EUGENE, Ore. -- (Oct. 26, 2011) - The University of Oregon is infusing new energy into its Portland-based executive education program.
The UO Lundquist College of Business is revising its Portland-based executive MBA and executive education programs under the leadership of Wes Balda, who joined the college in June as the assistant dean for Portland programs and executive director for the Oregon Business Institute (OBI). OBI consists of three components: the Oregon Executive MBA program, Oregon Executive Education, and eventually, the Oregon Executive Policy Forum.
For more than 26 years, the Oregon Executive MBA program has offered Oregon's senior business leaders the opportunity to pursue an MBA while maintaining a full work schedule. With a change of management as the program shifts from a partnership with Portland State University and Oregon State University to a UO-only program, the curriculum and approach have been revisited. The highly successful cohort-based OEMBA will continue to field its distinctive approach for two more years, while variations will re-emerge in a new model.
According to Balda, the goal by fall 2012, is for the updated Oregon Executive MBA to function as a modular, certificate-based program. Courses will span the business disciplines of innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainable practice, sports enterprise, financial analysis and global leadership. Students who complete a set of courses will receive a certificate in a specific knowledge area.
The goal of the program, which is one of only a few like it in the U.S., is to energize top managers for renewed competence and stewardship for businesses, organizations, communities and markets in the Northwest and around the globe. According to Balda, the UO's new model will better meet the educational needs of experienced business professionals throughout the Northwest and beyond.
"The module approach is on the leading-edge nationally and is a radical departure from traditional executive MBA programs," said Balda. "The OBI approach can also benefit seasoned leaders who received MBAs decades ago and want to gain new skills in areas like sustainable supply chain management."
Certificates can be combined to lead to an EMBA degree if an individual wishes to add the core "toolkit." This cohort-based "Business ToolKit" (integrating financial analysis and management, accounting, organizational behavior, economics, communications, marketing, law, ethics and informatics) builds on the best features of the current program while adding specialized certificate combinations to round out the EMBA degree.
Tailored curricula will extend beyond individual students as well. The Oregon Business Institute will offer the regional business community customized or proprietary corporate courses that build on the Lundquist College of Business's expertise in sports business, sustainable business practices, entrepreneurship, and finance and securities analysis.
"We are working closely with business partners to create experiences such as first-hand study tours in international markets such as Europe, Asia or Latin America that can be paramount to their success," said Balda. "Short courses and corporate programs will help businesses to prepare their executives for new levels of leadership in their careers and within their organizations."
Before joining the UO, Balda was the executive director of the Centre for Advancing International Management and a professor of management at St. George's University in the Caribbean. Previously, he served as founding dean of George Fox University's School of Management, and prior he worked closely with Peter F. Drucker in developing executive programming at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu
SOURCE: Dr. Wes Balda, assistant dean for Portland programs and executive director for the Oregon Business Institute, 503-276-3636, wesb@uoregon.edu
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