New One-Year MBA Begins in Fall 2011


Rosemary Hartigan
Collegiate Professor, Associate Chair and Director, One-Year MBA, Business and Executive Programs Department
Grad Student
Published: July-August 2011

Category: » University-showcase » Classes-programs

The Business and Executive Programs department is excited to launch the new One-Year Master of Business Administration program in fall 2011. The One-Year MBA is a unique accelerated MBA program with an applied business focus, designed to be delivered completely online. The One-Year MBA offers the same core curriculum as UMUC's award-winning MBA program in a highly concentrated format. The goal is to prepare students for greater management and executive-level positions by developing key managerial competencies—including critical thinking, systems thinking, team building, decision making, and ethical leadership—that can be applied in any type of business organization.

Admission Requirements

The One-Year MBA program has different admission requirements than the regular MBA program. The One-Year MBA is designed for working professionals with strong academic abilities, demonstrated by GPA and GMAT scores, existing graduate degrees, and/or certain professional certifications. The One-Year MBA requires for admission one of the following sets of requirements:

  • Students who possess a graduate degree from a regionally accredited university.
  • Students who possess an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited university and certain professional certifications.
  • Students who have an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or above from a regionally accredited university and a GMAT score in the 80th percentile or higher.

Program Overview

The 42-credit One-Year MBA program consists of eight 5-week academic content courses (4.5 credits each) and three 11-week business practicum courses (2 credits each). The practicum courses run concurrently with the 5-week courses and allow students to apply what they are learning to business challenges faced in their own organizations. Each student is assigned to a cohort of approximately 25 students who will work together throughout the entire program. There are two starts per year: one in fall and one in spring.

Unique Design Features

Teams of subject-matter and online teaching faculty experts designed the One-Year MBA syllabi to develop competencies, such as critical thinking and decision making, that students will need to be successful in today's business environment.  Of course we are aware that an accelerated MBA program will present challenges to students and faculty alike. In the One-Year MBA program, students must complete the same number of credits (42) as in the regular MBA. To do so successfully, we estimate that students will need to spend 30–40 hours per week on reading and completing assignments. 

The One-Year MBA program design has some unique features to help students and faculty navigate the challenges of such an accelerated schedule. Most notably, each 5-week course section will have two professors with online teaching and subject matter expertise assigned to work directly with students. The primary faculty member (the Course Professor) will be responsible for overall operation of the class, including class setup, grading, communication with students, and facilitating conference discussions. The Course Professor will be paid for 4.5 credits per section. The supporting faculty member (Program Professor) will assist the Course Professor in developing assignment introductions and wrap-up discussions, facilitating conferences, and communication with students. The Program Professor will be paid for 2 credits per section.

In addition to the two-faculty model, another unique feature of the One-Year MBA program is an integrative case that runs through the course schedule.  Students will be able to apply what they learn in the courses to tasks faced by a particular company. In the practicum courses that take place during the last 11 weeks of the semester, students apply what they have learned in their courses during the semester to their own organizations. We expect the unique design of the One-Year MBA program to attract students with high levels of ambition and dedication, and we are looking forward to working with them and growing the program in the years to come.

About the Author(s)

Rosemary Hartigan is Collegiate Professor and Associate Chair, Business and Executive Programs department and Director of the One-Year MBA program. She has been with UMUC's MBA program for over 11 years.

Professor Hartigan's main academic interests are the legal environment of business—particularly in the area of employment; critical thinking; and business ethics. She is a staff editor for the peer-reviewed publication Journal of Legal Studies in Business and recently won best paper award from the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business for the paper, "Gossip, the Office and the First Amendment."

While Professor Hartigan has been a "full-time academic" for about 15 years, she has taught adult students for over 25 years in diverse institutions such as The Rochester Institute of Technology, Babson College, and The McGregor School of Antioch University. Prior to coming to UMUC, she was Professor of Management and Director of the Graduate Management Program at Antioch University-McGregor.

Professor Hartigan's cross-disciplinary academic background includes a Juris Doctorate from The University of Wisconsin, a Master's in Management from Antioch University-McGregor, and a Master's in English from The State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Professor Hartigan's "real world" experience includes law practice, product development and marketing management, and writing publications for lawyers on labor and employment law. She led product development and marketing teams for high and low tech products—including search systems and electronic legal databases for LEXIS-NEXIS, a pioneering information technology company—and numerous print publications for legal and business markets. She is a member of the Wisconsin and Massachusetts Bar Associations and the American Association of University Women. In addition, she is a certified Birkman/About-U consultant and has provided team building and professional development coaching to organizations and individuals across the country.

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