Northwest, Missouri Southern to offer online MBA

The presidents of Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Southern State University will meet at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at Northwest's Kansas City Center in Liberty to lay the foundation for a new online master's degree program in business administration.

President Dean L. Hubbard of Northwest, located in Maryville, and acting President Terri Agee of Missouri Southern, located in Joplin, will sign a memorandum of understanding creating the jointly administered program, which is scheduled to launch in fall 2008.

"This agreement reflects the continuing spirit of collaboration that has developed between two fine institutions," said Dr. Frances Shipley, dean of the Graduate School at Northwest. Shipley noted that the universities have cooperated on two earlier collaborative programs, a master's degree in teaching (instructional technology) and a master's degree in elementary education (early childhood).

The new program's curriculum will mirror Northwest's traditional MBA, which requires candidates to complete 33 hours of graduate credit in addition to a research component. Courses will be delivered via the Internet, instructional television and other electronic means. Northwest's Melvin and Valorie Booth College of Business and Professional Studies and Missouri Southern's Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration will each provide equal numbers of faculty.

Under the terms of the memorandum, students will be subject to Northwest policies for admission, retention and program completion and pay Northwest tuition rates.

Each institution will retain revenue generated through courses taught by its own faculty. Likewise, instructors will be paid by their home university, though other costs, such as marketing and promotion, can be shared.

According to the MOU, an advisory board comprising representatives from both institutions will oversee the program, and diplomas issued to graduates will bear the names of both schools.

Northwest recently opened academic centers equipped for both classroom-based instruction and distance learning in Kansas City and St. Joseph, and the University has a long tradition of providing graduate-level outreach in such Missouri locations as St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Trenton and Kirksville.

In addition to serving Missouri residents, however, administrators are hoping the new MBA will attract students from neighboring counties in Oklahoma and Kansas.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone (660) 562-1704
Fax (660) 562-1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

Return to Previous Page