Scribbles and Bits

Here’s a profile of the CSU MBA program. I’ve had a few queries asking ”how satisfied are you?” etc. with the CSU, distance MBA program. I thought this post might answer some questons for those looking for a distance program. This information comes from a military MBA site.

militarymba.net/colorado.html

Colorado State University
College of Business Distance MBA Program
Contact Information:
Colorado State University
College of Business
Distance MBA Program
1270 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1270

1-800-491-4MBA ex 2 or 1-800-491-4622 ex 2
www.CSUmba.com
susan.meyer@colostate.edu

MBA Degree Programs:
Comprehensive Distance MBA Program offered in a 2-year or 4-year format
Evening MBA program on-campus in Fort Collins offered in a 21-month format
Executive MBA program on-campus in Denver offered in a 21-month format

Accreditation(s):
AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Since 1970.
Member of the North Central Association
The Higher Learning Commission

Admission Requirements:
In brief, the admissions requirements are (the admissions committee looks at the
composite qualifications of an individual not at each criterion in isolation):
Bachelor’s Degree, 3.0 GPA or better
GMAT score of 550 or better (GMAT waivers may be possible)
TOEFL score of 565/227
4 or more years full-time work experience – Junior officers may be eligible for
admission with less than 4 years of experience.

Prospective students are required to submit official transcripts from all previous institutions attended. In the case of international students, the TOEFL is required. The program’s website can provide you with greater detail on these requirements as well as the minimum scores accepted by the College. For additional information on GMAT and TOEFL exam schedules near you, the following contact information is provided:

Tuition:
The tuition varies by MBA program. The Distance MBA Program costs are $547* for each credit hour effective Fall 2006.

Description of Learning Environment for Students:
Distance MBA Program
Course content is delivered using mixed-media DVD technology allowing anywhere viewing. Each session of the on-campus MBA classes are taped, burned onto the DVDs and mailed out the next morning to distance MBA students around the world. The student receives the full lecture, class discussions, student questions and copies of the PowerPoints®.

As much as possible, the entire classroom environment is delivered to each distance MBA student around the world.
Distance students enjoy an inclusive environment. The distance student follows the same group of on-campus students throughout the program and is encouraged to engage in discussions with the on-campus students through our technology hub.

Additionally, distance MBA students are supported by the College of Business program coordinators, the MBA advisor, and technical support. Additionally, students have access to the wonderful reference business library. Distance MBA students are encouraged to come to Fort Collins for graduation and the related fesitivies.
Individuals serving in the military and employed by the Federal Government make up the largest single group of students (current and alumni) in the CSU Distance MBA Program. Military personnel in the US or deployed around the world have found the DVD course delivery technology to give them the flexibility they need to complete the program.
Colorado State University’s Distance MBA Program is one of the very few AACSB accredited distance programs in the United States. Distance MBA Program students earn their MBA from Colorado State University; they do not earn an online or distance degree.

Faculty:
The MBA courses through the College of Business are taught by tenure-track Ph.D. faculty. Those who teach in the MBA programs are some of the best in the College of Business and most have extensive business experience in addition to their academic achievements. Group sections for the distance MBA students are facilitated by highly qualified adjunct faculty who have extensive experience in their specific areas of expertise.

Distance MBA Program students communicate with their professors, other students and team members through a sophisticated communications application. Using threaded discussions or the chat room, distance students are connected to the campus and all its support services.
Accomplishments/Recognition:
AACSB – top 20 percent of accredited business schools worldwide
Princeton Review – Ranked #1 Best Administered Distance MBA Program, 2006
IBM National Technology Hub – IBM partnered with CSU and provided the College of Business with $21.6 million worth of technology servers so that students may develop and text computer applications

Kiplinger’s – One of the best ”big name” distance MBA programs
New York Times – Named the distance MBA a ”best buy” by geteducated.com, a distance-education research firm
Forbes – The distance MBA led to CSU being named as one of the nation’s Top 20 Cyber Universities
Templeton Foundation – Twice named CSU a character-building university
US News and World Report – 100 best undergraduate business schools

I haven’t done an update on my MBA progress for a while. I’m just now finishing my second year of the 4 year, distance MBA program through Colorado State University. The distance cohort is an extension of the evening, MBA program at Fort Collins, CO–there is no full time MBA program. Nevertheless, the program is AACSB accredited and the Business School ranks in the top 100.

My current course on Business Economics will finish in a few weeks and I’ll have the summer off this year. For now however I am 1 DVD lecture behind and have my first project coming due in a week. This actually isn’t too bad. Lectures for this course occur on Tuesday evenings and I receive my DVD on Friday mornings–I will be caught up before the next lecture arrives. Previous to Econ I took Statistics. I entered the course with a measure of dread but actually came out quite well (B+), an outcome that is due in a large part to high-quality teaching staff. I can only hope for the same with economics.

After this…

Only two more years to go!

For over 30 years, CSU has provided a Distance MBA Program that offers students:

Flexibility and Convenience

The CSU Distance MBA Program is designed to deliver a quality education while providing distance students with the flexibility they need to earn their degree. To give the distance MBA student as much of the classroom experience as possible, each on-campus class is taped, burned onto DVDs and send out to each enrolled student the next morning. Students receive the full lecture, PowerPoint slides, class discussion and student questions. Beginning with the spring 2006 semester, students will also have a full transcription of each lecture available to them.

I’m in my second year of the 4 year version of the CSU MBA and am finding it challenging but manageable with support and cooperation from my family and employer. I was initially attracted to the program because of its long-standing AACSB accreditation, its experience in distance delivery, and its popular reputation as a quality program.

Drop me a note if you have any questions.

This week saw the end of the notorious, Financial Statement Analysis project. After many mindless hours of plugging and chugging data from SEC 10k filings and Colorado State University’s Mergent-Online database, my spreadsheet was done. One final 3 hr proofreading, conference call to review the accompanying paper and we were done. It feels oddly refreshing to suddenly have no worries about deadlines. For a month at least.

I can’t believe it’s been this long since I’ve stopped to blog!

Since April I completed one more course and most of a second towards my MBA. ”Supply Chain Management” was finished in mid-May and now we’re wrapping up ”Financial Statement Analysis.” We’re at the final exam stage this weekend and from there we have four weeks to complete the project: a team-based, analysis of a minimum of the last five years of 10 K filings by a pair of related companies. The analysis is from an investor’s point of view, looking towards a final decision of which company to invest in.

”What if they’re both dogs,” asked one student.

”That could happen,” acknoledged the prof, ”in that case you’ll just have to decide which dog is the ugliest.

My team is tackling Snap on tools vs Black and Decker. So far it looks like fun. We’ve initially split the tasks into analysis of liquidity, profitability, cash flows, solvency and industry benchmarks/comparisons. One of the looming concerns for many corporations is pension funding and future obligations. This will be one of the issues considered under ”solvency.” The subject titles may not be precise but they’re a starting point.

Finished the course! I don’t know yet what my grade is but it must be a B+ or better since that is what I needed to be admitted to the program. I discovered a voice mail on my office machine on Friday that both welcomed and congratulated me with official notice of full admission to the MBA program at Colorado State University. Thanks God!

Just taking a break in studies before bed.

I’ve spent the day gathering notes together and assembling snippets to answer 5 of 10 questions for the open-book, accounting exam. Each question seems to drive a pretty strong integration of the semester’s work. Even if I were to flunk the exam I’d have learned a lot!

Here’s a couple of examples: 1) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a legislative response to perceived threats to the integrity of US financial reporting. Identify some of the most significant threats and discuss how Sarbanes-Oxley addresses each. 2) Given the following data, prepare an income statement in as much detail (how much detail is enough?) as possible (should I construct plausible scenarios to bridge the gaps?). For the year, Murray’s, a retailing company, shows outstanding common shares of 215,094,330 and there are no dilutive securities. Round all numbers to the nearest million dollars.

Income tax rate 40% (On what? How can DS leave us with such a chicken/egg scenario?)
Times Interest Earned 10.5 (How do you get EBIT? argh)
Gross margin 37% (yeah)
Earnings per share $1.06 (PTL for that)
Return on Sales 6.69% (giveaway)

I think I got all the ”possible” stuff but… I’m no accountant … And then, this is only part one; part two consist of two, ninety minute, CBT, multiple choice tests that have to be completed by Thursday so wish me luck.

I started the distance, MBA program at Colorado State University this fall. It seems that I’m always at least two weeks behind. By the rules that’s okay but by the heart it feels like chronic tardiness in getting to work, or like forever leaving home five minutes too late too catch the bus.

This week the subject is cost allocations and the related linear equations. So, while the weekend is here and while I am no longer on call through a sovereign act of kindness by my boss, I am committed by necessity to the thoroughly engaging prospect of study, study, study.

All grousing aside I have to admit that I do like it. I may even like it too much as the computer work gives me plenty of opportunity for slacking off with such momentary diversions as blogging and surfing!