Business Graduates Need to Play Key Role in Rebuilding Economy

Mon, May 25th 2020, 05:45 PM

National development has to be the focus of any distinctive Master of Business Administrative (MBA) degree programme offered by University of The Bahamas (UB), Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board Tanya McCartney asserts.

Ms. McCartney is a 2012 graduate of the institution’s MBA in Leadership programme. “Specialist areas [for the MBA] must align with the opportunities for growth and national development.

We need to develop a cadre of leaders who can take our country forward. Who can actually “do” and not simply opine,” she says.

UB has reviewed, upgraded and is preparing to relaunch the MBA programme from which Ms. McCartney and her cohort graduated, which has tracks in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Financial Decision Making and Leadership.

Three other MBA degree programmes will be offered beginning in the new academic year – the MBA in Accounting, MBA in Events Management and MBA in Hospitality Management.

The two latter are in collaboration with Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University.

The graduate degree programmes are timely and relevant. On the heels of the devastating Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bahamas is facing a crippling economic downturn and a contraction in employment.

Adept Business graduates, prepared to help jumpstart the economy and steer an upsurge, will be in high demand.

“Graduate students admitted as candidates to these new programmes will find themselves immersed in conversations around sustainability and innovation that no other MBA graduate in the world would have done,” says UB President Dr. Rodney D. Smith.

“In this new era, post a global pandemic, everything from sustainable tourism innovations to digital currency exchanges to the very purchase of goods within a redefined society, will become the focus of these professional men and women.”

UB’s graduate programmes have been developed with the sustainable development of The Bahamas in mind and are grounded in the academic rigour for which the institution is known.

Dean of Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies Remelda Moxey says the strength of the MBA programmes will be evident in the impact of graduates on the public and private sectors. The programmes were not developed in a vacuum but rather through industry collaboration.

“We have listened to our graduates and industry personnel, both public and private, and used the information they provided to inform our current programmes,” notes Ms. Moxey.

“It was imperative that industry personnel from both the public and private sectors informed the process relative to the development of the MBA. UB did not want a “cookie cutter” MBA. Hence they were called upon and assisted with identifying the areas of business in which they thought there was a dearth in the country.”

“We have some of the most highly qualified and technically competent professors with experiential knowledge and academic learning who are able to bridge the academics and experience and deliver it seamlessly.

These blended programmes are designed for the working professional who would pursue nine credits per semester, one class on Tuesday evenings and two courses every other weekend for seven weeks each.”

Adding courses like Business Data Analytics and Information Enterprise Systems and retaining the off-island intensive for experiential learning was key. While students in the cohorts will learn from professors and industry executives, they will also learn from each other.

“As my MBA focused on leadership, the most memorable experience was having to collaborate with members of the cohort on projects which revealed the experiences that help to frame the type of leaders that we become.

The defining experience was travelling to Boston to complete our capstone project. The exposure was enriching,” says Ms. McCartney, a barrister who has also served in senior positions in tourism and financial services.

Business graduates of the institution, including those in undergraduate degree programmes, have assumed myriad leadership roles in the public and private sectors, while others have successfully completed terminal degrees and professional certifications.

Academic administrators are confident that graduates of the forthcoming MBA programmes will guide the kind of transformation that The Bahamas desperately needs.

For more information on the institution’s graduate programmes, email graduate@ub.edu.bs.

 Sponsored Ads