Nov. 11 - Rider to Launch Executive MBA Program

Rider University will launch an Executive Master of Business Administration program in Fall 2005 that will feature executives in the classroom with business faculty, leadership skills seminars, an international experience, networking opportunities and convenient Saturday classes.

“We will be one of the few Executive MBA programs to bring in professionals to work right alongside our graduate business faculty and to share their personal insights in upper level classes,” said Larry Newman, interim dean of the College of Business Administration. “Classes will become workshops, and students can gain a valuable perspective on business problem solving.

“The curriculum will focus on leadership skills, practical applications and networking,” Dean Newman said. “While leadership skills are applied in all classes, the addition of skills seminars will help sharpen them through teamwork.”

Five seminars will cover essential management and team-building skills such as listening, leadership, time management, stress management and career management, he added.

Recognizing that business managers have busy schedules, Rider’s Executive MBA program can be completed in 21 months.  There are 17 courses, each being eight weeks long. Classes will meet on Saturdays when Rider is in session and include weekly online assignments.  This arrangement will allow students to obtain their Executive MBA degree and balance family and work life.

Another important component is a summer seminar on international business, which will include up to two weeks traveling in Eastern Europe or Asia. The location will depend on the needs of the student cohort.  Through a series of site visits, students will meet with business leaders, develop relationships with overseas firms and get an in-person look at how business is done in some of the world’s most dynamic markets.

To be eligible for the program students must be employed full time with a minimum of five years’ work experience and have three years of managerial or supervisory experience.  Applicants must submit a résumé, a statement of objectives, have two letters of recommendation and have a personal interview.  Students must also have a bachelor’s degree in any field from an accredited institution with a minimum grade point average of 3.0.  A GMAT score of 550 or above also meets admission requirements.

The College of Business Administration holds the prestigious AACSB International International accreditation for its graduate and undergraduate programs, as well as the specialized AACSB International accreditation for its graduate and undergraduate accounting programs. AACSB International’s rigorous standards stress academic excellence and a commitment to continuous improvement.  Rider is one of just two schools in New Jersey and among only 163 schools worldwide to hold the distinctive AACSB International accreditation for its graduate and undergraduate accounting programs.

On the graduate level, the business school also offers a general MBA program and a Master of Accountancy program. Undergraduate majors include accounting, actuarial science, advertising, business economics, computer information systems, entrepreneurial studies, finance, global business, human resource management, management and organizational behavior, and marketing.

Graduate business information sessions are scheduled on Tuesday, December 7 at 6 p.m. in the Bart Luedeke Center on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus and on Monday, December 13 at 6 p.m. in Talbott Library on Rider’s Princeton campus. These sessions will provide information on the new Executive MBA program, as well as the general MBA and Master of Accountancy programs.  For more information, contact graduate admissions, at 609-896-5036.