Goizueta’s One-Year MBA Our Great Strength, Says Dean Mitchell

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in the US offers a full time 1-year MBA program along with 2-year program and those for working professionals.

Brian Mitchell, Associate Dean of Full Time MBA Programs, considers the 1-year program as “our great strength”.

In an interview published recently in the Emory students’ blog ‘Life at Goizeta’, he says, “I think the 1-year program is a huge strength for our school, and it is a big differentiator as we go to market.

“It allows us to leverage our strong faculty to touch more students than they normally would, and it allows us to satisfy a growing demand in the marketplace for a 1 year MBA experience in a way that gives students a very high return on their MBA investments,” he adds.

“As we’ve seen a high demand from quality students seeking a top tier 1 year MBA, we believe that many schools will follow suit and expand their offerings in the near future with similar programs,’ Mitchell says.

The school prides itself on accessibility and relatively smaller sized classes. “Our deliberately small sized classes along with high staff and faculty interaction provide our students with the most intimate educational experience possible,” he adds.

Class of 2017

The One-Year MBA Class of 2017 at 66 is the largest in the school’s history, a four member increase from the previous record set last year at 62.

It is also one of the more diverse groups on record. It has students from 18 countries–Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Peru, Poland, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, and the United States.

The average GPA of the class was 3.4 with 80% GMAT Range of 560-710.  The students average work experience was 6 years. The class has  39% female representation and 17%  minorities. International students comprised 17%.

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The students come from diverse professional backgrounds. Their previous employers include A.P. Moller Maersk, Accenture, Bank Of America, Cisco, Deloitte Consulting, Delta Air Lines, Ernst & Young, ESPN, Fortegra Financial, Glaxosmithkline, Hard Rock Hotels, Helmerich & Payne, Morgan Stanley,  Porsche, Pricewaterhousecoopers,  The Coca-Cola Company, The Norinchukin Bank, The Walt Disney Company Japan Ltd., UPS, Wells Fargo Bank and WPM Commercial.

Globalizing Goizueta

As the Dean, Mitchell says he is heavily focused on the globalization of Goizueta, getting the students more opportunities for global experiences and opportunities, getting the faculty research more exposure outside of the US, and getting the brand to spread outside of the US as well.

The school has strategic partnerships with a number of countries. One such initiative is the 1-year program’s summer module, in Prague and Munich this year. “We implemented this based on previous class feedback, and it has been a great success,” he added.

Directed Study

About his experience as a student at Goizueta, Mitchell says he had undertaken a directed study with Dr. Rick Gilkey (professor in the practice of organization and management) on adjusting traditional marketing modelling to the behaviour of physicians as consumers.

“That blew me away in terms of my ability to design that project and go through the primary field research and reporting. Directed studies allow students to explore their interests, their areas of strength and improvement, and really personalize the educational experience. I always encourage all GBS students to explore directed study opportunities, as it’s a course that’s all about you,” he says. (Image Courtesy: Emory Goizueta Business School Intranet)