For people who want to level up their business credentials but need flexibility in their education, online MBA programs can be a practical option. Many prospective MBA students are balancing full-time careers and families and can’t attend a full-time residential program.
Studying from a distance doesn’t mean being less well-served, however. Online MBA programs feature a variety of student and career support services. Taking time to connect with your peers and professors, use campus resources and build post-graduation networks adds significant value to your educational experience.
What Are Student Support Services?
Colleges typically offer student support services, from academic to mental health to testing accommodations. Understanding what’s available to you provides a roadmap for your degree. Some resources may reside within the business school and be tailored specifically to MBA students. Find out how a program connects you to student support resources and who your point of contact might be, experts suggest.
For example, Wake Forest University School of Business in North Carolina has "student success managers who are paired with students from their first inquiry to tell them where to go for all their different needs,” says Jackie Eib, the school's associate director of integrative student services for online programs.
As you evaluate online MBA programs, look for the following types of support services:
• Writing center and curriculum
• Library resources
• Career services and counseling
• In-person and networking events
• Alumni networking
Writing Center and Curriculum
Many jobs require good writing skills, and developing yours further can pay dividends in your career. Look for schools that incorporate virtual writing center sessions with online programs. Also explore business-specific writing curriculum that may be offered through an MBA program.
At Bentley University's McCallum Graduate School of Business in Massachusetts, the professional MBA curriculum offers executive communication and writing designed for students entering with 10 years of work experience, on average, says Sean Ferguson, the university's vice president of strategy and innovation.
“These MBA students are going to be using different communications in their jobs – much more sophisticated – so we built some of this writing curriculum into the program itself,” Ferguson says.
Library Resources
Pairing library and writing resources can boost your ability to turn in quality writing assignments.
At Wake Forest, Eib says, the business school includes librarians who can provide specific MBA-related assistance for best ways to conduct research and include proper citations. Explore whether your programs of interest offer accessible virtual library resources for MBA degrees.
Career Services and Counseling
College career center resources can be a rich collection of tools and should be accessible to online students. Virtual resources to look for include MBA career coaches or coaches focused on working professionals, career assessment tools to identify interests and industries, job search tools, virtual events with industry experts, webinars, leadership development workshops, interview preparation and networking workshops.
MBA students often want to advance into leadership positions or into a specific industry such as health care, technology or financial services. Look for resources that will help you progress in the direction you intend.
“Being industry-focused is a way people can derive more value from an online MBA,” Ferguson says.
For its online MBA students, Wake Forest offers the Virtual Founders Living Room, an online one-stop shop that lists contact information for all the different offices and resources a student might need. Students can create a profile where they share information about themselves – such as their employer, industry they work in and contact information – to connect with peers.
“Many universities offer something like that, and it exists online,” Eib says.
In-Person and Networking Events
Networking is just as important for online MBA students as it is for their in-person counterparts. Many online MBA programs include immersive in-person campus events so that their online students can connect more deeply with the program and peers.
“In our online professional MBA program, we have two in-person sessions each semester so students can develop real-person connectivity and not just connect online alone,” Ferguson says.
The University of Washington’s hybrid MBA program, for instance, schedules a mandatory campus intensive lasting three to five days at the beginning of each term. The experience includes classroom discussions, professional development, networking opportunities and social events.
Similarly, Wake Forest hosts “Deacon Weekend,” an optional annual event for online MBA students to immerse themselves in the campus experience, meet their classmates and connect with their professors face-to-face. Besides offering social events like a football game, the weekend facilitates students meeting and networking with peers and faculty.
Check the career center or student resource center within your business school to learn about networking resources in-person and online. Sign up for any newsletter offered to stay on top of upcoming events, and follow the school’s relevant social media channels.
Alumni Networking
Many schools’ alumni centers host meet and greets and mixers in major cities around the U.S.
“If you live in Orlando but you go to school at Wake Forest, Orlando might have an event to meet other Wake Forest professionals and network in person,” Eib says. “Current students can go to those events.”
Check with a school’s alumni center as well as other resource centers for these types of events.
As you explore programs, Ferguson recommends thinking about where you want to be three to five years after graduation.
“Make sure you’re thinking about how to have a programmatic experience and not just an academic experience,” he says. “Sit down with career services and student services and ask what resources they recommend using, and even which resources go underutilized and people miss out on. That’s a great way to give you a plan to extract maximum value from the program.”
0 Comments