Business schools have all the ingredients they need. Between the many industry specialties and manifold aspects of running modern, global companies, there’s no end to the full-fledged degree programs they could cook up.
Most New Jersey institutions, however, are favoring a simple course.
These organizations are thriving on bite-sized certificate programs and learning sessions sometimes hosted at corporate campuses. And they’re giving students the flexibility to take on a larger diet of education from there — if they have the appetite for it.
Along with that, one of the biggest goals after an awkward, start-and-stop few years of pandemic education is meeting learners where they are, according to Mary Sakin, assistant dean at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Silberman College of Business.
“Because, if you work at a bank until 5 p.m., even if FDU is 15 minutes down the road — it’s a big ask for someone to drive there after work, find parking, find classrooms, be in class with maybe mostly 21-year-olds in graduate programs, and drive home after all that,” she said.
Besides just standardizing learning that involves a blend of on-campus and online components, as many business schools have done, Sakin said her institution is also concentrating more on going to corporate partners and teaching on-site at their location.
Its several active cohorts of MBA learning groups at multinational pharmaceutical corporation Novartis, which has an East Hanover base, serves as an example of that.
“With that, all you have to do is walk downstairs into a conference room with other Novartis workers,” she said. “Some you may know, some not, because there’s more than 5,000 people in that complex. But you’re there with colleagues and you can still be with your family at a decent hour.”
With convenience being the end-goal, FDU also has designed classes that factor in daycare pickup times for employees at Merck, another life science company that’s a corporate partner.
Although these types of programs, as well as tuition reimbursement incentives offered by employers, have been around for some time, Sakin said it was a model that organizations got away from during the pandemic.
“But, in this current environment, companies are trying to retain their people and trying to get people back into the office,” she said. “Offering them the potential of taking an MBA class on a Tuesday or Thursday helps in that.”
Christina Murphy, the associate marketing and program director of the Rutgers Business School Executive Education Program, said it’s also seen a resurgence of interest in this model.
“From our perspective, we’ve seen a heightened level of interest on the corporate training side coming out of the pandemic, and really just a reenergized effort in wanting to invest in an organization’s most important asset: their people,” she said.
Rutgers works with organizations interested in hosting business programs in a variety of capacities, including semi-customized professional development programs or fully tailored programs built in concert with clients. Mostly, these customized learning sessions zero in on basic business acumen skills, but Murphy said it really depends on the client where the focus ends up.
One of the most interesting (and timely) areas of focus in corporate training? The management of hybrid work environments.
“It’s something there’s a lot of conversation around, and it’s certainly a topic of interest in education, too,” she said. “We offer leadership-related programs that touch on that area that are meant to give folks — whether they’re current managers or aspiring to those positions — tools to help them effectively manage teams, even if they’re not physically together on a regular basis or they’re fully online.”
These programs that the Garden State’s established business schools are bringing to corporations come with the option of being conducted on a hybrid or remote basis.
In all respects, business schools are finding flexibility to be a recipe for success.
Joyce Strawser, dean of the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University, said learners respond positively to being able to dabble in certain areas or business concepts. That’s something they’ve seen through their offerings of certifications that can easily segue into more learning.
“Sometimes, people, especially working professionals, come in and don’t want to make a huge commitment at that moment, but just want to acquire a specific subset of knowledge, give their résumé a boost and move on — and that’s fine,” she said. “That’s a large percentage of learners, who maybe had an employer wanting them to start a certain learning process without going on to bigger degrees. But, even for them, it’s nice to have the opportunity to continue learning if they choose to.”
And many are, in fact, choosing to do that. Strawser provided examples of how students end up rolling over credits from their customer experience and transformative leadership in disruptive times standalone classes into MBA program electives.
That sort of activity is playing out at all levels of higher education.
“Even in associate degree pathways, mini-credentials and certificates are increasingly being nested in there,” said Christopher Reber, president of Hudson County Community College. “We’ve also created short-term credentials in areas such as finance that can be applied to credits toward an associate or bachelor’s degree.”
If a one-off class or certificate serves as inspiration for a degree that leads someone to a role upgrade or the start of a possibly recession-resilient career path, Reber counts that as a win.
And, given the corporate partners (including JPMorgan Chase) working to help create short-term credential programs in areas such as finance, he’s sure he’s not alone.
“Longstanding national leaders in business, education and technology really have a mutual goal of recruiting and educating a needed workforce, especially when it comes to recruiting future skilled workers from underrepresented or marginalized backgrounds,” Reber said.
Classroom emphasis
Higher education leaders across the state are eagerly embedding the latest digital modes of conducting business today into their curriculum. But, they’re not all enthusiastic about continuing to rely on digital learning platforms to do so.
Gulhan Bizel, director of the Data Science Institute at Saint Peter’s University, said that, while hybrid learning models have proven successful enough to always have a place for students, the demand for all-online courses appears to be on the decline. In-person classes are trending up, she said.
“And, we’re actually very happy about that,” Bizel said. “No matter what we try, and all the tools available, the interaction just wasn’t the same.”
The Data Science Institute focuses on emerging technologies, allowing students to explore how hyped-up artificial intelligence tools and other digital phenomena are being put to use in professional settings. Those technologies have been enabled by the internet, presumably making it a perfect candidate for online learning.
“(But) I think there’s a level of interaction in-person that the next generation is really missing with all the digital options and social media,” Bizel said. “We also have a data science lab offering hands-on experiences, even if people can still connect to those lab services remotely as well.”
Bizel sees a real value in students maintaining a connection to campuses, classmates and classrooms, especially for the younger cohorts looking to take advantage of the internship and employment pipeline Saint Peter’s has established for students.
Those enrolling in the school’s new undergraduate option for students, a bachelor’s degree in data science, fit that description. That program is preparing students in what the school refers to as a “learn-by-doing” pedagogy.
“We’re excited about that,” Bizel said. “And this program is growing super-fast. We’ve already welcomed our first cohort of about 20 students, without ever doing an advertised launch of the program. We’re observing a huge interest in this area, particularly from undeclared students interested in the opportunities in this field.”
