Gail Naughton, dean of SDSU’s College of Business, says the Ph.D/MBA program is designed for full-time students pursuing a career in a life sciences/biotech company. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Which of the following is true?

a. SDSU is the first campus in the nation to establish a Ph.D./MBA in life sciences.

b. National University soon will offer a Spanish-language version of its executive MBA program.

c. MBA students at UC Irvine can learn about investments by purchasing stocks.

d. A class assignment for USD students involved trying to persuade Peruvians to buy Bimbo bakery products.

e. All of the above.

The correct answer is “e.” And those changes are only some at area business schools. In February, SDSU announced a joint Ph.D./MBA degree in life sciences consisting of a graduate business degree and a doctorate in molecular and cell biology.

“The Ph.D./MBA program is designed for a cell/molecular biologist who is attending a fulltime Ph.D. program with the intention of pursuing a career in a life sciences/biotech corporation,” says Gail Naughton, dean of the College of Business. She is a scientist and co-founder of Advanced Tissue Sciences, which successfully took four products from concept to market.

SDSU partnered for the joint degree with Invitrogen Corp., Pfizer and several other biotech firms. Two full-time students are enrolled in a pilot program that started last September. “Once the MBA in life sciences is fully developed, we are planning to offer it as a stand-alone degree for fully employed business people and scientists,” says Naughton.

At UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management, choosing the right stocks could reduce tuition costs. Students graduating in 2005 can participate in the Polaris Investment Lab, a $1.5 million program funded by Charles Martin, a venture capitalist and co-chair of the GSM board. In this program launched in January, students participate by paying a $200 deposit that will be applied to losses up to that amount. The lab will cover higher losses, and profits will be applied to tuition.

Martin will select up to five student teams and meet with them monthly. They begin investing in May. While many grad schools use simulated investment exercises, “we want them to learn,” says Jone Pearce, GSM dean. “If they do well, they keep up to half.” GSM will offer an undergraduate accounting program in the fall, Pearce says, which will prepare students to sit for the uniform CPA exam.

UCSD is the home to the Rady School of Management, announced in January and reflecting a $30 million gift from the Ernest Rady Family Foundation. Rady, founder and chairman of American Assets Inc., allocated the funds in the form of a $15 million pledge to be paid by 2005 and used for construction of a state-of-the-art building for the program. Planning is under way, and occupancy is projected by fall 2006. The remainder of Rady’s long-term gift may be spent at Dean Robert Sullivan’s discretion.

Tom Green, interim dean for the School of Business and Information Technology at National University, says the college will offer a Spanish online version of its executive MBA program. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

UCSD’s graduate program focuses on management and leadership skills for people in science and technology professions. In August, classes start for the Flex MBA, an executive program. Last November, the program began offering noncredit executive education and leadership courses. The fulltime MBA program begins in fall 2005. Plans are for a doctorate in business and degrees in conjunction with the university’s schools of medicine, engineering and international relations and Pacific Studies.

At CSU San Marcos, dean Dennis Guseman wants to see the College of Business Administration’s MBA program become “one of the major players in economic development.” He was named permanent dean last July after having served as interim dean since March 2002. His vision includes redesigning the MBA program. “Our charge is to make sure the future managers are aware of ethical issues,” he says. The campus will incorporate more technologies into studies and deal with topics such as change, he says.

National University will offer a Spanish online version of the executive MBA program that was launched more than a year ago, says Tom Green, interim dean for the School of Business and Information Technology. The executive degree, aimed at people with management experience, attracts more than 70 students online every month, says Green. He anticipates close to 62 cohorts this summer for the capstone final class.

The executive MBA program includes eight regular courses and four specialization courses in international business, electronic business and marketing. Green says the university expects to have traditional program components translated by the end of this month and loaded into the online platform. He anticipates enrollment in the Spanish program to start in June or July.

More of a global emphasis is reflected in USD’s international MBA program. Reconfigured courses, such as statistics, focus on international cases, says Denise Dimon, director of the university’s Ahlers Center for International Business. The center coordinates the international graduate business degree, which is now scheduled for full-time students. The first group started last August, says Dimon.

Denise Dimon, director of USD’s Ahlers Center for International Business, says programs are being reconfigured to focus on international cases. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

After students complete core courses, they travel to another country to work on a project such as a business plan or marketing. In January, a team of students worked with Yahoo Brazil; other students aided a South African winery. Another team was assigned to Bimbo del Peru. Bimbo is a Mexican company that produces bakery products. Peruvians prefer home-baked goods, and USD students went to Peru to help with marketing. While the international MBA program is for full-time students, summer travel programs are open to MBA students at USD and other campuses.

University of Phoenix has seen increased enrollment for FlexNet courses that blend classroom instruction with distance education (online learning). “Response to University of Phoenix’ FlexNet courses has more than doubled in the past year, with over 1,200 course registrations compared to less than 500 a year ago,” says Bruce Williams, vice president/director of University of Phoenix San Diego. “Students find the FlexNet courses attractive,” says Willims, “because they give you the face time of a classroom once every five weeks, and it gives you the flexibility of the Internet for the other four weeks. MBA students with long commutes, hectic travel schedules or intensive commitments can still find time to do their coursework.”

Alliant International University’s San Diego campus, in conjunction with Presidio World University, launched a sustainable management graduate degree last fall in San Francisco. The first group of 22 students has 100 percent retention. “If things work fine, we’ll bring it to San Diego,” says Ali Abu-Rahama, assistant dean of the business college.

Sustainable management focuses on the integration of high business standards with social and environmental responsibility. Success of the San Francisco program could lead to local courses and an undergraduate concentration, says Abu-Rahama.

Chapman University has integrated a kind of TNT into its master of arts in organizational leadership program. The initials stand for triumphant environmental transformation leadership, says Christine Cecil, assistant professor in organizational leadership. She and her husband, Darren, are co-authors of the book, “TNT Leadership,” which they will present at a national conference in June.

TNT components include focusing on task, trust and truth-telling. The leader assigns tasks, but must also develop trust so that it’s possible to be truthful with workers. Cecil says managers who care only about themselves tell workers what they want to hear. Although these leaders want people to like them, the employee is suspicious when the leader says, “You’re the best in the world.” However, if the manager has built trust and truthfully praises specific parts of a performance, the employee accepts recommendations to improve a performance.

Chapman offers free one-hour workshops on TNT Leadership. The next is scheduled for noon March 12 in Room 103 at Chapman, 7460 Mission Valley Road. To RSVP, contact Christine Cecil at (619) 908-6016 or cecil@chapman.edu.

Working professionals now can earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVrys University, says Thomas Horstmann, San Diego Center director. The undergraduate programs added last year allow adults at age 21 to take evening courses, he says. Keller also offers the traditional MBA and graduate programs in project management, information systems management, accounting and financial management, human resource management, public administration and telecommunications management.

University of Redlands is creating a Center for Business Ethics and Society, says business school dean Stuart Noble-Goodman. Seed money includes $50,000 from Bank of America. The university hired a director and the center could open within six months to a year. Center offerings will include a speaker series. The university now offers concentrations in geographic information system management, finance and information technology. The four courses in the GISM can be taken as an emphasis or as a non-degree certificate. Noble-Goodman says MBA enrollment is up 30 percent. The increase is contrary to the trend that enrollment at universities generally drops as the economy improves.