|
Dr. Michael J. Daniels is the Director of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Abbott Turner College of Business (ATCOB). He is the Associate Dean of the College of Business as well as a full Professor of Economics. He has an excellent reputation in his field and has been sought after to give advice to the community on numerous subjects including the stock market and local, regional, and national economic issues. Because of his expertise, Dr Daniels has been called in to give expert testimony in court cases. Dr. Daniels is also the coordinator of the AACSB (American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation process for ATCOB. |
What follows is a summary of a recent interview that Bob Roberts and Jerry Smith had with Dr. Daniels.
| Accreditation Update | The New Technology and Commerce Center |
| A Streamlined MBA Program | A Quality Program Where Learning is Ideal |
| An Exciting Future for the MBA Program |
| Columbus State University (of which the College of Business is a part) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Gaining SACS accreditation is a very rigorous process and is an effective means of making sure the college is offering a quality education. However, the College of Business decided to go a step further and become accredited by an international professional accreditation body, AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, the nation's oldest and most prestigious business school accrediting organization. | |||
| Presently, the College of Business is in "Candidacy" status. This, according to Dr. Daniels, "signifies that the candidate institution is demonstrating reasonable progress toward the attainment of accreditation." ATCOB will end this part of the process at the end of Fall Semester 2000. Starting January 2001, ATCOB will submit a Letter of Intent to the Accreditation Committee of the AACSB. In addition, Dr. Daniels is preparing the required Self-Evaluation Report, a complex and complete report of the College of Business. | |||
| Go to AACSB for more information about the accrediting organization and its procedures |
During the fall of 2001, several deans of major business schools will be here to evaluate our school. They will be here for approximately three and a half days reviewing records and interviewing several MBA students and undergraduate students. All students should know the basics of the accreditation process and be aware of important components of the College of Business, such as our Mission Statement. In addition, as students we need to be goodwill ambassadors for the College of Business. It is to everyone's advantage to be accredited by AACSB, which Dr. Daniels is very confident will occur by Christmas 2001. | ||
| AACSB accreditation will open up many new opportunities for both the College of Business and the students. For example, the military will send and pay for its people to attend an AACSB-accredited school from all over the world. This obviously will increase enrollment and bring in revenue. Also, in the larger towns it is becoming important for the students to say they graduated from an AACSB-accredited school for employment or transfer of their credit hours. | |||
| Go to top of page |  |
| Dr. Daniels listens to what the MBA students want. He tries to accommodate the MBA students' needs on how and when courses are offered. The change in the structure of the MBA program - going from 9 required courses and 3 electives to 10 required courses - was the result of what the students requested on the | ||
| Graduate Student Satisfaction Survey. Dr. Daniels and the faculty evaluated the students' suggestions. The result was the creation of a more focused program with 10 solid core courses that could be completed within one calendar year. The new 10-course MBA is also flexible. For example, students who desire a concentration in Accounting could achieve that by taking two additional courses in that area. | ||
| Go to top of page | |
| ATCOB is supporting the new MIT (Masters in Information Technology) management program which is sponsored by Total System Services, Inc. Because the MIT program is a "branded program", there are no MBA courses in it. However, there are MBA courses that would be useful for an MIT student. In addition, there are courses | in the MIT program that would be ideally suited for an MBA with a concentration in MIS (Management Information Systems). Thus, in the future after the MIT program has become firmly established for at least two years, it is expected that students from one program could be allowed to take courses in the other program. The MBA and MIT programs can therefore build upon each other, allowing for a better use of ATCOB resources. More specifically, ATCOB is looking at options that will enhance the educational and learning experience of the individual student. In addition, several | |
| "hot" topics such as e-commerce and ethics are being incorporated into the 10 core courses. These innovations will help make the student highly competitive in the constantly changing business world. |
| Go to top of page | |
| One of the exciting events happening on campus is the ground breaking for the new Technology and Commerce Center which is scheduled for January 2001. The Technology and Commerce Center will take approximately 20 months to build and is projected to be ready by Fall Semester 2002. The cost is $15 million. This facility is expected to be the ultimate in education. The building will facilitate education because the classrooms will be in the center of the building and will have the latest in multimedia capabilities. With | adjustable walls and floors, the classrooms can be sized to accommodate larger and smaller classes. Dr. Daniels was personally involved in the design of the building and in making the facility "student friendly". The Technology and Commerce Center will house the College of Business, the Computer Science faculty, and the University Computer Center. With the Computer Center in the building with us, we will have the latest information technology, computer hardware, and software at our fingertips. |
| Go to top of page | |
| At present, 25 to 30 new MBA students are admitted every year. By fall 2002, all students will enter in the fall semester. The ideal class size is approximately 20, with a range of 18 to 25. Currently, approximately 50% of the MBA students do not have an undergraduate degree in business, which many including Dr. Daniels feel is a good thing because of the students' varied background. However, everyone must complete the prerequisite courses so that they will be prepared for MBA courses. | One strong recommendation Dr. Daniels makes is that MBA students could become more actively involved with all the faculty by again forming a graduate student organization which many other business schools have. | From this interview, we feel confident that the College of Business has a rigorous, high quality program. | After talking with Dr. Daniels, we are amazed at all the behind-the-scenes responsibilities he has as he strives to make the program better and more accommodating for the students. |
| Go to top of page | |