Colombian media runs major story about CQEMBA's upcoming in-country location 1/18/2011 12:05:00 PM
Business press outlet posts Q&A with Dean Joe Thomas about the Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA program's expansion into the South American nation
Portafolio, the most highly circulated Colombian business and economics daily news publication, ran a detailed Q&A piece featuring Johnson's Dean Joe Thomas on the
recently-announced entry of the CQEMBA into Colombia. The expansion of the program across hemispheres is in direct support of Johnson's
Global Education goal of its Strageic Plan.
The article in Spanish is
here.
A
similar story also ran in El Colombiano, the local newspaper in Medellin, Colombia.
The Q&A (loosely translated) into English is below:
1. Why is CQEMBA's interested in Colombia?First and foremost, our interest in Colombia is high as it is a good place to do business, and because the economy and country are moving ahead quickly, in positive ways. We want to become involved more in Latin America, and we believe that Colombia is the best place to start. Second, Cornell University and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management have many outstanding alumni in Colombia. Thirdly, our students and faculty have been working on research and in educational programs in Colombia for several years, with good results. Finally, the CQEMBA is currently taught all across the U.S. and Canada and we want to make it a hemispheric program.
2. How can a CQ Executive MBA Program be explained?Cornell University is a highly ranked university, and a member of the “Ivy League” in the United States. The program is taught jointly with Queen’s University School of Business in Canada, which is also very highly ranked internationally. In the CQEMBA, students are able to keep their jobs and attend an internationally acclaimed program. Students spend time on both campuses, to get to know the faculty and their colleagues in the program. The program takes 17 months to complete. During that period, students are on campus about four weeks over three time periods. During other times, classes are held on three out of four Saturdays, for eight hours, synchronously, with “boardrooms” of five to eight people in class together. The class is highly interactive and discussion moves easily from New York City to Vancouver to Atlanta to Seattle to Los Angeles to Toronto (to name a few locations - there are about 10 sites are in a class). To understand how it works, I recommend visiting the program’s Web site or preferably, plan to attend an information session that will be held this month in Medellin on the 18
th and Bogota on the 19
th details are available
here. The bottom line is that students enrolled in the CQEMBA program make life-long connections with top-flight business faculty and student colleagues in many cities and global industries.
3. What are your enrollment goals for the program?We envision this as a very small and selective program. In the first year, we would like to have 8-16 outstanding executives to participate and join colleagues from around the hemisphere. The program will always maintain its small size and selectivity, but in later years we may have two boardrooms, one for each of the two sections of the CQEMBA program.
4. Do you have a partnership with a local university in mind?We have worked effectively and for mutual benefit with Colombian schools, especially Universidad de los Andes. But at least initially, when we are working with one boardroom, we will not add another partner school for this program.
5. Why do you think this option would be attractive for a young professional?The typical EMBA student is a little different than a typical residential MBA in that he/she tends to be a little bit older and has had more work experience. Accordingly, these are people who can truly appreciate and understand the unique qualities the CQEMBA program offers. CQEMBA is a global MBA program, with students who are currently working in Canada and the U.S., but are from all over the world. Interaction with colleagues and faculty is very personal and deep. The program requires and facilitates a global project that students work on with colleagues with similar interests. On campus, students meet senior faculty who are at the forefront of their fields in all areas of business. On completion, students receive an MBA from Johnson at Cornell University and join the strong global alumni network of Cornell University and Johnson. Graduates also receive an MBA from Queen’s University School of Business and join their alumni network.
Most importantly, students can earn this degree while continuing to advance their careers (directly applying classroom learning to their current work) and sustaining their family lives.
6. What is the cost of the program?The program, which has the same number of class hours as our resident two-year MBA program, has a current cost of approximately U.S. $103,000 for tuition and all costs (except the airfare to travel to campus three times.) This includes all books, hotels and meals when on campus, and tuition. Colfuturo has also agreed to support qualified students through scholarship and loan.
7. Is Cornell planning to offer additional programs in Colombia?This is the only new program we anticipate beginning in Colombia in the near future. We want this to be a small and outstanding program. We will put all of our energy into this program for several years before we consider any other degree programs.
