Corporate-Driven Program Development

The Davies College of Business (COB) took the following steps to develop MBA Concentration and Graduate Certificate areas that matched perfectly with industry needs.

1. COB reached out to some of the leading companies in the region, asking them to provide key executives in one or more of the eight areas previously identified as high need areas.
    
2. At defined times for each of the areas, approximately 15-20 specialists in that particular area – each from a different company – gathered at the College of Business to define/determine that concentration.
    
3. COB used a facilitator with strong industry experience to lead each of the discussions. Industry participants, with the facilitator keeping the discussion on point, went through the following steps:
   1. Identified 60 – 70 issues that should be included in a concentration in their area;
   2. Separated the issues into logical groupings – usually 5 – 6 different groups (i.e., courses);
   3. Established a representative name for each of the groups (i.e., named each course);
   4. Identified 4 – 6 learning goals for each of the 5 – 6 courses.
       
4. COB Faculty, using the identified learning goals, inserted graduate–level content into each of the classes (e.g., readings, assignments) to achieve the industry–defined outcome.