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Distance MBA Development One of the primary objectives of the TSU-Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) partnership, according to the terms of the State Department grant, was to explore the possibilities of establishing an American-style Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in Malawi. In 2000, at the time of the grant award, there was no such degree being offered in the country. A British university was, however, managing a Master in Strategic Management degree in collaboration with MIM. For the first two years of the partnership discussions centered on the idea of offering a Certificate in Business Administration. TSU faculty members would travel to Malawi and teach half (six) of the required MBA courses on an intensive short-term basis. This proposal did not succeed for several reasons. Malawians were interested in the complete MBA degree, not a certificate. And TSU College of Business faculty members were not too keen on taking two weeks out to travel to Malawi and teach for no extra pay! Hence, the notion of developing an online, distance MBA program for delivery in Malawi. OIBP staff began the process of exploring all the steps necessary for this ambitious proposal to be realized. The very first step was to request a no-cost extension to the State Department grant, due to expire in September 2003. This request was officially granted in June 2003, and a new end-date of October 2005 was given. Discussions were held with the TSU Office of Distance Education, which was already coordinating the university's participation in the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Degree Program. Several College of Business faculty agreed to undergo training in WebCT applications used for converting courses into online format. It was clear from the outset that this would surely be this would be an extraordinary exercise in faculty development. By the middle of the summer of 2003, the following announcement was prepared for dissemination to prospective MBA candidates in Malawi. TSU Distance MBA Degree Program in Malawi The TSU College of Business is certified by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the highest credential available to MBA programs. For the past three years TSU's College of Business has been engaged in a partnership with the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM), funded by a grant from the U.S. State Department. The partnership has involved collaborative applied research and faculty and staff exchange. TSU faculty members have traveled to Malawi to provide seminars in survey and case study methodologies. Malawi staff have come to the U.S. to work with TSU to develop case study methods for application in Malawi and subsequently implemented them. The partnership also aimed at exploring the possibility of an MBA program in Malawi. After many months of study and consultation, the College of Business at TSU is now pleased to report plans for offering an online Distance MBA degree program in Malawi, in collaboration with MIM. TSU is of course aware that there are other advanced management programs being offered in Malawi. For example, the University of Derby has been implementing a Master of Science (MSc) degree program in Strategic Management in collaboration with MIM for several years. The University of Malawi's Faculty of Commerce at the Polytechnic began offering an MBA degree for the first time this academic year. For several years the Faculty of Commerce has offered an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, with a U.S. style curriculum. Several other factors contributed to TSU's decision to develop the Distance MBA for delivery in Malawi. Malawi banks, parastatals and private firms have shown an interest in supporting their senior managers in pursuit of an American MBA degree. The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), the governing body of TSU, now offers several online undergraduate degrees. Tennessee Tech University (TTU), a sister TBR institution, has just begun offering a Distance MBA degree, primarily aimed at a Tennessee student clientele. TTU has agreed to make available to TSU their CD-ROM modules developed for Foundation courses for use in Malawi, which should greatly facilitate the process of fulfilling TSU admission requirements to the MBA program. The TSU Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, responsible for Distance Education programs, is supportive of masters level distance education degree programs and her office is assisting College of Business faculty members in the conversion of their MBA courses into online format. Key considerations in arriving at this decision should be noted. The costs associated with offering a Distance (online) MBA are considerably less than they would be if TSU faculty traveled to Malawi to deliver courses. And in place, the TSU distance degree would be available to anyone, thus becoming an additional source of revenue for the College of Business. TSU is therefore persuaded that there should be sufficient demand in Malawi for an American MBA degree program if it were reasonably priced. Why Offer a Distance (online) MBA Degree? In 1989, when GetEducated.com, began tracking accredited distance degrees, only five MBAs were available to the public. Today, GetEducated.com's free guidebook, Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools, Business and Management 2003, profiles 103 accredited distance MBAs. The MBA is by far the most popular degree offered in distance format in the USA. Two independent research studies have compared distance learning MBA students to their residential peers. Both studies have found more similarities than differences between groups in learner satisfaction and educational outcomes. Researchers at Colorado State's AACSB-accredited business school compared distance students to their campus counterparts and to executive MBA cohort students on 12 specific competencies. Since all groups took virtually the same curriculum, with many having the same instructors, with the same AACSB-accredited degree awarded at conclusion, the school sought to determine if delivery method alone made any significant difference. All students were being awarded the same degree, but were they all really receiving the same education? Since GetEducated.com began surveying employers and distance learning students, research indicates two solid trends. First, public acceptance of distance degrees has increased steadily. The years since 1996 have brought a sharp increase in level of acceptance. This appears to be related to the rise of the Internet as a delivery method. Americans trust the Internet and therefore tend to trust degrees delivered this way more than those delivered by older technologies such as cable TV and mail correspondence. A sharp rise in the number of established brick and mortar educational institutions that offer distance degrees has also heightened public acceptance. Provided an institution is accredited by a recognized agency, greater than 85% of those GetEducated.com surveyed in 2001 believed that quality should not be an issue. Another website (www.allbusinessschools.com) maintains a list of some 170 business schools that are said to offer an MBA by state. Nevertheless, a report in USA Today ("More Students Get MBAs Online") Feb. 10, 2003) indicated that just 3.3% of the schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) have significant online programs. Many of the top-tier business schools have stayed away. Smaller, regionally accredited schools have attracted thousands of student using internet courses to obtain an MBA degree. The most popular master's degrees are the MBA and education. Implementation of the TSU Distance MBA in Malawi
Pre-DMBA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Sheet TSU Distance MBA Course Description |