Continuing Ed at Colleges & Universities
Degrees that Lead to the Corner Office
Hands-On Education Pays Off at MCCC
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox & Kathleen McGinn Spring was
prepared for the August 13, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All
rights reserved.
Continuing Education: ETI Gets Serious With Entrepreneurs
Mary Harrison is the owner of Euphorbia, a growing
retail and bridal consulting business in downtown Lawrenceville. In
1995, after owning a catering business, burning out, and then working
as an employee in the hospitality business, she knew she wanted to
become a business owner again — and wanted to be smart about
making
the move. Toward that end, she began taking business classes.
Then, three years ago, energized by the birth of her second child,
and deciding to move to another level, she signed up for the
Entrepreneurial
Training Institute (ETI), a program sponsored by the New Jersey
Economic
Development Authority.
"I had been taking business classes for years," Harrison says,
"but I felt I needed one last class. I got tired of hearing myself
say `I’m going to finish my business plan.’" From the start, she
realized that ETI was different. "Other classes give you an
outline
and a general idea, but it’s all hypopthetical. There is no assumption
that you are really going to start a business. ETI does assume
that."
A free information session will be Tuesday, August 19, at 6 p.m. at
the Lawrence branch of the Mercer County Public Library. Call
609-292-9279
to reserve a seat or to find out more about the program. Classes begin
in Trenton on Thursday, September 18. (See page 4 for details.)
Harrison has gone from ETI graduate to ETI promoter, talking to
individuals
and to groups about what the program can do for a prospective business
owner. For her, a huge benefit was help with financials. A creative
person who named her business after one of her favorite flowers,
Harrison
confesses that she came to ETI with little expertise in accounting
or cash flow projections.
She wanted to know if her business idea was solid. "It sounded
like a good idea," she says, "but is it viable? I wanted to
hear a CPA say `You are fully capitalized. The money you have will
get you through.’"
ETI came through, leading her through financial projections, and it
did not stop there.
"I did not know how to meet a banker," says Harrison. "I
never knew they wanted to lend money." Stunned, but pleased, she
soon found bankers courting her. "They wanted to make a sale,"
she says.
She credits ETI with getting her ready to present a business plan
that would reel the bankers in. "You have to know your business
plan backwards and forwards," she says. "If there was a hole
in your plan, it came out before you went before the bankers."
Prepped by ETI, Harrison secured a $55,000 business loan to get her
enterprise off the ground.
"I started out as a caterer 13 or 14 years ago," Harrison
recounts. "I stopped about 6 or 7 years ago. I was burned out.
It’s very demanding, very physical work." She was also learning
that the parts of the work she most enjoyed were planning events and
meeting with customers, and not "making chicken for 500."
At that point, Harrison was not yet ready to start a business, and
so she became an employee, working for Hyatt and for the Princeton
University Club. But she was drawn to the entrepreneurial life, and
soon began to take on some wedding planning assignments. Wedding
planners
often work from home, but after a while the arrangement did not feel
right.
"I never felt serious when I was meeting clients in a coffee
shop,"
she says. "I wanted a store." The physical presence, she
reasoned,
would give clients confidence that she was a real business. She also
wanted more autonomy than she could get as an employee. "I had
a son, who is now 16," she says. "And I had a baby. I wanted
to be more in control over my future."
Hours can be long, and her schedule includes a full day on Saturday,
but still, Harrison says, she sees her family more as a business owner
than she ever would as an employee. "They meet me for
breakfast,"
she says. "As an entrepreneur, I do work a lot," she says,
"but it’s different. I can decide when I work. I can decide to
take 10 days off."
Speaking on a cell phone during a vacation in Vermont, Harrison says
she had made a conscious decision to keep her business within bounds.
For one thing, she sited it in Lawrenceville. "I don’t want to
be too close to my house," she says. She lives in Princeton with
her children and her husband, Matthew Harrison, a scientist. She has
a 15-minute drive to work. "If I were any closer, I would be at
work all the time," she says.
She has also hired an employee to free her from constant duty at her
shop, and is seriously considering hiring another to work full-time
on the growing wedding planning side of the business. "I love
being in the store," she says. "I love it when someone finds
just the right gift." But, she adds, it is important that she
step back from the day-to-day operations to spend time "working
on the big picture."
The big picture for Euphorbia is changing — fast. Within months
of completing her business plan, it was becoming obsolete, an
eventuality
for which all entrepreneurs should be prepared, Harrison counsels.
The retail portion of her business was supposed to be just an add-on,
a supplement to her wedding planning business, a place where brides
could pick up unusual guest books or gifts for their bridesmaids.
Instead, the store quickly became a popular gift shop. She has teamed
up with local artists, made some gift items herself, and seen retail
become about 50 percent of her business. The stationery segment of
her business also took off to a degree she did not expect. It accounts
for 25 percent of her business.
Soon retail customers starting asking if Euphorbia’s gifts were
available
through a website or a catalog, and Harrison realized that she had
better offer her merchandise through one or the other. So she is
working
on adding E-commerce to her Internet site (www.euphorbiashop.com).
Between photography, glossy stock, printing costs, and mailing
expenses,
a catalog is a major undertaking. She reasons that selling via her
website will be far less expensive. "I’ll take the picture myself
with a digital camera," she says. Not yet concerned with the
science
of search engine placement, Harrison sees E-commerce primarily as
a convenience for customers. Worried about how she would handle order
fulfillment on a large scale, she doesn’t want Internet sales to get
too big — at least not yet.
Harrison does, however, credit the Internet with bringing
newly-engaged
women to her door for wedding planning. "The first thing they
do after they get engaged is jump on the Internet at work," she
says. There, in chat rooms of big bridal sites like The Knot
women with weddings on their minds gather and compare notes on wedding
planners. A number of her clients have found her on the Internet.
Euphorbia is not yet showing a profit, but Harrison is sanguine about
its prospects. She has made a decision to invest in the business
rather
than rush it to profitability. Besides, she says, most businesses
do not climb into black ink until their third year. For Euphorbia,
that would be next year, and she is confident that the business is
on track to turn a profit by that time.
Crediting ETI for its role in her success and recommending the
entrepreneurial
training program to others, Harrison nevertheless adds a note of
caution,
emphasizing that starting a business is a huge undertaking. "You
have to be ready," she says. What’s more, "you have to make
sure that your family is onboard," she says.
A start-up is quite a ride. Like many a New Jersey entrepreneur,
Harrison
is thankful that ETI was around to provide a trail map.
Middlesex College
At 59 pages, Middlesex County College’s fall catalog,
available online at www.middlesex.cc.jn.us, is chock full of ideas
for those with a career enhancement — or a quick career switch
— in mind. In the technology field, full-time career programs
include Microsoft Networking Engineer, Software Technology Specialist,
Computerized Medical Office Administrator, and Web Developer. The
cost for these programs, including fees, ranges from $4,000 to $6,000.
Less demanding are the school’s short-term, entry level technologist
career programs. Options include Administrative Accounting, Microsoft
Office User Specialist, and Microsoft Certified Professional. The
cost for these programs ranges from $2,510 to $3,300.
For professionals already working in their fields, the college offers
business enhancement courses, including Fundamentals of Accounting,
Web Design, and Network and Internet Security. The cost for these
courses ranges from $225 to $720.
In the health field, Middlesex offers training in Dental Radiology,
CPR, and Chest Radiography. Individual classes cost as little as $45.
In partnership with the Somerset School of Massage Therapy, the school
offers a 12-month course in massage therapy, beginning in October,
and a 6-month course beginning in September. The cost for the 600-hour
program is $6,924.82. Another offering in the growing fitness/health
field is a Personal Trainer Certificate. Offered in partnership with
Momentum Fitness, it begins in late-September, provides much of its
instruction at the fitness center’s Montgomery location, and costs
about $500. Students are strongly encouraged to complete 100 hours
of experience in the health and fitness field before becoming
certified.
While applications for degree programs must be in by Friday, August
15, application for part-time, and non-degree classes are accepted
up until the date of the first class, which varies. Consult the
catalog
or call 732-548-6000.
Box 3050, Edison 08818-3050. John Bakum, president. 732-548-6000;
Mercer County
Technical Schools
Many an office dweller, sickening on office politics,
overloaded with meetings, and putting in face time until well past
his children’s bedtime, flirts with the idea of walking another path,
or perhaps of driving another path — in a big pickup truck.
Working
at a trade can be an attractive alternative to working at a 9-to-5
job, especially because it is often a road to owning a business.
Mercer County Technical Schools’ adult division provides training
in a wide range of trades. Its apprenticeship programs include auto
body technician, carpenter, electrician, iron worker, painter, and
welder. Other apprenticeship options are chef, computer programmer,
firefighter, and emergency medical technician. Apprenticeship programs
last from two to four years. The fee for apprenticeship programs is
$200 per semester.
In addition to apprenticeships, the school offers instruction for
adults in Cosmetology, Homeland Security, Fiber Optics, Network
Cabling,
and many other practical fields.
Registration takes place on August 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27 from
8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m. For more details call
609-586-5146
or visit www.mctec.net.
1085 Old Trenton Road, Trenton 08690. Joseph Borgia, director of adult
education. 609-586-5146; fax, 609-586-1709.
More Options
PA. 215-951-1155.
New for working professionals this fall at LaSalle are certificate
programs in Public Relations, Organizational Communication, Mass
Communication,
and General Professional Communication. Other areas of study in the
university’s continuing education division include Conflict
Management,
Interpersonal Communication, and Communication Management in Media
and Public Relations.
Princeton 08540. 609-514-9650; fax, 609-514-9675.
Berlitz teaches languages — scores of them — to everyone from
vacationers to relocating businesspeople. The method is immersion,
with no English allowed, and classes can be one-on-one or group. An
interactive menu on Berlitz’s website (www.berlitz.com) helps
potential
language learners decide among courses, and estimates how long it
will take to achieve specific goals. For example, it estimates that
a person who wants to do business in China, and needs to begin doing
so in six months to a year, will need about 100 lessons to become
fluent in Mandarin. A vacationer with a beginner’s grasp of French
would need about 50 lessons before being able to navigate restaurants
and markets in Paris with complete confidence.
For those with less time, Berlitz offers one, two, and four-week
courses
to impart the basics of conversation.
Bellevue
Avenue, Trenton 08618. Nancy M. Murray, chairperson. 609-394-4050;
fax, 609-394-4354.
Capital Health System offers a two-year, cooperative nursing program
with Mercer County Community College. All nursing courses are offered
at the nursing school, while basic humanities and science courses
are taught at the college. Graduates earn a diploma from Capital and
Associate in Science degree from MCCC, and are eligible to apply to
four-year Bachelor of Science programs.
Tuition for nursing courses is paid by the Helene Fuld Trenton
Scholarship
Trust, but there are fees for nursing courses as well as tuition,
books, and fees for college courses. The total cost for the program
is approximately $7,500.
Informal information sessions and tours are held every Thursday
between
3 and 5 p.m. at the school.
Hightstown 08520. Kate Napolitano, assistant principal. 609-443-7804;
fax, 609-443-7855.
Not every town has its fall adult education offerings ready, but East
Windsor does. Available at www.eastwindsorregionalschools.com, the
catalog is brimming with trips, courses, and one-day classes. There
is a theater series and a whole section of computer classes for
seniors.
Among the more interesting sounding classes are Instant Piano for
Hopelessly Busy People, Selling on the Internet, Open Water Scuba
Diving, Winterizing Your Garden.
Suite 7, Ewing, 08628. Linda Burke, director. 609-656-4303.
Formerly Star Technical Institute, and formerly located in Lawrence,
this school offers training in computer, medical, and legal fields.
Among its computer courses are PC Support Specialist, Medical Office
Specialist, and Computer Operator/Help Desk Analyst.
C-20, Box 701, Princeton 08542-0701. Anne Brener, coordinator.
609-683-1101;
fax, 609-688-1181.
The fall brochure for this community-based continuing education
program
will be mailed out on Friday, August 29, and will be available online
at www.princetonadultschool.org beginning Wednesday, September 3.
Registration for English as a Second Language courses takes place
on Monday, September 8, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Princeton High
School.
Registration for all other courses takes place on Tuesday, September
9, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Princeton High School.
Utopia, the community education program’s lecture series in
cooperation
with Princeton University, is open to all. Lecture titles and dates
are announced after Labor Day.
Drive, Suite 506, Skillman 08558. Deborah Metzger, founder/director.
609-924-7294; fax, 609-443-1687.
Various types of yoga, meditation, Pilates, Tai Chi, Qigong, drumming
and healing circles, belly dance, holistic living workshops,
therapeutic
bodywork, massage, chiropractic care and acupuncture, aromatherapy,
energy healing, stress management, professional training, corporate
programs.
Adults seeks a career as a Dharmic Yoga teacher can attend a series
of four weekend workshops beginning on the weekend of November 1.
Graduates of the program become Certified Yoga Professionals with
a specialty in women’s health and wellness.
Education, 20 Library Place, Erdman Hall, Princeton 08540. Joyce
Tucker, dean. 609-497-7990; fax, 609-497-0709.
How many continuing ed programs offer low-cost housing,
meals, and childcare? The Theological Seminary does. The school offers
both credit and non-credit continuing education credits to both
ministers
and laity.
Some upcoming titles include "Dusting Off Your Hebrew…and
More,"
"From Clergy Misconduct to Healing for the Congregation: A
Critical
Time for Faithful Ministry," "Dark Nights and White Knuckles:
Discernment during Chaos and Rapid Change," "Faith, Law, and
Ethics Conference," "The Visual Arts in Christian
Traditions,"
and "Welcoming Resistance."
Week-long programs, including lodging and meals, cost about $450.
Two-day programs, including lodging and meals, run about $150. For
those who do not choose the stay-over option, the fee is cut by about
50 percent. Single lectures cost less, often about $25.
Housing is in Erdman Hall, across the street from the Seminary’s Speer
and Luce Libraries. A no-smoking, no-pet facility, Erdman Hall has
60 guest rooms described as "simple yet comfortable." All
rooms have phones with voice mail and modem access. Six of the
accommodations
are meant for families, and contain two bedrooms connected by a
bathroom.
Six other rooms are equipped to meet the needs of students with
disabilities.
Guests have access to the Internet, the Seminary library card catalog,
and word processing software.
Three spaces at the Carol Gray Dupree Center for Children, a daycare
center for children age 18 months through kindergarten, are reserved
for continuing education participants, who pay $30 per day, or $15
for half-a-day.
Registration information, along with an extensive description of each
course, is available online at www.ptsem.edu.
Continuing
Education, Route 28 and Lamington Road, Box 3300, Somerville
08876-1265.
Janet Luton Perantoni, dean. 908-218-8894; fax, 908-526-3576.
page: www.raritanval.edu
Raritan Valley has an especially strong curriculum in
teacher training and in continuing education for teachers. Other
specialties
include allied health, small business, technology, and professional
development.
For those trying to sort out the options, the school holds a free
Lifelong Educational Opportunity Orientation on Saturday, September
6, at 9 a.m. Also coming up in the area of professional development
are "Reinvent Yourself in Today’s Economy," a five-session
class, beginning on Tuesday, September 9, at a cost of $123;
"Power
Job Search: Career Assessment Testing," a two session class,
beginning
on Tuesday, September 16, at a cost of $87; and the appealingly-named
"Nine Choices of Extremely Happy People," a two session class,
beginning on Monday, October 20, at a cost of $48.
Full details on Raritan Valley’s extensive credit and non-credit
courses
is available online at www.raritanval.edu.
191 College Avenue, c/o Division of Summer Session, New Brunswick
08901. Marvin Schlaffer, director. 732-932-7233; fax, 732-932-4745.
Over 50, and looking for some fun, nicely laced with mental
stimulation?
RU-ALL could be for you. Courses on computer languages, accounting
systems, and nanotechnology are available in surprising variety all
over our area, but all of that serious career-preparation, important
as it is, can be exhausting. RU-ALL provides a break.
It’s fun just to read its fall 2003 schedule (available in complete
detail at ruall.rutgers.edu.) Courses, and film series, include
"The Challenge of Play Reading," "Kings, Chronicles, and
Cabals," "A Non-Religious Approach to Spirituality,"
"Word
Play," "Food Flicks," "And Justice for All: The World
of Justice in Literature."
Many courses are given by and current or retired Rutgers faculty.
Classes begin on Monday, September 8. Participants may choose up to
two courses for a $100 fee or unlimited courses for $150. First time
registrants pay $50 for any combination of 20 weeks of courses.
Lane, East Brunswick 08816. Charles Bendel, CEO. 732-238-1600; fax,
732-238-7659.
Short courses at the New Brunswick and Princeton Hyatt in applied
industrial technology for working scientists and engineers.
Village
& South Mill Road, Box 505, Princeton Junction 08550-0248. Marci
Rubin,
director. 609-716-5030; fax, 609-716-5035.
Continuing education classes for adults, including computer classes,
ESL and GED.
Top Of Page
Continuing Ed at Colleges & Universities
7718, Ewing 08628-0718. R. Barbara Gitenstein, president.
609-771-1855;
fax, 609-771-3067.
Most of the certificate programs at the College of New Jersey are
in the fields of education or counseling, as are most of the graduate
programs. Certificate programs include alcohol and chemical dependency
counseling, substance awareness coordinator, teaching English as a
second language, reading specialist certification, and learning
disabilities
teacher/consultant special education certification.
Graduate degree programs include audiology, speech pathology,
educational
leadership, educational technology, health education, special
education,
and school counseling.
North Brunswick 08902. Robert H. Bocchino, president. 732-435-4880;
fax, 732-435-4856.
Associate’s degrees in computer information systems,
telecommunications,
business administration, and associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in
electronics engineering technology and telecommunications.
Branch 07764-1898. Rebecca Stafford, president. 732-571-3400; fax,
732-571-7589.
Those who need to switch to another career find a number of options
at Monmouth. In addition to a full complement of master’s degrees,
the school offers certificates that can be completed in as few as
12 credits. These certificates offer students who are not ready to
commit to a master’s degree a way to advance or switch careers
quickly.
Certificates include public relations, human resources communication,
criminal justice administration, professional counseling, and
substance
awareness.
Teaching appeals to many downsizing victims looking for an opportunity
to make a difference (and maybe thinking of those long summer
vacations,
too). Monmouth recently started offering a teacher preparation
program.
In a telephone survey of graduates of its 1999-2000 inaugural teacher
preparation program, the school discovered that 92 percent of
respondents
had found jobs in education.
Education,
318 Nassau Hall , Princeton 08544. Blanche Scioli, program assistant.
609-258-5226; fax, 609-258-1294.
Princeton’s Program in Continuing Education admits
qualified
area residents as well as university employees and their dependents
to undergraduate and graduate courses. The program, founded in 1973,
does not grant degrees and principally serves students who are
preparing
for a career change or entrance into professional or graduate school;
pursuing advanced training in their fields; resuming education after
a break; or seeking personal enrichment.
Qualified continuing education students may enroll in most Princeton
courses, along with Princeton undergraduates and graduate students.
Some limited enrollment courses may not be available.
Students are completely integrated into regular courses and
participate
fully in classes, precepts, laboratories, workshops, and studios.
They meet with faculty members, enjoy full library privileges, and
have their grades recorded on a regular Princeton transcript that
can be presented for transfer credit.
Tuition is $3,750 a course for area residents, but significantly less
for university employees, full-time K-12 New Jersey teachers, and
for retired employees and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners.
In addition to this for-credit program, Princeton offers a Community
Auditing Program (CAP). Through this program, area residents may audit
lectures on a non-credit basis for $75 per course. Participants are
not able to attend seminars, precepts, or labs, or to participate
in class discussions. The decision to accept auditors is made by the
professor.
closed for the fall semester. Call for spring registration dates,
which are generally in early-December. And mark your calendars for
next year. Fall registration generally extends through early July.
Lawrenceville
08648. Mordechai Rozanski, president. 609-896-5000; fax, 609-895-5681.
John H. Carpenter, dean, college of continuing studies. 609-896-5033;
fax, 609-896-5261.
University with 5,456 students, 58 undergraduate and 17 graduate
programs
in business administration, liberal arts, education, sciences, and
music.
Administration,
2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville 08648. Mark Sandberg, dean.
609-896-5152; fax, 609-896-5304.
MBA program, AACSB accredited, and undergraduate business with 11
majors.
and New Brunswick, 111 Washington Street, Newark 07102-1895. Howard
Tuckman, dean. 973-353-1234; fax, 973-353-1345.
Graduate business program offering an MBA with these concentrations:
pharmaceutical management, arts management, supply chain management,
entrepreneurship, and E-commerce.
Also an executive MBA and MBAs in pharmaceutical management and
professional
accounting, plus master of accounting degrees in governmental
accounting,
taxation, financial accounting, master of quantitative finance. Also
a PhD in management. Dual and joint degree programs include JD/MBA,
MS/MBA in biomedical sciences, masters of public health with and MBA,
and MD/MBA. Various offsite locations including Hopewell and
Plainsboro.
Three-quarters of the 1,516 graduate students attend part time.
08102-1656. Michael Sapanic, director of marketing. 856-225-6452;
fax, 856-225-6231.
Public Policy, 33 Livingston Avenue, Suite 300, New Brunswick
08901-1981.
James W. Hughes PhD, dean. 732-932-5475; fax, 732-932-1771.
Trenton 08608-1176. George A. Pruitt, president. 609-984-1100; fax,
609-777-2956.
Starting last year, Thomas Edison students were able
to enroll during any month of the year.
Thomas Edison students can not only earn an associate’s, bachelor’s
or master’s degree through study in their own homes, but they can
also receive credit toward a degree in a number of ways, including
taking tests, having portfolios and life experiences evaluated, and
presenting evidence of the completion of classes at other institutions
or at work.
Students are often surprised to find that they need to take only three
or four classes to earn a degree. The school’s website walks
prospective
students through a formula to determine the cost of obtaining a degree
in this manner.
A popular study option is the e-Pack class, through which students
are E-mailed lessons and tests, which they complete at their own pace.
The school offers master’s degrees in management and in professional
studies. Among its bachelor’s degrees are in nursing, human services,
health sciences, business administration, and applied science and
technology.
While study is virtual, there is a live, three-dimensional graduation.
Anyone who has spent a decade or two — or more — taking
classes
here and there, attending seminars at work, and racking up life
experience
through in-depth involvement in volunteer work or hobbies may find
that the dream of seeing themselves in cap and gown might be a whole
lot closer than they ever thought possible.
101 Walnut Lane, Princeton 08540-3899. Robert L. Annis, dean.
609-921-7100;
fax, 609-921-6952.
Professional college of music, home of the Westminster Choir, a part
of Rider University.
Top Of Page
Degrees that Lead to the Corner Office
The Executive M.B.A. (EMBA) is often the key to the
executive suite. Students in these pricey programs, where tuition
is rarely much less than $50,000 and can go as high as $100,000 or
more, traditionally have been sponsored in full by their employers.
EMBA students tend to be stars, middle to upper-middle managers in
their mid-to-upper 30s with solid track records. In the past companies
have been happy not only to invest in them, but also to give them
generous amounts of time off for classes and study.
Times have changed. Employers are more reluctant to pay the full cost
of an EMBA program, and are also reluctant to give their best
employees
substantial time off. So more ambitious employees are footing part
of the tuition bills themselves, and a number of EMBA programs are
substituting some home study for mandatory Fridays on campus. The
greater flexibility is helping to attract students, who still think
the elite degree is bound to pay off — if not now, then surely
in a year or two.
EMBA programs differ from part-time and full-time MBA programs in
a number of ways (U.S. 1, April 10, 2002). Classes are small, and
students move together through the program, taking the same courses
at the same time, and forming close bonds with one another. Where
MBA programs offer a number of areas of concentration and a plethora
of elective choices, EMBA programs generally have no electives. An
important part of the EMBA experience is that students work on many
assignments as a team. Another bonding exercise is an international
trip, often of 10 days, to an economic hot spot.
Because entrance requirements are strict — most schools require
students to have from 5 to 10 years of business experience —
students
are as likely to learn from their peers as from their professor.
The cost typically includes everything from books and parking to
meals,
overnight stays, and all or part of a required international trip.
"Students just have to show up," says one admissions director,
pointing out that the cost would be not much higher than that of a
traditional MBA if all the costs incurred in obtaining the MBA were
added up. And the EMBA generally takes only about half as long to
complete. Perhaps most importantly, it offers the intangible but
potentially
priceless benefit of intense networking with fast-track fellow
students.
For all of the above reasons, some executives who find their employers
suddenly unwilling to foot the bill are now swallowing hard and
writing
the check themselves.
Top Of Page
Overnight Programs
Penn State Smeal Executive MBA program at the Gregg
Conference Center in Bryn Mawr, the Main Line suburb of Philadelphia
(814-863-8512, www.psuemba.org). Tuition is $82,000. Dennis
Sheehan,
who teaches finance at Penn State’s State College campus, is the
contact
person. The program’s website indicates that applications are still
being taken for the fall term, and that interested persons should
contact Sheehan as soon as possible.
In an interview just about one year ago, Sheehan said: "This is
a typical cohort-based program." Smeal’s State College professors
will teach in the 22-month program. With the third largest
undergraduate
business program in the country, Smeal has seven academic departments
and 10 research centers and institutes. In addition to traditional
subject areas — marketing, management, finance, real estate,
accounting
and information systems — it offers courses in converging
economies,
supply chain management, E-business, and entrepreneurship.
"The students will learn skills and gain insights from world
thought
leaders that are immediately applicable on the job," says Sheehan.
Sheehan says that sponsoring companies will also benefit from the
retention of their best talent and better succession planning.
"Not
only does the company gain a more energized and motivated
employee,"
he says, "but it also receives the opportunity to network with
other leading firms participating in the program."
Classes are be held every other weekend, from Friday through Saturday,
with an overnight stay on Friday night. Sheehan has taught under a
number of possible EMBA schedules and much prefers the two-day
overnight.
In his view, "With one day a week, it feels like a job — you
go nine to five and you don’t quite get the feeling of being in a
campus setting. The residential component clearly adds $15,000 to
$20,000 to the cost, but the students get more involved." Faculty
members join the students for the overnight stay, and even a student
who lives close by must participate. They love it: "I never found
a person who wanted to go home on Friday night."
While other schools report that employers are reluctant to give
workers
every other Friday off to attend classes, Sheehan said this has not
been an issue in Penn State’s recruitment efforts.
What is an issue among prospective students, he said, is the overall
time commitment. As is the case with most other area EMBA programs,
Penn State’s typical participant is in his mid-to-late 30s. Most
students
are male. This, says Sheehan, is in line with national EMBA enrollment
figures, which peg the percentage of females in the programs at 20
to 25 percent.
overnight program and requires its students to stay on campus
(215-898-3430,
www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba). One of the most selective business
schools, it accepted only 25 percent of applicants in 2001.
If the tuition, about $115,000, seems expensive, consider that the
average salary of a Wharton EMBA student is $174,000, with the range
from $53,000 to $4 million. Average increase in salary at the end
of the program is 33.5 percent. Tuition includes the ground expenses
for a week’s international study, but students pay their own airfare.
The deadline for application to Wharton’s next class, beginning in
May 2004, is February 1, 2004. There is a recruiting reception on
Wednesday, September 24, at 5:30 p.m. at The Penn Club in New York
City.
Villanova’s College of Commerce and Finance (610-519-6443) the
tab is now $75,000, up some $5,000 from last year.
New to this program as of last year is a rolling admissions policy
with accelerated decisions. Generally, decisions are made within two
weeks after all application material is received.
Classes began on August 9 this year with a one-week residency. After
this initial phase, classes are held every other weekend, from Friday
at 9 a.m. to Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for 21 months.
Registration for the fall 2004 class begins in September. This year,
there were slots available right up until the last minute.
Students are required to stay on campus overnight. In the spring of
the first year, students have a week-long international experience
that focuses on one of a number of targeted emerging economies and
is designed to provide a broader understanding of the opportunities,
challenges, and risks in global business relationships through site
visits and exchanges with key business and government decision makers.
Top Of Page
Other Programs
St. Joseph’s Haub School of Business offers two EMBA
options that alternate between Fridays and Saturdays (610-660-1692,
www.sju.edu/emba). A one-year, 30-credit weekend program is for those
who already have an undergraduate business degree, and a 21-month,
48-credit, five-semester weekend program.
The one-year program is a common sense response to the desire of
students
with business degrees to skip the base courses they took as
undergraduates.
A recent addition to the Haub School is a live Wall Street trading
room. Other features of the program include standard-issue laptops
to do away with hardware conflicts, and an extensive one-on-one
executive
coaching component.
Other executive level advanced degrees offered at Haub are an M.S.
in Food Marketing and an M.S. in Pharmaceutical marketing.
School
of Management in Newark (973-353-5015, www.emba.rutgers.edu). Classes
meet all day on alternate Fridays and Saturdays at the school’s Newark
campus. Tuition is $13,853 per semester for state residents and
$16,648
for out-of-staters.
First-year students spend two weeks in three European countries, and,
as of this year, the cost of the trip, minus airfare, is included
in tuition.
Though most executive MBA programs require work experience, usually
five years, the Rutgers program requires 10 years of experience.
Fox School of Business and Management is about $47,000. The class
of 2004 has an average of 17 years in the workforce and 11 years in
management. The average student age is 41, and 35 percent of all
students
are female.
The Fox School has cut-back on Friday classes, going from two a month
to just one. There are two Saturday classes, and the fourth class
is virtual.
The school is holding an information session on Saturday, September
6, at 9:30 a.m. at the ACE Center in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.
www.drexel.edu) tuition for the executive MBA program is approximately
$49,000.
Lebow offers two different EMBA schedules, the traditional alternating
Friday and Saturday schedule and an evening schedule, with classes
held two evenings a week — from 6 to 9 p.m. — for 24 months.
Administration offers an executive MBA in Health Systems Managment
in addition to its general EMBA. Classes take place at its conference
center in Madison. (201-692-2000, www.fdu.edu).
Cost for the EMBA is $42,750, unchanged from last year, and includes
a two-week seminar overseas. FDU has other advanced business degree
programs, including an unusual MBA in pharmaceutical and chemical
studies that can be taken in the evenings.
— Kathleen McGinn Spring
Traditional Part-time MBA Programs
In addition to executive MBA programs, many area schools
offer traditional part-time MBA programs. Among the most popular
options
is a three-year, part-time, evening schedule. Seton Hall,
Rutgers/Camden,
Rowan, Ramapo College, Rider, the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
Monmouth University, and Georgian Court College all offer this option.
credit hour (609-896-5036, www.rider.edu). Most students taking
evening
and weekend courses complete the MBA in three years. Concentrations
are available in finance, marketing, global business, healthcare,
and management. A recent addition is a concentration in
entrepreneurship.
The application deadline for the fall session was August 1. The
deadline
for the spring session is May 1.
The school has about 450 students who are studying part time for an
MBA and about 50 studying full time.
program in Newark costs $652 per credit for state residents, and $847
per credit for everyone else.
That amounts to an overall fee of about $16,000 for residents, $22,600
for non-residents, plus $1,500 for other fees (973-596-3300,
The deadline for applications for the spring semester is October 15.
Orange (973-761-9262, www.business.shu.edu) charges $646 per credit
for part-time MBA courses. Master’s degrees are also available in
law, international studies, health administration, and nursing.
660, www.georgian.edu) costs $340 per credit or $22,050 for the
program.
costs $523 per credit. Up to 18 credits can be waived. Programs
include
the general MBA, accounting, and healthcare, and each requires a
different
number of credits, from 30 to 54.
charges $329 per credit hour for residents, $372 for non-residents.
It is known for its cooperative education program.
Top Of Page
Hands-On Education Pays Off at MCCC
Just nine months after they switched majors and began
courses toward an associate degree in Energy Utility Technology at
Mercer County Community College, four students have graduated and
have found full-time jobs with Public Service Electric and Gas Company
(PSE&G). Others will be continuing their studies this fall, along
with other newly enrolled students.
The program began in January of this year through a partnership
between
MCCC and PSE&G. Course work covers math, science, utility technology,
electrical construction and utility installations. PSE&G provide
students
with additional apprenticeship training at its Edison Training Center.
After completing the formal apprenticeship program, students are
eligible
to continue training through a paid summer internship with PSE&G,
earning about $14 an hour.
The program not only prepares students for a career, but also offers
them flexibility for continuing their education. The first of its
kind in New Jersey, the program may be expanded to other community
colleges within the state.
— Kathleen McGinn Spring
Corrections or additions?
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