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Southern Arkansas University was founded in 1909. The MBA program at Southern Arkansas University became available fall of 2008. Southern Arkansas University Master of Business Administration program is a 30-hour program offered online through blackboard or at the Southern Arkansas University campus in the Rankin College of Business. The program takes about 2 years to complete. The program is fully accredited by AACSB. There is a general MBA program as well as agri-business, MBA with an emphasis in supply chain management, and an MBA with an emphasis in social entrepreneurship.
There is also a supply chain management certificate program. The MBA program consists of 24 hours of MBA core courses and 6 hours of electives. All courses are offered on a 2-year rotation.
The Rankin College of Business at Southern Arkansas University shapes future business leaders and equips them to succeed in the global economy through our high quality undergraduate and graduate business programs.
Our core values drive us to accomplish this mission with excellence.
Student Success: The College fosters personal and professional development that transforms student potential into career performance.
Teaching for Excellence: The College supports a stimulating environment for rich experiential learning, with relevant curricula, innovative teaching, and scholarly inquiry applied to inventive instructional methods and real business questions.
Personal and Professional Integrity: The College values ethical behavior, mutual respect, and collegiality.
Continuous Improvement: The College seeks to be a leader in the University and in the region through an unyielding pursuit of excellence.
Community Engagement: The College develops mutually beneficial relationships with alumni, friends, industry, and the surrounding community.
A Personal Environment: The College cultivates an atmosphere of individual attention, while emphasizing teamwork.
Environmental Sustainability: The College strives to instill awareness of environmental sustainability in students and to provide eco-friendly educational services that are produced through environmentally sustainable processes.
Increase enrollment in the MBA program by 10% a year for three years.
The MBA program at SAU is AACSB accredited.
The general business emphasis curriculum includes graduate level courses in accounting, economics, finance, marketing, organizational theory, quantitative analysis, strategic management, and management information systems. The program offers online classes and night classes.
The SAU MBA program does show signs of progress but there are some problems that could be fixed. One of the problems I see is that the MBA program website is not up to date. Also, a lot of the electives are only offered online. Some students may prefer to take night classes but since they are not offered they may avoid those classes. It is nice that the website offers scholarships for an MBA program but it would be nice if it had links for local scholarships. Students have the option to become a graduate assistant. Other than that, the only option students have, are student loans or paying for the program upfront.
The MBA program at SAU was first offered in fall of 2008. However, since the board of HLC did not meet until September of 2008 SAU was not able to advertise the program. They were only able to use word of mouth. Through word of mouth, there were 12 students in the fall of 2008. The MBA program has grown and as of fall 2016, there were 73 students in the MBA program. The MBA program offers online classes and night classes. Most students prefer to take classes they feel are harder at night and to take the rest of the classes online. In fall of 2010, the agri-business program began to be offered. The agriculture classes are solely online. In fall of 2014 the emphasis in supply chain management began to be offered and in fall of 2016, the emphasis in social entrepreneurship began to be offered.
The MBA program currently has 73 students enrolled in the program. Currently, the program cost students about $9,960 for all 30 hours.
The MBA program is available in the Rankin College of Business at Southern Arkansas University. Night classes currently take place at the Rankin College of Business and there are also online classes offered through Blackboard.
The target market is students that just received their BBA from SAU. These students will be around 23 and already know the surrounding area. They will probably be living in the surrounding area. Another segment of the market is working individuals. These will be individuals that can work anywhere that have learned about the program through their jobs.
The SAU MBA program has great potential to succeed. There are a few changes that could be made but even before those changes are made the program is one that many students are looking for. Students like the idea of not having to go to class. Since SAU offers all the classes online and most the classes also have the night option, this appeals to many students.
There are three different target markets. The first target market is students that have just finished their BBA. These students can come from anywhere in the ArkLaTex. This area includes Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Some specific areas to target are Texarkana, Dallas, Tulsa, Ruston, Shreveport, Little Rock, and Fayetteville. In those areas there are competitions. Another target market will be individuals that work for companies that want them to have a master’s degree. These companies can be here in the Magnolia area. Another market is the students graduating from SAU with a BBA.
The online section of the MBA program offered at SAU.
The product is distributed online through Blackboard. Another option is to collaborate with other colleges so that students can complete their BBA there and take dual classes their last semester with SAU. Those classes will go towards their masters’. These classes can be offered at colleges that do not yet have a masters’ program.
To promote the online MBA program students and faculty should go to other college’s career days and set up an information table. There should be brochures available that include a link to the website, Facebook page, and any other resources offered. Students should be included in this because students can relate to each other. With a student’s presence, the table will be more approachable. All the students and faculty that are present for SAU should have shirts that signify that they are from SAU and there should be a backdrop or a table drop that has SAU on it. Some colleges that could be visited are Texas A&M-Texarkana, Louisiana Tech, University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, and Oklahoma State University. Another way to broadcast to students is social media. Many individuals still use Facebook so that is an outlet. If the online MBA program could have a link available on the graduate studies Facebook page then it would attract more followers. Another Facebook page that the online MBA program could be linked to is the SAU PBL Facebook page. This will allow for students from other colleges that like that page to be taken to the MBA programs page. Another way to promote the MBA program is to continue to be on the affordable online college’s list. Many individuals look at this list. In 2016-17 SAU ranked 19th in most affordable colleges. One idea to use while promoting the MBA program is the student to teacher ratio. With a smaller program, there is more opportunity for students to speak with the teacher and receive answers to any questions they may have.
The MBA program for in-state students cost approximately $4,980 a year. In all, the program for in-state students is $9,960. The MBA program for out of state students cost approximately $7,005. In all, the program for out of state students is $14,010. Out of state students can get their tuition lowered by becoming a graduate assistant. This will make their costs the same as the in-state students.
Some marketing research that can be done can be asking current SAU BBA students if they plan on continuing with their MBA after graduating. This will allow for the students to give input into why or why they will not be going into the MBA program. The MBA program is growing and several students are continuing on into the program rather than stopping with a BBA. This is something to look into. Are there students of certain majors that are choosing to stay more frequently? How do these students take courses? Online or at night?
SAU offers the MBA program $5,000 a year to market for the online MBA program.
The implementation of career fair tables can be started as soon as the MBA director determines students that are a good fit to go. After the students have been selected and have decided to participate the next task will be to find out when career fairs are happening so that they can go to them. This will be an ongoing process. Starting a Facebook page and linking it to graduate studies and the SAU PBL Facebook page can be implemented immediately. Keeping the page up to date and filled with information that will draw students to look at it will be an ongoing process. Being on the list of affordable colleges has already been implemented but it should continue to be implemented since it does draw several students.
In order to improve enrollment for the SAU online MBA program, there are many ways to improve it. Most of them are for marketing to be up to date. Students no longer want to go to a school website to find out information. Many students are very social media savvy and want to find information there. A major strength of the MBA program is the small student to teacher ratio. This will draw several students to the program because students like to know that they are being heard.
An Idea Of MBA Program Promotion. (2024, Feb 19). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/an-idea-of-mba-program-promotion-essay
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