The D'Amore-McKim School of Business and Dean Hugh Courtney are featured in the latest issue of BizEd magazine, which examines the current evolution in higher education and business school offerings. Many institutions are expanding and reconfiguring curriculum and degree options to meet the growing and specific needs of students and alumni.
“Successful businesspeople will need more business education than they ever have, and they'll be retooling throughout their careers,” said Courtney. “The best way for schools to give them that education is to unbundle degrees and think about how to give students exactly what they need, when they need it, in the formats that work best for them.”
In the past, MBA programs have been structured in a way that is often not relevant to the specific goals or exact needs of students at a specific point in time. “Almost by definition, any student who received an MBA at any time in history didn't get the optimal degree for himself or herself,” said Courtney.
In addition, Courtney's sentiment was echoed in BizEd's letter from the editor.
How can business schools adapt to the increasingly demanding needs of today's business world? There are many factors to consider, including what students need now, collaboration with corporate partners, and how different students desire to learn, keeping in mind how to accommodate it all.
D'Amore McKim's graduate business certificates are flexible, part-time courses that provide specialized business education and professional credentials. Created with stackability in mind, credits earned in these courses may be applied to eligible masters programs at the school.
As for the future of education, Courtney believes both traditional and innovative ways of learning must be kept in mind.
“We need to play well in both segments—the traditional degree-based, campus-based segment, and the ‘I need what I need and I need it now' segment,” said Courtney. “I think both sets of products will be on the market for a long time, but the relative importance could shift fairly quickly. We might need to move more aggressively to be prepared for the more unbundled future.”
For the full article, visit http://www.bizedmagazine.com/archives/2017/2/features/business-schools-deliver-lifelong-education.