Professional MBA Program

Edward S. Ageno School of Business

The Ageno School of Business at Golden Gate University is proud to offer a new Professional MBA degree program. This professionally focused MBA program complements our other MBA programs: our flexible traditional evening and weekend MBA program with a wide variety of career-focused concentration choices and our state-of-the-art Executive MBA program. Each of these programs is renowned for its academic and professional excellence and is intended to service a separate segment of the growing MBA market in the Greater Bay Area. All three are based on the same rigorous intellectual foundation in business theory and management, hands-on practical experience in applying theoretical knowledge to current real-life problems, and an experienced, top-notch faculty.

This new Professional MBA program is designed to be highly innovative in its delivery and content as well as professionally focused. Based upon our practitioner-scholar educational model, the professional MBA integrates the different business administration fields into a cohesive program that emphasizes the application of theory, concepts, and techniques to real business situations and problems. Completing this program will enable you to meet the changing demands and challenges of the global marketplace of today. You will acquire the necessary skills and knowledge required for effective analysis, communication, understanding of human behavior and team dynamics and leadership through a curriculum that is contemporary and applicable to the problems and issues you will encounter in today's business environment. The program is structured to allow you to complete your degree in sixteen months while minimizing your in-class time through our unique mixed-mode format.

The Professional MBA program provides new and mid-level managers with an opportunity to learn and develop the management skills that will enable them to excel in today's competitive environment from faculty who are academically qualified professionals involved in the field. Our faculty brings you the best of two worlds: full-time professors with an in-depth knowledge of business theory and philosophy, and adjunct professors, all with advanced degrees, who work in the field and share their knowledge and experience in the classroom. You will find an enthusiastic faculty who have as their goal your growth and success in the field.

• Tightly focused core curriculum The course of study includes twelve (12) four-unit business courses.
  
• Unique culminating "capstone term" The final "capstone term" is designed to integrate three unique perspectives to culminate your MBA program - the competitive advantage of the firm, the important "non-business" issues in the external environment and the development of your own unique personal leadership style.
  
• Accelerated Program This program is intended to address the education needs of new and mid-level managers. The program will be completed in 16 months in a cohort format.
  
• Unique "mixed-mode" format All of the classes will be offered through a unique mixed-mode format that utilizes a mixture of alternating web-mediated and in-person classes.
  
• No GMAT Required At least five years of work experience overall and three years of managerial or professional-level experience replaces the GMAT and qualifies you to apply now.
  
• Exceptional Cohorts The Professional MBA students are among Golden Gate's finest. Candidates must have at least five years of work experience and three years at the managerial level and are personally interviewed by the program director. Applicants who are selected bring exciting perspectives and rich experience to the real problems discussed in class.
  
• Classic and Cutting Edge Practical, up-to-date learning in an exciting environment that prepares graduates for success, delivered by an institution with more than 100 years of experience at educating working adults.
  
• International Emphasis in all courses International issues are woven throughout all of the courses, rather than in a separate stand-alone course, to give you a deeper understanding of how international issues impact all aspects of business.
  
• Class size The seminars are limited in size to enhance learning and meet in person every other week on Saturday (with cyber-mediated discussions in between class sessions) over the four-trimester, 16-month period. The program is offered on a cohort basis, our next cohort strat in San Francisco and San Jose in September 2008.
  
• Alumni Network Golden Gate University students and alumni are employed at a variety of well-respected companies including: AT&T, Bank of America, Caltrans, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Levi Strauss & Co., Morgan Stanley, NEC, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Pfizer, Charles Schwab, SBC, SONY, United States Postal Service and many others.
  

Admission is limited to individuals with practical experience from a variety of industries. Applicants are encouraged to submit all application materials simultaneously to ensure an admissions decision can be made before the start of the cohort. To be considered for the program, you must complete and submit:

• A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution and official transcripts from the degree-granting undergraduate institution and for any graduate work completed
• A one-page application form and an application fee of $55
• A written statement of purpose which explains your interests in how the professional MBA program will benefit your career
• A sample of your writing output.
• A detailed resume showing at least five years of full-time work experience with three years at the managerial or professional-level, and a letter of recommendation from an officer of the applicant's employing organization
• Candidates will be contacted by the program director to schedule the interview upon receipt of all applications documents.
  

Students must demonstrate an acceptable graduate-level writing proficiency. We will require students to submit an example of their written work and, if necessary, a proficiency exam will be required to determine whether a student has the background to enter the program. Please consult the program director for information. Students must demonstrate acceptable proficiency in Algebra. A proficiency exam will be required to determine whether a student has the background to enter the program directly or to determine which noncredit math course or study guide must be completed prior to beginning the Professional MBA program. Please consult the program director for information.

Contact Cassandra Dilosa at cdilosa@ggu.edu or 415-442-7034 for more information or to make an appointment for a placement exam. The professional MBA degree requires successful completion of 48 trimister units to be earned in twelve 4-unit seminars. To ensure maximum opportunity for shared learning and in-depth peer interaction, the participants in each entering class take all seminars as a group and in the sequence outlined below.

First Trimester
• PMBA 300 Managerial Analysis & Team Dynamics
• PMBA 305 Quantitative Aspects of Decision Making
• PMBA 310 Accounting for Decision Making

Second Trimester
• PMBA 315 Managerial Economics
• PMBA 320 Financial Management
• PMBA 325 Management and Communications

Third Trimester
• PMBA 330 Innovation and Technology Management
• PMBA 335 Marketing Management
• PMBA 340 Operations Management

Fourth Trimester
• PMBA 345 Contextual Environment of Business
• PMBA 350 Developing Personal Leadership
• PMBA 355 Strategic Management