Professors, professionals combine to teach course

A new executive Master of Business Administration program at Kent State will allow students to be taught not only by professors, but also by experts in the health care field from Akron-Cleveland area hospitals.

The Kent State University Health Care MBA program follows the same content as the current corporate executive MBA program, which has been offered for the past 30 years. The difference is, the field of health care will be integrated into every course in the program by team teaching and students must have at least five years of experience in health care.

“Many of our current professors will teach in the program, but joining them in the classroom will be health care professionals,” said Robert Krampf, director of the Executive MBA program. “This will assure that the students receive a quality MBA degree but also assure that the material is applicable to the health care field.”

Krampf said the average years of experience for students joining to the EMBA program is 14 years. Students must also have an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

“Health care is a large and growing market that is important to Northeast Ohio,” Krampf said. “The program should provide the students with the opportunity to advance their careers in a health care organization.”

The health care EMBA program is a lock-step program, meaning students must enroll in the entire program and take all classes together.

In-class sessions will meet once a month at the Stark Campus Professional Education and Conference Center on Thursday evening and all day Friday and Saturday until 5:00 p.m. Online lectures and discussions will also take place every week.

Health care MBA students will often be sponsored fully or partially by their health care organizations. This will include financial support as well as a commitment to accommodate the student’s needs during the 21-month program.

Contact principal reporter Kristyn Soltis at [email protected].