Program Overview
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a general management program which emphasizes an integration of the business disciplines within a Christian framework. It is designed for students with an undergraduate degree either in business or in a non-related field. Leveling courses (prerequisites) are offered for the non-business undergraduate. Business undergraduates may or may not require leveling courses before beginning their graduate study. Courses are taught primarily for MBA students. Thirty-six hours are required for graduation.
The MBA is offered in two delivery systems: one being classroom based, and the other being online in nature. The classroom component of the MBA program is traditional in its course offerings but nontraditional in its scheduling and is designed for the working professional. Each course meets once a week in the evening for six weeks. The weekly session will be a four-hour class and the other session will be a two- hour online virtual class. Typically, only one course is taken at a time by working adults.
The online MBA program is offered on a six week format for individuals who cannot attend classes on campus. The courses are identical to the classroom but students are permitted to complete work online with all lectures, assignments, and online activities available to students via the internet. Students will be permitted to enroll in one online class each 6-week session unless otherwise approved by the Director of the MBA.
Anderson University is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs to offer the Master of Business Administration (MBA).
MBA Advisory Board
Purpose
- ACBSP accreditation requirement
- Curriculum evaluation (business skill, critical thinking & Biblical perspective - Lead Like Jesus model)
- Identify service learning project for MBA to be involved with
The yearly responsibilities of the board are as follows:
- Review a summary of the content and assignments of one of our MBA courses - documentation provided by the professor who teaches the class. Then, meet with the professor and one or two other Advisory Board members to discuss with the professor the content of the class. At this time you will discuss the appropriateness of the content and assignments and provide feedback regarding the relevance of the content. You will also be an advisor to the professor regarding any changes in the content and assignments given during the class.
- Meet at a luncheon once per year where the MBA director will update Advisory Board members regarding events, focuses, deliverables, and activities of the MBA program.
- Support the ongoing research of the MBA faculty with a financial contribution to the MBA faculty research fund (individually or corporately). This fund will enable high quality research and faculty academic publications.
- Review and provide ideas for MBA community service project.
Membership
Mr. Bruce Lockhart has for the past 11 years served as President of Ceradyne Thermo Materials Division where he is responsible for operations, engineering, sales and marketing for facilities in Atlanta, Tennessee, and two in Tianjin China. Due to Ceradyne recently being acquired by 3M corporation, Bruce has transitioned to the position of Global Business Manager for 3M’s Industrial Ceramics platform.
Mr. Ross Walters joined BB&T in 2001 as the Regional Director of Wealth Management for the Upstate of South Carolina. Prior to joining BB&T Ross spent 25 years with Bank of America in various sales leadership roles in the areas of Trust, Retail Banking, and Commercial Lending.
Mr. Thomas C. Alsborg served as Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of SYNNEX Corporation from March, 2007 until April, 2013. Mr. Alsborg has 25 years of business experience in the fields of accounting and finance, largely with Fortune 500 companies and a major CPA firm.
Mr. Robb Kolb is the CEO of National Radiology Solutions. He has a BA in Business Administration and an MBA from Anderson University. Robb has worked on the business side of healthcare for over twenty years including eight years for Nestle’s Healthcare Nutrition division and over 16 years in Healthcare Imaging.
Mr. Arnaldo Marion serves as member on the board of directors of IMEC, where he is responsible for International affairs and Education projects in Brazil and abroad. Mr. Marion is also the founder partner of “Coaching 4 Change Brasil”, which’s mission is to equip and train organizational leaders with coaching tools and a servant heart.
Dr. Johnson V. Thomas is the director of VeePhi Innovation Labs in Bangalore, India. As a technology scientist turned entrepreneur, independent researcher and consultant, he seeks to promote innovation for the benefit of a sustainable society. Dr. Thomas co-stewards the building up of VeePhi Innovation Labs, a start-up firm that specializes in data analytics, leadership transformation, and innovation transformation. His other areas of interest include management tools, business strategy and intellectual property law.
Mr. Craig O’Neal co-founded VantagePoint Marketing, a nationally recognized B2B marketing and advertising agency, in 1993. VantagePoint has been recognized for four years in a row as a “Best Places to Work in South Carolina” company.
Mr. Larry J. Gamble has filled a number of Financial and Accounting roles during his career. He is currently the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Hubbell Lighting in Greenville, SC.
International Business Research Center (IBRC)
http://andersonuniversity.libguides.com/llj
The IBRC has for main objective to strengthen the branding and added value of the Anderson University business programs. IBRC research initiative includes three main themes:
an ethics and behavior nucleus,
Research Target: Understand moral development in the university student and in the employee in order to promote more ethical behavior in university students and in employees.
an efficiency nucleus,
Research Target: How to achieve better operational results along with sustainable and efficient solutions that can lead to better market competitiveness?
Creative Industry: Focused on new products and processes for technological and innovative development.
and a leadership nucleus.
Research Target: Investigate the variety of leadership models and organizational development methods applied on specific industries abroad along with its impact on business performance and profitability.
Creative Industry: Offer seminars (one week or more) to students and professionals to study leadership in South Carolina, or take students and professionals abroad for such seminars (one week or more) to study business in an international context.
Partnerships with business / corporate partners in SC: Create venues where practical projects bring value to the company, academia and the faculty/student. The company benefits by having real business / leadership questions investigated, academia benefits by having new research being undertaken, and most importantly students/faculty increase their expertize researching.
Faculty / Student development research initiatives: Assist faculty and students to increase their research opportunities.
Operationalize the Servant Leadership Framework through the assistance of Lead Like Jesus (LLJ) organization: Create a Christian research environment where businesses and researchers can investigate and develop practical tools that discuss the Christian Servant Leadership framework.
Partnership with domestic & international universities: Work with universities in the US and abroad to extend the influence as well as unite resources to reach the conference research objectives.
Developing MBA curriculum: Research and case studies presented used in the MBA classes.
MBA Assistant Research Scholarship
The MBA program has an assistant research position open to an active and enrolled MBA student. The role of the research assistant is to help in assisting in research, participating in student research leading to publications as well as working within the International Business Research Center and International Business Leadership Seminars.
Admission Requirements
Regular Admission
- Baccalaureate degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution of higher learning
- Have previous relevant work experience. If a student is lacking this experience the student may satisfy this requirement by completing an internship or working while in the MBA program.
- Appropriate cumulative college GPA (2.75) or GMAT score exceeding 510
- Submit three Reference Request Forms - one being from your supervisor
- Minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper), 220 (computer) or 75 (internet) will be required if English is not the student’s first language, and proof of current Visa for International students. International MBA candidates will need to have an interview via Skype with the director of the MBA program before being accepted. Anderson University does provide the appropriate US student visas to those coming to study on campus. International students receiving their undergraduate degrees from institutions abroad must submit their transcripts to be evaluated by WES, who will then transmit the results to Anderson University.
| Regular admission is determined by the criteria listed below |
Full Status |
| 1 Undergraduate GPA from a regionally or nationally accredited institution exceeds 2.75 (with prerequisites) or |
X |
| 2 GMAT score exceeds 510 |
X |
The application form and other requisite information as noted should be submitted to the Graduate Admission Office as soon as possible due to the competitive nature of the program. Student applications, which are incomplete or are missing any of the items described above, may not be processed. If the application is processed, admission will be limited to provisional status. All applications are initially screened by the Associate Dean of Business and students will be informed in writing of their admission status.
Provisional Admission
- Applicants within 18 hours of an undergraduate degree who otherwise meet either criteria 1 or 2 may apply for provisional admission. If accepted, the student must provide proof of graduation prior to the end of the prescribed provisional time period. Students who are admitted provisionally will be informed of the conditions to be met and any specific deadline(s) for meeting them. Applicants maintaining provisional status must have a GPA of 3.0 after the first 9 hours of graduate business courses or else they are placed on suspension. Refer to the MBA student handbook to see the effect of a GPA less than 3.0.
Non-degree Seeking Students
Applicants who desire to take a limited number of courses, but are not seeking a degree from Anderson University may be admitted with temporary status and as such are limited to three courses or nine hours. Separate admission procedures for Non-Degree status are as follows:
- Application form indicating non-degree status.
- Official transcripts will be required from school where undergraduate degree was conferred and, when appropriate, transcripts from all other colleges attended.
- Minimum TOEFL score of 560 (paper), 220 (computer) or 75 (internet) is required if English is not the student’s first language, and proof of current Visa for International students. International MBA candidates will need to have an interview via Skype with the director of the MBA program before being accepted.
- $50 Non-refundable Graduate Application Fee
(waived for Anderson University graduates)
Candidacy
During the course of pursuing the master’s degree, the student must be admitted to “candidacy.” For admission to candidacy the student must satisfy the following:
- Complete all undergraduate requirements if admitted conditionally.
- Have completed at least 27 hours of graduate work.
- Have a current GPA of 3.00 on all courses taken toward the degree with no incomplete grades.
- File a “Graduation Application” form following guidelines from the Registrar’s Office.
- The capstone course, must be completed at Anderson University.
After admission to candidacy any changes in the degree plan must be approved by the Associate Dean of Business.
Minimum Credits
The minimum number of semester credits necessary for the Master of Business Administration degree is 36, exclusive of hours accumulated to satisfy academic deficiencies.
International Students
International students who are accepted into the Anderson University MBA program and receive a US I-20 student visa have required to comply to US Homeland Security law. In particular, these students must only take up to one course in an online format per semester, all others courses need to be in the seated format. Second, students are not allowed to work off campus but are allowed to work on-campus up to a maximum of 20 hours per week. International students are allowed to pursue an internship program that allows them to work off campus as part of their studies. International students who are accepted must purchase health insurance. We recommend ISP insurance and the website is: http://intlstudentprotection.com/schools/anderson-university/. International students who are athletes must include an additional athletic insurance rider (extended policy).
Curriculum
The Anderson University MBA consists of 3 foundational courses if needed (9 credit hours) and 12 core courses (36 credit hours). Additionally MBA students may take a 1 credit hour a semester internship course.
Foundation courses (9 credit hours)
- Financial Accounting
- Principles of Economics
- Quantitative Methods (statistics)
Students who have completed all of the requirements of the foundation section of the MBA may continue to the core section of the program. For details on validating proficiency of the foundation learning outcomes please refer to the MBA Student Handbook.
Core courses (36 credit hours):
- Management Thought and Application
- Quantitative Analysis
- Organizational Development
- Managerial Accounting
- Human Resource Management
- Managerial Economics
- Leadership and Ethics
- Operations and Management
- Financial Management
- Marketing Management
- Global Business
- Strategic Management
The prospective MBA student may elect to meet the foundational courses in one of three ways. No graduate academic credit will be granted for such courses passed.
- Complete the appropriate leveling courses offered by Anderson University. The classes are offered on a Pass/Fail grading scale.
- Complete the appropriate undergraduate courses at Anderson University or other accredited institutions with a “C” or higher.
- Pass the CLEP test(s) or other test provided by Anderson University for the appropriate courses(s).
A student will be required to complete 36 hours of course work for the MBA. The normal course load is one course per six-week term. Only on an exception basis will a student be allowed to take two courses per six-week term.
Students may transfer up to 6 hours of graduate credits from other regionally or nationally accredited institutions. These courses must have been taken within the last six years. Each transferred course must carry a grade of B or better. A “Request for Transfer Graduate Course Credit” form should be completed prior to the student’s enrollment in the MBA Program.
Entering MBA Students must:
-Complete the prerequisite completion plan (if you do not have all three pre-requisites)
-Sign Financial Aid Agreement assuming financial for the semester (each semester)
-Sign code of conduct (once)
-Sign into their Anderson email account and use it regularly
Current Student Requirements
MBA orientation MBA orientation is located online at: http://andersonuniversity.libguides.com/MBA
You will find:
- MBA calendar
- Research projects
- MBA news
- tutorial video on Financial Aid
- dates of cohort starts
Entering MBA Students must:
-Sign into their Anderson email account and use it regularly
-Sign Financial Aid Agreement assuming financial for the semester (each semester)
-Sign MBA student handbook with code of conduct (once)
Student financial responsibility
-Students must communicate with the director of the MBA within 72 hours of the first course that they are dropping the course in order not to be financially liable for the course.
-Students not showing up to the first MBA course class (1st week of each 6 week course) will automatically be dropped from the course if they do not communicate beforehand with the MBA director and professor about the absence.
Cheating penalties
-Refer to the MBA code of conduct
-Plagiarism and cheating definitions found in MBA orientation website
-Students who are found cheating or plagiarizing will be directed to the director of the MBA program. Upon investigation if the infraction is validated, the penalty for cheating and plagiarizing will be failing the course, receiving an F.
Attendance policy - seated MBA classes
-Students must notify the faculty member and MBA director of an absence.
-Students may miss one week in a six week course.
-Students missing the first class of a course without notifying the faculty member and MBA director will be dropped from the course.
-Students must notify within 72 hours of the first class of their intentions to withdraw. After the 72 hours they will be financially responsible for the course even if they do not attend.
Please see MBA Student Handbook for more details.
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