ATLANTA, October 12, 1999.The Executive MBA (EMBA) Program in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University has been named to the list of "top 20 leading EMBA programs" by BusinessWeek magazine. The magazine's listing, in the October 18, 1999 issue, is based on a reputational survey of 100 business school deans and EMBA directors around the country. Georgia State is one of three universities in the Southeast to make the list.
Students with at least 10 years of managerial experience can enter the Executive MBA Program, which is taught on weekends and can be completed in two years. More than 750 students have graduated from the EMBA Program since it was established in 1980.
Currently, 86 students are enrolled in the program. Of that figure, 30 percent of current students are female, 17 percent are minority and 8 percent are international. Approximately 16 percent of currently enrolled students serve as president, CEO or chair of the board of their companies. The average number of years of work experience is 15. Companies who have sent the most participants to Georgia State's EMBA program in the past five years are AT&T, BellSouth Corporation, The Coca-Cola Corp., Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Co. and IBM.
This recognition by our peers is an affirmation of the quality of our EMBA program that is increasingly global in nature and allows participants to interact with some of Atlanta's top business leaders on an ongoing basis," said Dr. Sidney Harris, dean of the Robinson College of Business.
"We are very pleased with this recognition," said Dave Forquer, director of the EMBA Program. "The BusinessWeek listing sends a very positive signal to our students, alumni and faculty, and indeed to the community, about the quality and direction of our program."
A vital component of the Robinson EMBA Program is the study abroad tour in which students spend two weeks in either Asia or Latin America during the course of the two-year program to learn more about conducting business on a global scale. During the visits, students have the opportunity to meet with representatives from trade, industry, banking, government and telecommunications. This year's class will visit Singapore and Thailand. Previous classes have toured Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Argentina. Prior to studying abroad, each team of students prepares a paper on one of the companies featured on the tour. The papers are shared with one of the company executives and discussed during the visit.
In addition to the international study tour, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business will offer an additional component to the EMBA Program beginning next fall that will blend electronic commerce and internationalization. In the fall of 2000, Georgia State will become the first American business school to participate in an international consortium of universities in Europe and the Mediterranean for the Global Electronic Commerce Masters program (GEM) for Executive MBA students. The College will also base its MBA program in electronic commerce on the GEM model.
Current students attribute the success of the program to its philosophy of offering an education that is practical, hands-on and interactive. "From the beginning of the program, I've been able to apply what I've learned to my work," said Brian Chapin, class of 2000 and vice president of digital services for Heidelberg USA. "Working on an MBA after 18 years of management has changed my approach to business issues and certainly helped me prepare for a recent promotion to vice president."
Cathy Hill, class of 2000 and power delivery supervisor for Georgia Power , credits faculty and students for creating a "strong support network inside and outside the classroom environment." She noted that Georgia State's EMBA Program "is helping me tap into new ideas, relationships, knowledge, discoveries and possibilities."
The J. Mack Robinson College of Business is one of the most nationally recognized business schools in the Southeast. The College's part-time MBA program has been listed in the top ten by U.S.News & World Report for the past four years. In addition, the magazine recently listed Georgia State's undergraduate insurance program as 2nd best in the nation, the management program as the 21st best, and the graduate program in information systems as 17th best. With approximately 7,500 students, the College is one of the largest business programs in the nation.
