Master of Business Administration College of Business (After Jan. 1, 2005)

The Master of Business Administration (MBA), residential and online, covers the tools and methods required to run a business. The program requires 36 graduate level credit hours of course work. The schedule of course offerings permits an individual working full time to complete all the requirements for the MBA degree in 18 months (two classes per term). Students who do not have an undergraduate degree in business will generally take the Foundation (9 credit hours), the Core (18 credit hours) and a concentration (9 credit hours) to complete the degree. Students with an undergraduate degree in business normally have met all or most of the Foundation requirements; thus, they will take the Core (18 credit hours), a concentration (9 credit hours), and will complete 9 hours of graduate business electives (instead of the Foundation), which may be composed of a second MBA concentration. The MBA concentration provides the MBA student with an opportunity to focus their studies in a business area of particular interest.

Enrollment Management, in consultation with the Dean's office, will develop an education plan for students that show the courses needed to complete the degree program.

Curriculum

Foundation

(May be satisfied with specified equivalent undergraduate course work.)

    MBA 505 Survey of Business Functions
    MBA 522 Survey of Statistics and Quantitative Methods
    MBA 541 Survey of Accounting and Information Systems

Note: Students who have an undergraduate degree in business will normally have met all or most of the Foundation requirements. The hours made available by this preparation must be met with graduate-level electives and may be used to develop a second concentration in Interdisciplinary Business, Accounting, Finance, Human Resource Management, International Management, Management Information Systems, or Marketing. The program requires 36 graduate credit hours of course work. No undergraduate courses count toward the MBA.

Core

(must be satisfied with graduate level courses)

    MBA 612 Financial Strategy
    MBA 626 Applied Production and Operations Management
    MBA 633 Advanced Organizational Behavior
    MBA 642 Managerial Accounting and Information Systems
    MBA 652 Marketing Strategy
    MBA 639 Strategic Management (Must be taken by all students during the last term of course work)

MBA Program Sequence

To enhance the quality and value of the 600-level core MBA experience, it is strongly recommended that all 500-level requirements are completed as soon as possible in your program of study. Complete the prerequisites; they will not be waived if taken out of sequence.

    MBA 505 Survey of Business Functions
    MBA 541 Survey of Accounting and Information Systems
    MBA 522 Survey of Statistics and Quantitative Methods
    MBA 652 Marketing Strategy
    MBA 633 Advanced Organizational Behavior
    MBA 642 Managerial Accounting and Information Systems
    MBA 626 Applied Production and Operations Management
    Concentration Course 1
    MBA 612 Financial Strategy
    Concentration Course 2
    MBA 639 Strategic Management
    Concentration Course 3

Concentrations

Interdisciplinary Business

The Interdisciplinary Business concentration is primarily oriented toward managerial practice and provides a generalist perspective across traditional MBA curricula. Students will learn how to integrate theory and practice, apply basic concepts, and establish the analytical tools needed to manage a business in an evolving global environment. The Economics and Quantitative Analysis courses in the concentration, in conjunction with the core courses, will help prepare students interested in taking the MBA certification exam.

Students must choose a minimum of three courses from the following:

    BA 623 Quantitative Analysis
    MBA 611 Economics
    MBA 634 Advanced Organizational Management and Theory
    MBA 665 Advanced Business Law

Accounting Concentration

The accounting concentration is designed to provide undergraduate accounting majors, as well as non-accounting majors, the opportunity to explore advanced topics in the accounting field. Non-accounting undergraduate majors, with limited coursework in accounting at the undergraduate level, can enhance their understanding of the accounting area through this concentration. All those wishing to take the accounting concentration should contact a major professor in the accounting area to assist them in designing a concentration.

Students must choose a minimum of 12 hours from the following, and must satisfy prerequisites for each course:

    AC 618 Accounting Theory
    AC 619 International Accounting
    AC 624 Advanced Cost Accounting
    AC 632 Advanced Tax Accounting
    AC 643 Advanced Auditing
    AC 652 Accounting for Governmental and Non-profit Entities
    AC 661 Seminar in Contemporary Accounting
This concentration alone will not qualify students to sit for the CPA exam. Students planning to sit for the CPA examination should check with their faculty advisor to ensure that they will have completed the requirements as outlined by the respective state boards of accountancy.

Advanced Programming

  • The candidate should have an intermediate programming course in C++; an intermediate Java course and advanced Java course
At the completion of this concentration the successful candidate will be able to write Java servlets, as well as create and easily maintain JSP pages using the Expression Language, JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL), and the Struts Tiles framework. The student will be able to use object-orientated technologies to implement advanced web features and implement form validation using both server and client side processes in both Java and ASP.NET. Students will be able to describe the architecture of .NET, implement security in .NET, and establish database connectivity using .NET program constructs. Students will also validate web form data, create and use XML documents, and create reusable server components. Students will be able to use PL/SQL as a database language to implement database tables and demonstrate analytical processing. Oracle lesson manuals will be used for the Oracle portion.
    Advanced Programming (MBAP, 9 credit hours)

    Prerequisites:
    CIS 525 Business System Programming (Prerequisite: CIS 205A or CIS 242)
    CIS 535 Analysis and Design of Database Systems (Prerequisite: CIS 205A, CIS 520)
    CIS 602A Intermediate Java Programming (Prerequisite: CIS 525)
    CIS 604 Advanced Networking Using Java (Prerequisite: CIS 602A)

    Students must take all three of the following courses:

    CIS 605 Advanced Database Management (Prerequisite: CIS 535)
    CIS 609 Advanced Java Using Struts and MVC (Prerequisite: CIS 604)
    CIS 634 ASP.NET (Prerequisite: CIS 602A)

Finance Concentration

Financial knowledge and understanding is highly valued in the marketplace and the Finance concentration provides an opportunity for students to further develop their knowledge and practical application skills in several key finance areas. The concentration may be customized to a student's specific interests through the BA 695, Independent Study in Finance course. Prior study is not required to pursue the Finance concentration and students may take any of the Finance electives without pursuing the entire concentration. Students interested in this concentration should contact a major professor in the MBA area to assist them.

Students must complete the MBA Foundation or equivalent and choose 9 hours from the following: (no more than 3 hours of Independent Study)

    BA 602 Risk Management
    BA 616A Investments
    BA 617 International Finance
    BA 620 Cash Management
    BA 695 Independent Study in Finance

Healthcare Concentration

The Healthcare Concentration provides the non-healthcare professional graduate student with general healthcare knowledge. Coursework includes a required course in Design & Structure of Healthcare Organizations and elective courses in Financial Management and Economics of Healthcare Operations, and Legal and Compliance Requirements within the healthcare area. The intent of this concentration is to assist personnel in areas other than patient care to understand and be familiar with certain healthcare terminology and requirements. This concentration is recommended for students who work in fields related to the healthcare industry. Students may take the healthcare electives without pursuing the entire concentration.

    MHA 621 Healthcare Organizational Design and Delivery Systems
    MHA 613 Healthcare Finance (prereq: MHA 621)
    MHA 668 Legal and Regulatory Compliance Issues in Healthcare (prereq: MHA 621)

Human Resource Management Concentration

The Human Resource Management (HRM) concentration examines HRM theory and applications in all levels of organizational strategy, culture, and practice. Topic areas include HRM roles and contributions in business planning and strategy, job value analyses, alternative work systems, recruitment and selection, fair employment practices, performance appraisal and management, compensation design and management, job evaluation systems, career development, health and safety, employee rights, grievance and arbitration processes, and employee representation through unionization and/or employee associations. The topics include the study of specific quantitative and qualitative theories and methods used to collect reliable and valid HRM data for decision purposes.

Students must choose a minimum of three courses from the following:

    BA 635 Labor Relations
    BA 636 Compensation and Performance Management
    BA 638 Human Resource Law
    MBA 650 Applied Methods and Measures for Human Resource Management

International Management Concentration

The International Management concentration provides the graduate student with key topics, theories, and applications that managers and professionals understand and use in pursuing international business goals and activities. Coursework includes a required course in Global Management (topics such as culture, decision making, motivation, leadership, ethics, strategy, production, service, and labor relations), and elective courses in International Finance, Multinational Marketing, International Consumer Analysis, Regulation and Ethics, and Independent Studies in International Business. Students interested in pursuing this concentration should contact a major professor in the MBA area to assist them. Students may take any of the International Management electives without pursuing the entire concentration.

Students must complete BA 637 (Global Management) and choose 6 hours from the following: (no more than 3 hours of Independent study)

    BA 617 International Finance
    BA 657 Multinational Marketing
    MBA 592 Independent Study in International Business
    MBA 654 International Consumer Analysis
    MBA 667 Regulation and Ethics for International Business

Management Information Systems Concentration

The Management Information Systems concentration is designed to provide MBA students the opportunity to explore topics in the Computer Information Systems (CIS) field. Non-CIS undergraduate majors, with limited coursework in CIS at the undergraduate level, can enhance their understanding of the CIS area through this concentration. All those wishing to take the Management Information Systems concentration should contact a major professor in the MBA or CIS area to assist them.

Students must complete CIS 210 (Foundations of Computer Information Systems) and 9 hours of the following:

    CIS 520 Survey of System Development and Database Design
    CIS 540 Survey of Voice and Data Communications and the Internet
    CIS 620 Management Information Systems
    CIS 633 Information Technology Project Management

Marketing Concentration

The Marketing concentration is designed to provide MBA students the opportunity to explore global topics in the marketing field. Those with limited coursework at the undergraduate level can enhance their understanding of the marketing area through this concentration. Students interested in pursuing this concentration should contact a major professor in the MBA area to assist them. Students may take any of the marketing electives without pursuing the entire concentration.

Students must complete MBA 652 (Marketing Strategy) and complete the following:

    BA 658 Sales Management AND

    BA 655 Internet Marketing OR
    BA 657 Multinational Marketing
And 3 hours of the following:
    BA 656 Consumer Behavior OR
    MBA 654 International Consumer Analysis

Supply Chain Management Concentration

Companies of all types are interested in individuals who have solid business skills, decision-making capabilities and a good understanding of the latest information technology developments. They are looking for leaders who have the confidence and capability to bring new ideas in the search for greater organization efficiency.

As part of the MBA program, students can complete the Supply Chain Management concentration. This concentration involves the integration of business processes across organizations, from material sources and suppliers through manufacturing and processing to the final customer. The concentration provides the student with an understanding of the role that the supply chain provides in enterprise competitiveness and overall strategy. The concentration helps prepare students for careers with manufacturers, distributors, logistics service providers and consulting firms. The curriculum provides the required theoretical/conceptual bases and analytical methods for making sound operational and strategic business decisions.

    MBA 670 Essentials of Supply Chain Management in a Global Environment (must be the first course taken in this concentration)

    Choose a minimum of one of the following:
      MBA 672 Models in Supply Chain Management
      MBA 674 Emerging Topics in Supply Chain Management
      MBA 676 Information Technology Practices for Managing the Supply Chain

    MBA 678 Strategic Supply Chain Management (must be taken last in the concentration)