Executive MBA (EMBA) Weekend Program
The Manderson Graduate School of Business offers an Executive MBA program that brings together successful managers, professionals, and executives across a broad spectrum of industries and job positions to earn an MBA degree. Weekend class sessions allow students to pursue their MBA degree without sacrificing current employment. This program requires a total of 48 credit hours of coursework in a lock-step, cohort-based experience. The 17-month program is delivered through a hybrid-instruction model. Students meet in-person one weekend each month (on Friday and Saturday) on the Tuscaloosa campus. In support of the monthly in-person sessions, additional course content and instruction is provided to students, typically in an online, asynchronous manner. The program is based in Tuscaloosa and generally enrolls in the spring. The program includes a mandatory global business trip/experience.
Admissions
In addition to the minimum Graduate School admission requirements, to be considered for regular admission, an application must include:
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Resume
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Applicant Interview
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Completed Statement of Purpose
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GMAT or GRE exam is typically no longer required for EMBA applicants who meet specific criteria established. To qualify for this exemption, an applicant must have strong work experience (at least five years) and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better OR have already earned another master’s degree. Please contact the EMBA office for additional information on this policy.
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Test score requirements for applicants with a GPA below a 3.0 are a GMAT (old version) score of at least 500, a GMAT (new version) score of at least 485, a GRE of at least 300, or a score in the 50th percentile on the Executive Assessment.
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Minimum of five years of professional work experience
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Active support by your current employer
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An undergraduate degree from an accredited institution with a solid grade point average (prefer 3.0 GPA or better)
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2 Letters of Recommendation. One letter must be from your supervisor; the second letter may be from another person within your company or a client. Please contact the EMBA office for more guidance on information to include in a letter of recommendation.
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A TOEFL score of at least 79 or an IELTS score of at least 6.5 for non-native English speakers who are required to submit an English Language Test score (see admissions criteria link below).
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Please note that this program does not accept a Duolingo or PTE Test score.
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A student who does not meet all requirements, but excels in other areas, may be admitted with Permission to Continue on a case-by-case basis.
See the Admission Criteria section of this catalog for more information.
Curricular Requirements
Our team-intensive EMBA curriculum provides a thorough education in business skills, theories, and practices with focused areas of study in financials, strategy, global initiatives, and leadership. Our boardroom approach to learning leverages case studies, simulations, open debate, discussion, and in-depth projects and presentations. This teaches our professional students to make decisions amid uncertainty, conflicting data, complex policies, and intense time and fiscal pressures. The curriculum consists of 16 courses, each with 3 credit hours, for a total of 48 credit hours in the program.
Students work in study teams while in the program, and coursework is a mixture of individual and team assignments. Cases, projects, simulations, presentations, and written assignments are typical class assignments. Teams generally choose to meet each week (in-person or online). Blackboard, an online course management tool, allows students to interact with classmates and instructors and serves as an online data repository for course materials.
| Executive MBA Curriculum | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Term I Courses | ||
| AC 501 | Basic Acctg Managrl Finan Cont | 3 |
| MGT 542 | Management Communication | 3 |
| OM 506 | Business Spreadsheet Analytics | 3 |
| ST 509 | Stat For Business Appl | 3 |
| Summer Term II Courses | ||
| FI 504 | Financial Management for MBA | 3 |
| MGT 517 | Leadership & Ethics | 3 |
| MKT 518 | Mkting Mgmt & Decision Making | 3 |
| OM 516 | Operations Management | 3 |
| Fall Term III Courses | ||
| EC 500 | Managerial Economics | 3 |
| MIS 511 | Management Information Systems | 3 |
| Elective: FAS Course #1 | 3 | |
| Elective: FAS Course #2 | 3 | |
| Spring Term IV Courses | ||
| GBA 525 | Business Policy | 3 |
| IBA 550 | Global Business | 3 |
| Elective: FAS Course #3 | 3 | |
| Elective: FAS Course #4 | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 48 | |
Focused Areas of Study (FAS)
The EMBA program offers focused areas of study (FAS) in Business Analytics, Supply Chain & Operations Management (SCOM), Marketing (Digital & Social Media-DSM), Strategic Leadership, & Entrepreneurship. All FAS courses are delivered online.
| FAS: Business Analytics | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| ST 521 | Statistical Data Management (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| ST 531 | Data Mining I (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| ST 522 | Adv Statistical Data Mgt (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| ST 532 | Advanced Data Mining (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| FAS: Supply Chain & Ops Mgmt | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| OM 523 | Inventory Management (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| OM 517 | Supply Chain Modeling & Analys (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| OM 527 | Purchasing and Sourcing (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| Elective Course- Supply Chain and Ops Management (Term 3-Fall) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| Contact the EMBA academic advisor for course elective approval | ||
| FAS: Marketing-Digital/Social Media | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MKT 540 | Intro to Digital/Social Media (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| MKT 542 | Digital/Social Media Analytics (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| MKT 543 | Adv Digital and Social Media (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| Elective Course- Marketing (Term 3-Fall) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| FAS: Entrepreneurship | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MGT 523 | Effective Negotiations (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| MGT 582 | New Venture Development (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| MGT 597 | Special Topics (Foundations of ENT (Term 4-Spring)) | 3 |
| MGT 597 | Special Topics (Building Blocks of ENT (Term 4-Spring)) | 3 |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| FAS: Strategic Leadership | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MGT 523 | Effective Negotiations (Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| MGT 597 | Special Topics (Decision Intelligence: Term 3-Fall) | 3 |
| MGT 556 | Data Visualization (Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| MGT 597 | Special Topics (Architecting A Nimble Org: Term 4-Spring) | 3 |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| FAS: Custom (from available online courses) | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Elective Course- FAS Custom: Term 3-Fall | 3 | |
| Elective Course- FAS Custom: Term 3-Fall | 3 | |
| Elective Course- FAS Custom: Term 4-Spring | 3 | |
| Elective Course- FAS Custom: Term 4-Spring | 3 | |
| Credit Hours Subtotal: | 12 | |
| Contact the EMBA academic advisor for course(s) approval. | ||
Transfer Credit
Graduate School information on Transfer Credit.
Time Limits for Degree Completion Requirements
Graduate School information on Time Limits.
Academic Misconduct Information
Graduate School information on Academic Misconduct.
Withdrawals and Leave of Absence Information
Graduate School information on Withdrawals and Leave of Absence.
Academic Grievances Information
Graduate School information on Academic Grievances.
Grades and Academic Standing
Graduate School information on Grades and Academic Standing.
Graduate School Deadlines Information
Information on Graduate School Deadlines.
Application for Graduation Information
Information on the Application for Graduation.