Graduate Business

Master of Science in Management and
Master of Business Administration Programs

615-248-1529 • 1-800-818-4256

www.trevecca.edu/mba

The School of Business and Management

The School of Business and Management includes the Department of Business Administration and the Division of Management and Adult Studies, which administers the Master of Science in Management (MSM) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programs. The Department of Business Administration offers the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with concentrations in accounting, information technology, music business, marketing, management, and community development for traditional students. Through the Division of Management and Adult Studies, nontraditional baccalaureate and master's degree programs in management and business administration are offered for working adult students.

A major goal of the school is to enable students to develop strong competencies in their chosen career fields, thereby preparing them to make positive contributions to their professions and society. Programs focus on fulfilling the mission of the University by developing business leaders and managers who understand and appreciate Christ's call to servant hood as the foundation of effective leadership and management.

General Description

The MSM and MBA Programs are innovatively designed based on the lifestyle and needs of today's highly mobile graduate business students. The curriculum requires few prerequisites and has an integrated, applications-based qualitative and quantitative focus. Its curriculum promotes a learning environment where students use an integrated systems approach to hone organizational management and leadership skills and techniques. This approach encourages students to view problems from many perspectives and to identify comprehensive business solutions that incorporate key issues such as strategic planning, globalization, and market and product development within the scope of legal environments and business ethics. Students are also challenged to consider critical issues such as normal organizational constraints of human, operational, and financial capital in their decision making processes. Finally, students learn to apply implementation skills including visionary leadership, effective communication, team-building, and change management to increasingly diverse workforce.

The delivery system is unique as well. The curriculum is modularized, concentrated, focused on team-based learning, and designed specifically for working adults who desire to incorporate their diverse academic and experiential backgrounds into their learning process.

The MSM Program is comprised of 36 semester hours and takes approximately 19 months to complete. The MBA Program, comprised of 47 semester hours, takes approximately 25 months to complete. MSM courses are designed to strategically build on one another. The MBA Program continues the integrative learning experience by focusing on higher-level accounting and finance content, as well as the legal environment of business. Each cohort group will move through the program one course at a time, in a lock-step fashion. Classes meet one night each week in four-hour sessions.

Students are a part of a cohort group who will attend all the courses together, forming an important, cohesive support group. Classes are taught seminar/discussion style. Team-based learning approaches are emphasized, capitalizing on student collaboration and peer accountability. The graduate faculty is committed to instructional strategies and assessment methods that allow for maximum synthesis, exploration, and analysis by the students at a graduate level of depth and complexity.

The aim is to extend the students' knowledge and intellectual maturity and to equip with specialized skills and a sense of creative independence that will allow the student to provide effective leadership in any organization. Competency-based evaluation methods, application-based projects, learning contracts, and other individualized instructional techniques are used wherever appropriate.

Greetings

From the Dean

The School of Business and Management seeks to provide a quality learning environment that calls students to excellence in the marketplace.

To the task of continuing to develop your talents and to become truly "excellent," I welcome you whole-heartedly to the School of Business and Management. If I may be of help to you, please do not hesitate to let me know.

James T. Hiatt, B.S., J.D., MBA
Dean, School of Business and Management

From the Director of Graduate Business Programs

Welcome to Trevecca Nazarene University and the School of Business and Management. We are pleased to offer graduate business programs that focus on key competencies, including principled leadership, comprehensive resource management, and integrated decision making in both private and public sector organizations. These skills are necessary in today's fast-paced, challenging environment. Our curriculum and instruction methodology provide our students with a progressive as well as diverse academic experience designed to prepare each of you for the challenges that today's leaders and managers continually face. Our goal is to expand your knowledge and understanding of key business principles and analytical tools by applying them in real organizational settings. Each class supports our overall mission, which is to teach you how to implement leadership and management principles guided by a consistent faith perspective. May God richly bless you as you join our Trevecca community and engage in principled leadership and management practices that will contribute significantly to your professional and personal life experiences.

Kenneth J. Burger, B.S., M.B.A., D.B.A.
Director, Graduate Business Programs

The Master of Science in Management (MSM) Program

MSM Program Mission

The Master of Science in Management (MSM) Program exists to provide a quality graduate level business education for professional adult students. This program seeks to equip and empower students to lead the organizations they serve to achieve organizational excellence. This program functions from a Christian worldview and is committed to continuous improvement.

MSM Objectives

1. To expose students to practical examples of how the Christian worldview is integrated into the leadership and management of organizations.
2. To assist students to develop lifelong habits that lead to personal and professional effectiveness.
3. To assist students to develop principle-centered leadership perspectives and skills.
4. To help students understand the historical evolution of management/leadership thought based on key environmental and societal changes.
5. To assist students to understand the organizational implications of macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental issues and enrich the student's perspective on global competitiveness and international business.
6. To acquaint students with strategic and operational responsibilities including identification and communication of the organization's purpose, vision and culture.
7. To provide students with effective strategic analysis and planning tools / methods.
8. To assist students to develop problem solving and decision-making skills based on effective research, deductive reasoning and inferential / critical thinking.
9. To enhance students understanding of key strategic and operational marketing and sales practices.
10. To acquaint students with key accounting and financial information used in strategic and operational managerial decision-making.
11. To expose students to information management-the gathering, analysis, dissemination, and utilization of information across the system, which is fundamental to goal setting, decision making and effective communications in organizations.
12. To assist students to analyze alternative models for organizational change and development.
13. To help students appreciate the influence of the corporate culture / value system on the overall functioning of an organization.
14. To expand student knowledge of key management responsibilities including the management of an organization's information, human, capital, technology and operational resources.
15. To assist students to analyze / understand the human communication systems within an organization and how to implement key intervention strategies.
16. To help students appreciate the complexity involved in managing workforce diversity.
17. To enhance students' ability to engage in morally/ethically based decision-making.

If a student qualifies academically and desires to pursue additional graduate-level business courses upon completing the MSM Program, the student may apply to take three additional upper-level graduate courses and receive the MBA degree.

The Master of Business Administration (MBA Program)

MBA Program Mission

The Master of Science in Business Administration (MBA) Program exists to provide a quality graduate-level business education for professional adult students. This program seeks to equip and empower students with quantitative and legal skills for organizational leadership and excellence. This program functions from a Christian worldview.

MBA Objectives

1. To equip each student with a graduate business educational foundation so that he or she is effectively prepared to assume broad managerial responsibilities in a variety of organizational settings.
2. To provide an advanced understanding of the specialized skills required to manage and grow a business enterprise, including
   1. an enhanced understanding of how to apply leadership skills in challenging organizational settings
   2. an expanded understanding of how to manage a business enterprise in an ever changing global environment
   3. the ability to solve complicated and realistic business problems, and
   4. the application of quantitative methods and data analysis to business decision-making
3. To expose students to both the theoretical development of quantitative techniques and their application to managerial decision-making.
4. To help students develop advanced specialized skills in legal, financial, and accounting functions.

Process for Earning the MBA Degree

Students desiring the MBA degree must complete all MSM course work with a 3.0 GPA prior to being considered for the MBA degree. Students who have completed the MSM course work will be required to take three additional MBA-level courses to complete the requirements for the MBA. Students who proceed with the MBA will be able to complete all additional course work in approximately six months. The three additional courses are (1) Advanced Accounting, (2) Advanced Finance, and (3) Business Law. These courses will be offered in the same format as the MSM Program. Students will meet one night per week for four hours each night.

Admission Policies and Procedures

Admission Requirements

Admission into Trevecca Nazarene University's graduate business programs is competitive and based on a careful appraisal of the applicant's academic record, performance on the admission testing, recommendations, and work experience.

To be considered for admission, applicants must

1. Submit a completed application with a non-refundable $25 application fee.
2. Have earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution, with a cumulative undergraduate grade-point-average (GPA) of 2.5 or better. Applicants must submit one official transcript from all colleges/universities attended (undergraduate and graduate work). These transcripts must be sent directly from the institution to the Office of the Division of Management and Adult Studies. All hours from regionally accredited institutions will be considered in calculating the cumulative GPA.
3. Demonstrate significant employment experience and competence via a résumé and letter of recommendation from his or her employer.
4. Submit two additional letters of recommendation. All letters of recommendation should comment on the applicant's academic and/or career performance and potential.
5. Successfully complete a critical thinking skills analysis. This is a 35 question multiple choice test that is administered in our office. Sample questions can be seen at: http://www.insightassessment.com/SampleTest1.html
6. Compose a 1-2 page double-spaced, typed document analyzing a current business problem in our office. The document should contain a well-organized argument addressing the problem and should be a sample of the applicant's best writing mechanically, organizationally, analytically, stylistically, etc. A passing score is a three out of five.
7. Pass a quantitative skills proficiency exam with a score of 70 percent or better. The exam is administered in the Office of the Division of Management and Adult Studies. Please call to receive a study guide and schedule an appointment to take the exam.

Admission Fee

Upon notification of acceptance, the student must pay a non-refundable admission fee of $200 in order to reserve a place in the class. This fee will be applied toward the first semester tuition.

Tuition and Fees

*The book and materials fee for each course is an average cost for the books for the entire program. It also includes other various fees, such as a $50 per semester technology fee and a $100 graduation fee.

Tuition and book fees are due at the beginning of each semester.