Nov 24, 2024  
2023-2024 Graduate Bulletin 
    
2023-2024 Graduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Business Administration, M.B.A.


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The Master of Business Administration program is part of the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, which combines a strong core business education with the development of skills for authentic leadership and ethical business practices.

The Sidhu School’s Master of Business Administration degree program expands business knowledge, management skills, and leadership capabilities of early and mid-career professionals from many disciplines, functions, and jobs in order to enhance their success at work, adding value both for the student and for the organizations with which the student is associated. The MBA Program serves individuals in professional, functional, administrative, and managerial roles who seek to improve their level of performance and their prospects for advancement, by providing a strong foundation in general management through the development and integration of knowledge and skills in functional areas essential to effective management and leadership of a business.

Students are encouraged to focus the program of study in a way that is relevant and adds value to the roles they carryout at work and roles into which they may be promoted, and to initiate a systematic process of development as effective leaders as they continue to progress through their careers. In addition, the MBA Program seeks to contribute to the success of the businesses and organizations in which MBA candidates work, by enhancing key skills essential for organizational performance and adding to the quality of the pool of managers and leaders in these organizations.

The Master of Business Administration program is accredited by The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). ACBSP accreditation affirms the excellence of these programs to graduate and professional schools as well as potential employers, and thereby serves as a major competitive advantage for students completing business programs at Wilkes. The Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership is also a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

MBA students are encouraged to participate in the broader life of the Wilkes University community. The Sidhu School sponsors an active chapter of Delta Mu Delta, an honorary business society that recognizes the highest levels of academic achievement by undergraduate and graduate students. Annual awards recognize outstanding academic achievements among MBA candidates.

Vision

Sidhu School graduates will be prepared with the knowledge, skills, experiences, and passion to lead diverse organizations in the face of dynamic challenges and a rapidly changing global environment.

Mission

The Sidhu School transforms students through an empowering education in a mentoring environment that develops personal, professional, and leadership skills through scholarship, experiential learning, and community engagement.

Distinctive Objectives Of the MBA Program

The curriculum leading to the Master of Business Administration degree at Wilkes emphasizes a general, broad-based approach to graduate business education. Students acquire the quantitative and judgmental skills necessary for a manager to succeed. The core objectives of the MBA include:

Communication. to enhance the skills necessary to effectively transfer information applicable to any discipline through presentations, team projects, and interactions with peers.

Decision-making. to enable individuals to create and evaluate alternative courses of action as a procedure for making decisions and teach them the mental processes of problem identification and resolution techniques needed to perform critical thinking, enabling them to make important decisions.

Ethics and social responsibility. to provide students with a set of principles that govern actions of moral conduct in order that they might operate ethically in today’s business environment and instill in students the concept of acting responsibly in order to benefit and serve society.

Leadership. to develop in students the potential to influence others in order to accomplish organizational goals by exposing them to theories of organizational leadership and development, and fostering that growth with projects throughout the course of their studies.

Professionalism. to develop professional managers, with emphasis on the organization, operation, and control of an enterprise, including international and diverse perspectives.

Team performance. to provide meaningful opportunities to cultivate teamwork throughout the course of studies through various projects. The program provides management education at the master’s level for students with varied undergraduate backgrounds: business and economics, engineering and science, and others.

Admission Requirements

Applications are invited from individuals who have earned undergraduate or graduate degrees in any discipline or field of study. To be considered for admission, the applicant must submit the following to the Graduate Admissions Office:

  • A completed graduate application for admission.
  • A complete set of official undergraduate transcripts as evidence of an earned baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution of higher education.
  • The contract information or email addresses of three recommenders who can comment on the applicant’s academic and professional qualifications. The recommenders will be asked to submit a letter of recommendation.
  • A resume showing the applicant’s education and work experience.
  • A personal statement answering the following questions:
    • Describe your short-term and long-term career goals
    • Why do you choose to pursue an MBA at Wilkes University?
    • What makes you a strong candidate for the Wilkes MBA program?

To be accepted on a regular basis, applicants must have earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in their undergraduate degree program. An applicant who has earned a cumulative GPA of less than 3.0 in his or her undergraduate degree program will be required to interview with the MBA program director or the director’s designate.

Provisional Acceptance

A prospective student may be provisionally accepted if they have applied to the program and meet admissions requirements, but the university is waiting on additional application materials, like official college transcripts.

Conditional Acceptance

A prospective student with a GPA of less than 3.0 maybe accepted into the program on a conditional basis. The conditionally accepted student must maintain no less than a3.0 in the first two courses (6 graduate credits) of the MBA program. Failure to maintain the minimum 3.0 may result in dismissal of the conditionally accepted student.

Degree Requirements


The total number of 500 level course credits required for the MBA is 36-39. The MBA degree is earned by completion of six distinct tiers - the Foundation, Business Essentials, Decision Making, Leadership & Ethics, the Electives, and the Capstone. These are summarized below.

Foundation (0-3 Credits):


This tier is comprised of three one credit Foundation courses, which are required as prerequisites to most courses in the MBA Program:

Business Essentials (9 Credits):


This tier is comprised of the following three required courses, which together provide students with the essentials for all of the functional areas of business administration:

Decision Making (9 Credits):


This tier is comprised of three required courses to assist with the decision-making process:

Leadership & Ethics (6 Credits):


This tier is comprised of two required courses to give a better understanding of leadership and ethics

The Electives (9 Credits)


Students can choose nine credits of elective courses to complement their business administration program. Students can pursue one of the following tracks:

Management Leadership


Notes:

*Students must complete LDR 591 .

Sustainability Management


The Sustainability Management track is comprised of the following elective courses:

Strategy/Capstone (3 Credits):


Each MBA student must successfully complete the following -course capstone requirement:

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