Smith's EMBA Program Attracts Students from Around the World

The Smith School is gearing up for its third Executive MBA class, scheduled to start on March 28, 2004. The deadline for registration was Friday, March 12. Applications for the 18-month, globally focused program are accepted on a rolling basis.

About the Smith EMBA

The Smith EMBA was established in January 2003 and follows a quicker, more intense track than many area EMBA programs. In an increasingly competitive market, the program has attracted interest from candidates in the mid-Atlantic region, throughout the country, and around the world.

"Because time is the greatest commodity for many senior executives, EMBA applicants are looking for an outstanding program that allows senior staff to obtain an MBA in just 18 months. The Smith EMBA provides just that," says Scott Koerwer, associate dean for executive education and marketing communications. "We continue to receive feedback from our partners-Washington-area businesses-that participants in the Smith EMBA program bring real value to their employers."

Anil K. Gupta, Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, leads the faculty as academic director of the EMBA program. Participants are taught by the same 127 world-renowned faculty that teach the highly ranked part-time and full-time MBA programs.

Innovative Curriculum

The Smith EMBA program begins with Smith's strong MBA core as the foundation. These classes include marketing strategy, corporate finance, strategic management, and globalization. The curriculum also includes four critical mastery skills courses, focusing on technology, communications, ethics and corporate citizenship, and leadership and creativity. As business is no longer limited by geography, the Smith curriculum encompasses globalization and current world events that affect the global economy.

Group work comprises approximately 20 percent of the Smith EMBA curriculum. Each participant has the opportunity to work as both part of a group and one-to-one with a faculty advisor on a company-specific opportunity or challenge. The sponsoring company immediately reaps the rewards of the Action Learning Project.

Class size is limited to 35 participants to allow for in-depth interaction between students and faculty. Students develop strong relationships with other senior executives from a broad range of industries and backgrounds. For example, current EMBA participants represent healthcare, government, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, consumer products, financial, engineering, and information technology sectors.

EMBA China

As part of the Smith School's strategy to build global alliances, Smith created a strong presence in China by establishing an EMBA program in Beijing in January 2003. Designed to meet the rapidly changing needs of the world's business education marketplace, Smith partnered with China's University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), under a new entity called the Sino-U.S. School of International Management (SIM). The Smith School is one of a select group of U.S. business schools to launch a successful China-based EMBA program. The school launched its second China EMBA program this month.

Smith is looking for individuals who want to learn-not be taught. To find out if your experience, or if the experience of a friend or colleague, would be a good fit for the Smith EMBA, visit the Office of Executive Education Web site at http://ee.rhsmith.umd.edu or call 301.405.9559 for more information