Approval has been granted from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for East Central University to institute a new degree program – a master in management – within the Harland C. Stonecipher School of Business.
“In visiting with students, faculty, staff and community, it was determined that the need exists for a one-year fulltime or two-year part-time business education program for those currently employed and recent graduates who are in or desire to be in a managerial level position and whose first degree was in a non-business field,” said Wendell Godwin, dean of the ECU Stonecipher School of Business.
According to Godwin, many who have earned their first degrees have been placed in positions of managers, but have not been given the knowledge and skills needed to be in successful managerial positions. Additionally, current students, who are skilled practitioners of the subject matter of their first degrees, had their potential to advance to managerial positions limited due to a lack of knowledge and skills in business.
Objectives of the program are:
- Provide an innovative, high-level, focused program in response to employers’ needs for managerial-level employees with a sound knowledge of business theory and practices.
- Improve student opportunities to either gain employment or increase their chance of a level promotion at their current employer by offering a degree that is suitable for current and potential lower-level managers whose degree was not in a business field.
- Work with local employers to utilize this degree as part of personal development plans for current and future front-line managers.
- Provide a unique program for those in ECU’s service area and region who are seeking to complement their non-business first degree with a business graduate degree that can be completed in 12 months.
- Increase the diversity on campus by offering a program that will appeal to international students seeking a one-year masters in an area that will complement their first degrees whether their first degrees were earned in or outside the United States.
The curriculum will consist of 30 hours derived from such courses as managerial accounting, employment labor and law, economics for managers, finance for managers, research methods for managerial decision making, foundations of management, leadership and organizational behavior, strategic management and marketing management. Three more credit hours will also come from one of the following: managing in the global economy, special topics in management, internship in management and individual study in management.
The new program is currently under review by the Higher Learning Commission.
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