Curriculum Revision Proposal
Master’s of Business Administration
1. Change to Prerequisites
Rationale:
The MBA program was developed in 2009 and introduced in fall 2010. The program initially consisted of
10 four credit hour classes and a rigid list of prerequisite courses required to enter the program. The
MBA has been modified as the faculty have gained knowledge about the success of the program and
feedback from faculty and students who participate in the program. The first modification was to reduce
the courses from 4 credit hours to 3 to reduce the required component to 30 credit hours and allow 6
credit hours of electives.
The MBA was further modified by relaxing stringent entrance requirements such as a GMAT score of 500
or higher. The GMAT is still required, but the GRE is now an acceptable substitute and an applicant who
already has a terminal degree in their field can be exempt from the GMAT requirement.
The college now realizes that a long list of prerequisites has little positive indication of a student’s
success in the MBA program. The list of prerequisites, in fact, deters many possibly successful
candidates from applying.
The college proposes to reduce the number of prerequisites required to enter the program and take a
more holistic approach to a student’s completed application which includes, an essay, undergraduate
record, work experience, entrance exam score, and references.
This change will have no effect on AACSB Accreditation.
The change in prerequisites are as follows:
BUS 500 Managerial Communication
Delete: Prerequisite: MGT 344 or instructor’s permission
BUS 520 Management and Information Systems
Delete: Prerequisite: CIS 212 or instructor’s permission
BUS 530 Organizations: Structure, Behavior and Human Performance
Delete: Prerequisite: MGT 240
BUS 560 Quantitative Decision Making
Delete: Prerequisites: CIS 212, MGT 325, ACT 230 and 240, FIN 351
BUS 590 Strategic Management
Delete: Prerequisites: BUS 500, BUS 530, BUS 540, BUS 550, BUS 560, BUT 570, BUS 580
Add: Complete 4 MBA (BUS prefix) courses
2.
Change to MBA Program Requirements
Rationale:
The NMU MBA needs to be desirable and accessible to undergraduate majors from all disciplines and to
employees in a variety of career fields. Therefore, the program needs to evolve with the times and strive
to improve which means the program needs to be nimble to be marketable. A smaller core with more
electives will allow for much more flexibility while still providing students with a high quality graduate
degree.
This change will have no effect on AACSB Accreditation.
Delete: The MBA consists of 36 credits including the following 10 courses (3 credits each) plus 6
additional approved elective credits:
BUS 500 Managerial Communication
BUS 510 Business Law and Ethics
BUS 520 Management Information Systems
BUS 530 Organizations: Structure, Behavior and Human Performance
BUS 540 Marketing Strategy
BUS 550 Business Statistics
BUS 560 Quantitative Decision Making
BUS 570 Managerial Accounting
BUS 580 Financial Analysis and Management
BUS 590 Strategic Management
Add: The MBA consists of 36 credits.
MBA Core Requirements (15 Credits)
BUS 530 Organizations: Structure, Behavior and Human Performance
BUS 540 Marketing Strategy
BUS 570 Managerial Accounting
BUS 580 Financial Analysis and Management
BUS 590 Strategic Management
Choose 3 courses; at least one course MUST be chosen from each list (9 Credits)
Behavioral
BUS 500 Managerial Communication
BUS 510 Business Law and Ethics
BU 520 Management and Information Systems
Quantitative
BUS 550 Business Statistics
BUS 560 Quantitative Decision Making
Electives (12 Credits)
At least 6 credits must be BUS prefix courses. BUS 595 may be repeated if the topic changes. Up to 6
credits can be selected from graduate courses offered by other NMU departments (outside the College of
Business). These courses must be approved by the student’s academic advisor and the Associate Dean of
the College of Business.
Bulletin Description
Master of Business Administration
Program Description
The College of Business offers a program of graduate studies leading to the Master of Business
Administration (MBA) degree. The primary objective of this program is to educate future, middle and
senior managers to deal with basic problems of choice, complexity and change in the challenging
environment of business. The program is designed to develop skills which the manager can use to deal
with these problems in a profit-oriented, free enterprise economy. Therefore, the program’s focus is
directed toward decision making.
The overall objective is achieved with ample emphasis on the traditional subject matter of business
administration, i.e., accounting, finance, management and marketing.
Program Requirements
The MBA consists of 36 credit hours as follows:
MBA Core Requirements (15 Credits)
BUS 530 Organizations: Structure, Behavior and Human Performance
BUS 540 Marketing Strategy
BUS 570 Managerial Accounting
BUS 580 Financial Analysis and Management
BUS 590 Strategic Management
Choose 3 courses; at least one course MUST be chosen from each list (9 Credits)
Behavioral
BUS 500 Managerial Communication
BUS 510 Business Law and Ethics
BU 520 Management and Information Systems
Quantitative
BUS 550 Business Statistics
BUS 560 Quantitative Decision Making
Electives (12 Credits)
At least 6 credits must be BUS prefix courses. BUS 595 may be repeated if the topic changes. Up to 6
credits can be selected from graduate courses offered by other NMU departments (outside the College
of Business). These courses must be approved by the student’s academic advisor and the Associate Dean
of the College of Business.
The following 4 courses have undergraduate course prerequisites:
Course
BUS 540
BUS 550
BUS 570
BUS 580
Prerequisite*
MKT 230, Introduction to Marketing
MA 171, Introduction to Probability and Statistics
ACT 240, Principles of Accounting II and MA 171, Introduction to Probability and Statistics
FIN 351, Financial Management I
*Relevant professional experience may be substituted for some or all of the prerequisite courses.
Decisions regarding the acceptability of professional experience substitutions will be made by the
Associate Dean of the College of Business in consultation with the faculty member assigned to the
course.