The Fox School of Business will launch an online MBA program this fall that will bring the traditional Fox curriculum to the virtual world.
Faculty coordinator of Fox Online Initiatives Darin Kapanjie described the program as different from other online business schools.
“A lot of online programs adjunct out their courses, but this is the same Fox faculty and the same Fox curriculum,” Kapanjie said. “The only thing we’re changing is the delivery.”
This change is possible because of the technology the school will be using. The delivery method will be WebEx, a Web-conferencing tool that uses headphones and webcams that the program provides for weekly lecture interaction.
WebEx can host as many as 200 students in a session, but Kapanjie said the program will keep the class sizes small.
“Students won’t get lost in the virtual world,” Kapanjie said. “We’re the first fully accredited MBA program using Web-conferencing tools. Most others just use discussion boards, which isn’t as robust.”
The cost for an online Fox degree is $70,000. Kapanjie said the tuition covers two years of the 54-credit program.
“Most of the time, their participation [in the program] will be virtual,” said program director Jason Bozzone, who serves as a liaison for the students and the university.
In addition to the 54 credits, the tuition covers two sets of five-day residencies and a two-day residency. During residencies, students will perform course work and have more face-to-face interaction.
With the residencies, students will solve real-world business problems. The last six credits of the program consist of an enterprise managing consulting practicum, in which students are placed in groups of three or four and work for a real company.
“They will perform an in-depth analysis of the situation and suggest a solution in a business-plan format,” Kapanjie said. “It’s a real-world experience, not just a simulation.”
In addition to the educational and networking experiences, the residencies provide students with opportunities to be active at the university.
“Another reason why we have the residency experience is so students can feel like they are a part of Temple University, so they get the whole Temple experience,” Kapanjie said.
The Temple experience will be complemented by group- and team-based projects students have to complete in the online program.
“If you were taking the online MBA program, we could place you on a team where you’ll work on projects using WebEx,” Bozzone said. “We could be in different countries, states or parts of the world. The program will offer the world-class MBA faculty who teach all of our MBA programs.”
The total program fee also covers WebEx tools and training, an online executive lecture series and graduate career management and training.
“Also covered in the fee is a two-year online subscription to the Wall Street Journal. We want to make sure they’re well-read,” Kapanjie said.
“We will assure quality student services to the virtual students. We will provide the same academic and financial advising to students participating in the online program. It’s a very dynamic program,” Bozzone said.
The new online program differs from the online courses previously offered.
“Previously, students could take certain courses online for so many credits, but this is a strict, fully accredited MBA program with a strict curriculum,” Kapanjie said.
Kapanjie said the school is marketing the new online initiative along the East Coast to include people who might not be able to undergo the traditional college experience.
“People who are balancing their life and their work life, which is sometimes difficult for people who just started having families. Maybe people who can’t commute regularly, people who live closer to the Jersey Shore or near Delaware or the Harrisburg area,” Kapanjie said. “We are marketing to the whole Eastern seaboard.”
Valerie Rubinsky can be reached at valerie.rubinsky@temple.edu.
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