Ohio University Business Administration Graduate Program Index

Ohio University
Graduate Catalog

Business Administration

Graduate Programs

Information on the full- and part-time M.B.A. programs and the Master of Science in Accountancy are found below; for further details, please contact the College of Business Administration Graduate Student Affairs Officer, Ohio University, Copeland Hall, Athens OH 45701-2979, telephone 614-593-2007.

Information on the executive M.B.A. program is found below; for further details, please contact the Director, E.M.B.A., Ohio University, Copeland Hall, Athens OH 45701-2979, telephone 614-593-2028.

Courses are offered in business admistration, business law, finance, human resource management, management , management information systems, marketing, operations and quantitative business analysis .

M.B.A. Degree (full-time)

The M.B.A. degree program is considered an integral part of individual career development. It provides a comprehensive and integrated set of activities designed to foster your personal and professional growth. Close interaction with the faculty, an integrated electronic network environment, contact with executives, and a joint student study project abroad all contribute to your development.

The M.B.A. is a generalist degree, and the program stresses producing a competent ethics-oriented general manager with the appropriate skills and expertise to manage in a competitive global environment.

The full-time M.B.A. program is a 13-month program that begins in August and ends in September. The full-time program is limited to 40 students. A total of 72 credit hours of instruction is delivered over the 13 months. The program will be in session the entire 13 months except for the holiday period between Christmas and New Year's. Candidates sign up for 18 credit hours for each of four quarters: fall, winter, spring, and summer.

The central learning core of the program is a series of business problems. You will approach and solve the problems, sometimes in task forces, sometimes individually. You will be presented with course content in modules, with each module presented at a time when it will be useful to you for solving the current learning problem.

This methodology helps you learn content in the context in which you will apply it in the future, maximizes retention of knowledge, and helps you develop the ability to apply your knowledge. It also encourages what business has indicated to be important personal characteristics: reliability, personal responsibility, time management, initiative, adaptability, and the willingness to take risks. Further, because of the learning environment, you learn to work using the latest in information technology, and you learn how to work cooperatively, managing ill-structured problems with a minimum of direction.

We expect the following outcomes of students in the program:

The ability to apply knowledge to business situations using such disciplines as management, marketing, accounting, operations, MIS, and finance, to name a few.
Ability to analyze a business situation and communicate ideas in an effective and succinct manner.
Evidence of behavioral skills such as working effectively with individuals and groups, using power, managing change in the work unit, and stimulating achievement in others.
Ability to accept personal responsibility for direction of learning and career.
Evidence of understanding the business world-its nature, function, and place in society.
Ability to think strategically about organizations in their external and internal environments.
Evidence of critical thinking through the understanding of technology, culture, and social values and their interrelationships with the organization.

Each academic year, a team of core instructors identifies the modules they will offer from the listing of 600-level business courses: accounting, business administration, business law, finance, human resource management, management, management information systems, marketing, operations, and quantitative business analysis. A typical 13-month program will consist of four cores:

Fall Quarter: MBA 601 CORE I (18)
Winter Quarter: MBA 602 CORE II (18)
Spring Quarter: MBA 603 CORE III (18)
Summer Quarter: MBA 604 CORE IV (18)

Admission

Prerequisites for entry into the full-time program are a minimum of one course each in accounting, microeconomics, statistics, and critical thinking. You must have transcript documentation indicating successful completion of such courses at either the undergraduate or graduate level of study with a grade of B or better. In addition, there needs to be evidence of computer proficiency in word processing and spreadsheets.

Ability in critical thinking may be exhibited by courses in logic, English rhetoric, cognitive methods, integrated case courses, literary analysis, or econometrics, to name a few. You should submit a catalog course description when possible. If documentation is unavailable or inconclusive, evidence of critical thinking may be requested and evaluated through an essay required as part of your admissions material.

Admission is competitive. Factors considered include undergraduate grade-point average, scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), work experience, personal essay, interview, and recommendations. International applicants also must include their score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Successful applicants typically have at least a 3.0 undergraduate cumulative average (on a 4.0 scale) and a score of 500 or better on the GMAT. In addition, international applicants typically have a TOEFL score of 600 or better.

To apply, submit two official transcripts of your undergraduate work and three letters of recommendation. In addition, you must have GMAT scores submitted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), Box 966, Princeton NJ 08540. If your native language is not English, you must also have ETS submit your TOEFL scores.

The deadline for application is April 1. Once all application materials have been received, you will be scheduled for a personal interview with a member of the selection committee.

Financial Aid

The College of Business Administration has a number of graduate associateships and tuition scholarships available for students who demonstrate outstanding potential. Graduate associateships provide stipends of about $7,224. You must pay only the general fee. As a graduate associate, you are required to work approximately 10 to 12 hours a week over 13 months.

Requests for financial aid should be noted on the application form. All awards for financial aid are generally announced in May.

In general, tuition scholarships and graduate associateships are not awarded to international students.

M.B.A. Core Courses

M.B.A. Degree (part-time at Lancaster)

Recognizing the need to provide graduate education for individuals engaged in full-time employment, the College of Business Administration offers a part-time weekend M.B.A. program at Ohio University-Lancaster. The program is offered as demand dictates, typically every two years in late summer/early fall. Periodically, the College of Business Administration offers a one-time, one-cycle program at other selected locations in southeastern Ohio. Check with the director of graduate programs to ascertain if any such programs are currently being undertaken.

The part-time M.B.A. program is designed for individuals who have either business or nonbusiness undergraduate degrees. The program, carried out typically on a Friday night and a half-day or full-day Saturday at Lancaster, closely follows the concept of the full-time program but is delivered over a continuous two-year period of time. As in the full-time program, the central learning core of the program is a series of business problems. The project course portion of the program uses an action-learning format which places you, the learner, into exactly the type of projects and work situations that you will face as a leader of the information-age organizations of the 21st century. You will learn business concepts in the context of their use, maximizing your ability to recall and apply those concepts as you move back into the work world. You will develop the skills (communication, collaboration, teamwork) and the personal characteristics (initiative, creativity, personal responsibility) that are necessary to success.

Your comfort with information technology will increase dramatically as you regularly access information through the resources of the Internet, collaborate electronically over time and space, and develop and make professional-level, computer-driven presentations. All students will have an address on the Ohio University M.B.A. information network, which they can reach through a toll-free number. Students and faculty will communicate electronically. Notices will be given and calendars maintained electronically. Learning materials will be provided electronically. Student teams will be able to collaborate electronically. Our standard software is Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes. All students are expected to have access to a computer and a modem. The computer may use a Macintosh or Windows operating system.

The project portion of the program will normally follow a Friday evening-Saturday morning format, with an average of six meetings a quarter. On weekends when management skill workshops are held, an average of two times a quarter, the weekend meetings will extend until 5 p.m. Saturday. It is anticipated that there will be one-hour teleconferences on an evening during the weeks when there are no meetings. The teleconference will enable discussion of any issues that are important to either students or faculty at that time. They are not intended to be lecture periods, but to keep communication channels open.

The part-time program maintains the outcomes of the full-time program (see previous section). Thus, the part-time program approximates the format of the full-time program. As in the full-time program, a team of core instructors identifies the modules they will offer from the listing of 600-level business courses: accounting, business administration, business laws, finance, human resource management, management, management information systems, marketing, operations, and quantitative business analysis. The full-time program has four cores; the part-time program will be somewhat similar with split cores. Thus, the typical two-year part-time program will be about as follows:

Year 1
Summer Quarter: MBA 601A CORE I (2)
Fall Quarter: MBA 601B CORE I (8)
Winter Quarter: MBA 601C CORE I (8)
Spring Quarter: MBA 602A CORE II (8)
Summer Quarter: MBA 602B CORE II (6)
Year 2
Fall Quarter: MBA 603A CORE III (8)
Winter Quarter: MBA 603B CORE III (6)
Spring Quarter: MBA 604A CORE IV (8-10)
Summer Quarter: MBA 604B CORE IV (6)

Note: In MBA 604A, you will take the Student Study Project Abroad for two credit hours; however, you may do a domestic independent study project instead during a quarter of your choosing.

Admission

Prerequisites to entry to the part-time program are a minimum of one course each in accounting, economics, statistics, and critical thinking. You must have transcript documentation indicating successful completion of such courses at either the undergraduate or graduate level of study with a grade of B or better. In addition, there needs to be evidence of computer proficiency in word processing and spreadsheets.

Admission to the part-time program is competitive. Criteria for admission include undergraduate grades, graduate school grades (if available), scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), letters of recommendation, a written essay, and a personal interview. Successful applicants typically have a 3.0 g.p.a. and a score of 500 or higher on the GMAT.

To apply, submit a graduate application form; an official transcript of undergraduate work and any graduate work, if taken; a score report from the GMAT; three letters of recommendation; an essay describing your background, career goals, qualifications, and interest in the M.B.A. program.

Once all application materials have been received, you will be scheduled for a personal interview with a member of the selection committee.

For further information, contact the Graduate Student Affairs Officer, Copeland Hall, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701-2979, telephone 614-593-2007.

The Executive M.B.A. (at Lancaster)

The College of Business Administration offers at Ohio University-Lancaster an M.B.A. program designed for experienced business executives. The Executive M.B.A. program is structured so that you can complete all academic requirements within two years, even as you continue to handle your professional responsibilities full time. This is accomplished by offering courses on three Saturdays and one Friday a month during each of two academic years, with an independent research project completed during the intervening summer.

The program benefits both the company and the executive. Organizations have the opportunity to strengthen management resources, and executives are able to upgrade their managerial skills and to improve their opportunities for advancement into higher management.

The extensive business experience of both faculty and M.B.A. candidates, use of the seminar method for most teaching, and the deliberate attempt to select students from diverse functional areas and businesses provide a stimulating intellectual experience.

You must have a baccalaureate degree, a minimum of seven years of experience on a managerial level, and sponsorship from your employing organization. You also must complete a personal interview.

For detailed information contact the Director, E.M.B.A, Copeland Hall, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701-2979, telephone 614-593-2028.

M.S.A. Degree (full-time)

The mission of the School of Accountancy is to prepare bright people for successful careers in the accounting profession. The School of Accountancy provides a superior education with competent professors who challenge their students to excel and support their students' professional aspirations.

By 1999, graduate study will be a requirement for becoming a Certified Public Accountant, and a master's degree is also becoming more desirable for other branches of the accounting profession. With recent developments in technology and international business, more knowledge and skills are needed to become partners in CPA firms, corporate controllers, and chief financial officers of governmental and not-for-profit organizations. The full-time M.S.A. program is designed to satisfy those needs.

The Master of Science in Accountancy program provides both the depth and breadth that are necessary for its graduates to become leaders of the accounting profession. For depth, you may choose to emphasize public practice of accounting and auditing, public or private tax planning and compliance, or corporate accounting and information systems. For breadth, you may develop an individual program of study that includes many outside electives and is developed with advice from the director of the M.S.A. program.

All M.S.A. candidates must take 12 courses (48 credit hours) beyond the foundation courses. The required courses include six advanced courses in accounting, three graduate business electives, and three graduate nonbusiness electives in any approved areas. The accounting courses consist of a three-course unifying core and three graduate accounting electives. A thesis is not required for the M.S.A. program.

Admission

A bachelor's degree in accounting or equivalent coursework is required for admission to the M.S.A. Program. If you do not have a background of business studies, you will need foundation courses in communication, human behavior, mathematics, economics, accounting, business law, computer use, business finance, operations management, statistics, and marketing. Special programs of study are arranged for students with bachelor's degrees in other majors.

Applications may be considered at any time, but preference will be given to applications received by March 1 for the fall quarter. You may apply for admission in any academic quarter, but financial aid may not be available for students who do not enter in fall quarter. As part of the admissions procedure, you must submit scores for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Applicants whose native language is not English must submit scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). To be considered for admission, you normally should have at least a 3.0 overall grade-point average, 500 or better on the GMAT, 600 or better on the TOEFL (if applicable), and a ranking in the top half of your undergraduate class or demonstrated success in subsequent endeavors.

We encourage applications from members of groups who have been traditionally underrepresented in the accounting profession.