Photo: UNCW/Jamie Moncrief 

Program Overview

The Professional MBA is a part-time, evening, program designed for those who wish to continue working while pursuing their degree.  Through an interactive exchange with faculty and classmates, MBA students:

• Refine their skills in the core functions of business;
• Develop analytical and qualitative skills necessary for effective business decision-making and managing the organization;
• Collaborate with regional and global clients to develop effective responses to their problems and opportunities, and
• Gain the perspective necessary to deal with current and future issues facing organizations.

Communications, decision-making, teamwork, organizational change, information technology, the international dimension, technological innovation, social responsibility and ethics are topics which appear throughout the curriculum.

Program Highlights

Core business functions are integrated to provide the foundation of strategic thinking.  The three primary integrative tools are:

• Learning Alliance - During the first 12 months of the program, an alliance will be formed between a Cameron School of Business MBA team and a regional firm.  The goal of the alliance is to foster learning by both parties via the interactive exchange of ideas, data, studies of the firm’s business processes and the firm’s competitive environment.  The alliance will culminate in supported, realistic strategic recommendations to the firm from the MBA Team. 
  
  
• Industry Practicum – All second-year Cameron School of Business MBA students participate in a practicum - a consulting project for a business, not-for-profit, or public sector organization of the student's choice. The goals of the practicum are to give students an opportunity to improve management skills, to put theory into practice, and to develop recommendations into implementable solutions. Students seeking an MBA are generally attempting to enhance their career opportunities within their own organization or to re-direct their career efforts from one functional area to another or from one industry to another or in some cases, to continue their education towards a Ph.D. The practicum is designed to provide sufficient organizational exposure to accomplish these objectives.
  
  
• Executive Challenge – The final component of the program, Executive Challenge, provides a set of situations and issues that executives face as leaders of organizations. Each challenge will test the student’s ability to: identify key factors, incorporate concepts presented throughout the MBA program, and propose a course of action that will constructively address the challenge. Cases and/or simulation exercises are incorporated into the class to integrate business function areas.