Benjamin Ola. Akande, dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology at Webster University, said his school’s new one-year MBA program resulted from a “reality check.”
“The market was telling us that more and more people need to pursue higher education but don’t want to have to do that in two or three years,” Akande said.
“They want to do it in a very compressed format. So we came up with a degree program in a very compressed format for people looking to define themselves with a competitive advantage in the market within a very short period of time.”
The program offers 10 courses and 36 credit hours scheduled over two fall terms, two spring terms and a summer term, plus a series of Saturday seminars, for $20,000. The program is structured with a cohort model, where students work in a small group of peers in connection to other cohorts, locally and on other Webster campuses around the world.
“We believe that people learn best in a cohort, which enables them to work together,” Akande said.
Webster’s international roster of campuses will enable students in St. Louis to collaborate with students and cohorts in Geneva, Vienna, Amsterdam, as well as Orlando, Denver and Kansas City.
“Some universities get the global piece by sending students across the pond for a semester or for two weeks in China,” Akande said. “Webster’s infrastructure of campuses around the world connects students in real time to different cohorts in other places.”
In the Saturday seminars, MBA students will learn from a professor who taught a great deal to their dean: David Pendleton, an associate fellow from Oxford University’s Said Business School and visiting faculty at Webster University.
“Three years ago I attended Oxford University for a leadership development program,” Akande said. “David was one of my professors. I came back home and decided to recruit him to come to Webster as a visiting professor.”
Akande asked Pendleton to help develop a new leadership development curriculum for the university.
“David brings 25 years of experience preparing managers to become leaders,” Akande said. “That is a critical part of our curriculum.”
Akande was struck by Pendleton’s concept of “leadership DNA.”
“We all have things we are good at and things we are not good at, and things we are not good at, we need to go find people who can do them,” Akande summarized. “Leadership is not having all of the answers. It’s finding people who have the answers. It’s recruiting people who have competencies where you are not strong.”
The one-year MBA program begins in the fall term only. To be considered, students must meet certain course work and GPA requirements. All applications must be submitted by July 11. For more information, visit Webster.edu/1MBA.
