare time - and comprehensive reports – procedure, classes, cost – of the other students I give here only additional facts
and try to focus on my learning experience.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
Based on my personal background:
 Age 36
 I have worked all my life and took time off from my job for the exchange semester and
to finish my study
 I am at the end of my “zweiten Abschnitt”
 Thesis topic in the field of Organization Dynamics
 Clear learning focus
I had very specific and clear expectations about what I would do in the US at UMKC and
what I assumed to learn. I wrote the main points of it - consequently to deepen my core
sphere, learn about and understand the American view of organization development - in
my statement of purpose, which we had to send for the application.
Additionally I asked per mail about the classes in which I planned to enroll based on recommendation from former students. I never heard in advance that it was a problem to take
these classes.
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
The financial situation was for a long time unclear because of my special case – Studien
Abschluss Stipendium (SAS). First they told me in the “Büro für Internationale
Beziehungen (BIB)“ office that I get additional “Auslandsstipendium”, but in the end I got
only 350,-- Euro “Reisekostenzuschuss”. The main cost I had to finance with my private
savings because the main part of my SAS I had to use to pay for my fixed cost such as
house, insurance, etc of about 600,-- to 700,-- /per month at home.
In general, I tried to find the cheapest opportunity to stay in Kansas City and keep the cost
down. This was the reason why I chose to stay with a host family.
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The following overview table shows the main cost.
Overview cost USA
(1$ = 1 Euro)
Flight
Vienna - Chicago -Vienna
Chicago - Omaha
Kansas City - Chicago
UMKC
Fee
Insurance
Books
840,00
210,00
110,00
1.160,00
430,00
190,00
300,00
Host Family Aug. - Dec. 2002 > 400,--/month
2.000,00
Fix cost
4.080,00
Personal Expenses (Outs, Movies, Drinks, ...) > 150,--/month
Trips
(New Orleans, Weekends)
Total cost USA
800,00
500,00
5.380,00
All together and including a little bit of shopping and diverse events I spent almost $5.500
in these five months.
Personal Experience
ACTIVITIES
Kansas City is a great “big” village – not to big and not to small – and with its 1,8 million
citizens it is the main town between the states of Missouri and Kansas. Because of its size
every leisure activity is possible and it is only a question of getting it organized. The university is located near the Plaza which is an old, small town center with several shops,
restaurants, pups and a cinema. It is reachable in 10 min on foot from the UMKC campus.
Because of the different distance feeling of the Americans, access to a car is very helpful,
especially for shopping and trips. The university offers a lot of activities, including a sports
complex, which are included in the student fees. But the majority of activities are organized through the “Cultural Discovery Group” with Berno Matthaeus, a former student from
Germany.
HOST FAMILY
The opportunity to stay with a host family was, for me, a great chance to see more of the
real “American life” and get in contact with the natives. I was very lucky to find, through our
exchange contact person Maureen Briggs, the Fitzgeralds, a very nice family. I stayed
there with another student who was from Netherlands and they helped us a lot, especially
at first. For the short time of one semester it is, concerning English, contacts and the
housing cost, a very good solution because your are treated like a family member. Generally, it is very hard to get in contact with natives and students. UMKC is like Klagenfurt, a
commuter university and the students are coming just for the classes and are leaving
straight after it. To meet and get to know a native is, despite the great friendliness and
helpfulness of the people in KC, difficult because of the busy lifestyle. You must be very
lucky to meet someone nice in this short time.
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University
GENERAL AND CLASSES
The first step to enroll in classes is to talk with an academic advisor in the Student Service
Office in the Bloch School. I tried to enroll my planned classes in the area of Organizational Behavior, Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and experienced my first
shock.
All the “500” /graduate classes I had chosen and communicated about in advance with the
coordinator of the exchange program were not possible for me to enroll in. The last student form Austria, who took and recommended these classes to me had no problems with
it. Despite my status in Klagenfurt – “Ende zweiter Abschnitt”, I was considered here an
undergraduate student. This kind of student is not allowed to take the “500” classes. After
a few discussions with the advisors, I had to enroll in undergraduate course, which was
also not easy because the selection in my area was limited and a few classes were full.
Actually I had only five opportunities and two of them were at the same time. I was not the
only international student with this “enrollment” problem so Professor Robertson was so
kind and “invented” an additional class in Strategic Management for us international students.
I attended the following classes:




Organizational Behavior (Mr. Waris)
Leadership Skills in Human Systems (Mrs. Schrum)
Strategic Management I (Mrs. Long)
Strategic Management II (Mr. Robertson)
After I had to accept this “new” rule I asked, if I could attend the “500” classes just for listening. My advisor said I would have to speak directly with the professors which I did. For
the professors this was ok and so I attended additionally, as a “listener”, three graduate
classes in the evening. But this compromise lasted only two weeks and I got a letter from
the school’s Assistant Dean that this is prohibited.
To sum up, I was not able to learn what I had planned and hoped to learn and this was a
big disappointment in the otherwise great experience in Kansas City. The argumentation
of the school for this prohibition is based on the accreditation rules by AACSB and the
quality idea. It is interesting that only the Bloch school had this problem as other schools
at UMKC had no problems with international students in their “500” or MBA classes.
LEVEL OF LEARNING
I think that the main reason for this enrollment problem is the different structure of the
study between America and Europe. The American study has two education steps, first
after approximately 120 credit hours or three years the students get the “Bachelor”. This is
a separate graduation and in the American culture, the University’s main certification. After
this degree is obtained, it is possible to complete in 60 additional credit hours or one to
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two years the MBA. Both steps include no major/ minor examinations or thesis, it is only
necessary to pass all of the required classes.
Compared with the structure the University in Austria/Klagenfurt I would say that the
Bachelor is similar to the “ersten Abschnitt” and the MBA has as approximately the same
level like the “Magister” here in Austria. Because of the missing end examination and thesis it might be less work to complete the MBA in US than the “Magister” in Austria.
The undergraduate classes which I attended were held like classes in a school in Austria,
with homework, a lot of test and participation points. Most of the content of the classes
was, because of my personal situation more or less, a big review in English for me. The
level of the classes seemed, because the comprehensive content and the good textbooks,
higher than the introduction classes in our “ersten Abschnitt”. Despite the language challenge, the international students have been always the best in the class.
So far I know it is in Austria only possible to go abroad if you have the “zweiten Abschnitt”,
this leads to a general problem. If someone tries to focus on his or her major, it is difficult
to learn something new under these conditions.
If the Bloch school keeps these formal rules, it might be better to send students from the
“ersten Abschnitt” abroad. On the other hand, it should be possible to explain to the Americans the difference in the education system and find another solution for this bureaucratic
problem. It would be in the best interest of the students so they can really try to learn
something.
Summary
Despite the formal accreditation problems with the Bloch School, the semester in Kansas
City was a very interesting experience for me and I want miss it. But I think, it is necessary for the future of the exchange program and the progress of the students essential to
intensify the contacts with the partner universities.
This concerns not only the flexibility of what the guest students are able to enroll in, but
also the local opportunities like internship and projects, because it is, most of the time, too
late by the time the international student arrive at the exchange universities and discovers
the programs.
A direct cooperation between institutes or properly better communication between departments, for example entrepreneurship, would make a lot of sense for all involved persons.
In general, I would recommend everyone use this great opportunity to expand his or her
horizon, to learn more about another culture and to improve their language skills.
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