Memorandum
Decision to Suspend Admission to UAS MBA program & Accommodate Currently-Enrolled Students
DATE: September 2,
2011
TO: UAS Community
FROM: Rick Caulfield, Provost &
John Blanchard, Interim Dean, School of Management
This memo is to inform you of an important decision we’ve made through the UAS program review process to suspend admission into our MBA program, to phase it out over a three year period, and to focus instead on being a center of excellence for undergraduate business and accounting degrees. This decision means that we are suspending admissions into the MBA program, effective immediately. In saying this, our faculty and staff are committed to supporting students currently in the program—providing them with every opportunity to be successful in completing their degree program successfully.
As background to this decision, we note that UAS has just completed a careful review of its business programs—a review required routinely by the UA Board of Regents (BOR Policy 10.06). This process, along with our new UAS Strategic and Assessment Plan, caused UAS leadership and faculty alike to take a critical look at the sustainability of our MBA program. After a difficult dialogue and assessment of the current environment, both faculty and administrators agreed that resources are not likely to be forthcoming to make the MBA program sustainable in the long term.
Two important factors contributed to this decision. First, in economic terms the University of Alaska system continues to focus on strategic reallocation of resources, investing in programmatic growth where a critical mass of university and external community resources exists. That critical mass is growing elsewhere in the university system where professionally-accredited MBA programs already exist. Moreover, there is growing interest statewide in an online Executive MBA that could meet needs across the State of Alaska. While details of this new initiative are not yet defined, it highlights the growing number of MBA program options available to Alaskans.
Second, our program review spotlighted growing demand for quality undergraduate business and accounting classes—both campus-based and online. We’ve got talented faculty with exceptional expertise and experience in offering these courses. Enrollments in these courses are full and we’re adding more each day. Given this, UAS administration and faculty have decided to focus our resources in the area of highest demand: quality undergraduate business and accounting degrees. We’ll also continue to offer a quality Master’s degree in Public Administration along with the School’s associate degrees and certificates.
Degrees offered by the School of Management are some of the most sought-after of any at UAS. This strategic shift of resources—based upon careful review and reflection—will allow us to continue this trend into the future. Most importantly, it will help us ensure that we produce successful graduates who are able to achieve their personal and career goals and contribute to the Alaskan workforce.