The first graduates of the College of Charleston School of Business accelerated Master of Business Administration (MBA) program participated in a completion ceremony on Saturday, August 13, 2011. Mike Veeck (Goldklang Group, Veeck Advertising Professionals) will be the keynote speaker. Watch video from the ceremony.
Graduates talk about their experience and future plans.
Twenty-three students, split nearly equally between the finance and marketing concentrations, make up the Class of 2011, the first to complete the full-time, one-year global MBA, the only program of its kind in South Carolina. Students have secured positions both in South Carolina and abroad – one student will be working in China with a company he spoke with during the group’s study abroad trip. Another student has been accepted to the University of Texas, Austin School of Law.
Students in the MBA program came from very diverse backgrounds from entrepreneurs to recent college graduates. Their undergraduate universities include: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Texas A&M, Clemson University, University of Miami, Brown University, George Washington University, Colgate University, Arizona State University, University of South Carolina, Wake Forest University, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and the College of Charleston.
Most of the MBA courses are six-week modules with the program culminating in an integrated final or “capstone” course. Students had the option of focusing their studies in finance or marketing. A travel abroad experience and study of a global enterprise are requirements of the program.
“This program will evolve over the years as business education needs change,” says Rhonda Mack, associate dean of graduate and professional programs for the School of Business. “We are already making a few changes in the program for 2011-12 based on things we learned during the first year. Students and faculty liked the cohort model because it provides opportunities for the students to develop strong working relationships with colleagues and collaborative teamwork capabilities reflective of the careers they will enter.”
The MBA Class of 2012 has already completed its bootcamp (an introduction to business topics) and will begin classes August 22, 2011. This group is composed of 29 students, including one from China and one from Vietnam.
Applications for the MBA Class of 2013 will be available in mid-October at mba.cofc.edu. A new concentration in hospitality revenue optimization will be added, pending approval of the College’s Academic Council, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, and SACS.
About Mike Veeck, keynote speaker
Mike Veeck continues to blaze new trails every baseball season. It is with the belief that anything is possible and no idea too silly that Veeck operates his ballclubs. Veeck is the part owner of six baseball teams and is a consultant for one other. He is also a partner of Veeck Advertising Professionals.
In 2005, he was recognized by Baseball America as one of the 25 most influential people in baseball over the last 25 years. He has worked for four and a half Major League baseball teams including the White Sox, Marlins, Tigers and Rays. The half is a secret!
Serving to put fun back into baseball while proving his ideas are not specific to sport, Veeck has spoken and entertained groups at companies such as the NBA, 3M, General Mills, and NASCAR. His first book was released in 2005, entitled “Fun is Good,” describing how the simple approach of putting “fun” back into the workplace brings out the best in your employees and keeps your customers coming back for more.
