Course descriptionOur curriculum provides students with the foundation of a traditional MBA combined with the flexibility and options sufficient to deliver a general management program with the breadth and depth required to meet the needs of today’s nonprofit executives.
Students begin with self-tutorials in four topics: statistics, finance, financial/managerial accounting, and information technology. On satisfactory completion of the self-tutorials, students begin their coursework by taking three of four Values Perspective courses. Students take these classes with our regular MBA students.
Students also choose three classes from amongst six offered in our Managerial Tools Track (Negotiations, Communication across Barriers, Intercultural Communication, Creativity, New Venture Management, and Excel Spreadsheet Modeling). Four of the six courses are part of our traditional MBA curriculum, allowing Executive MBA students to take additional classes with our regular MBA students. The two communication courses are part of our graduate level Communication Studies program. Managerial Tools courses enhance the student’s communication skills, creativity, and/or provide them with a general understanding of Entrepreneurship or Spreadsheet Modeling.
Students begin their directed nonprofit coursework with a required course in Accounting for Nonprofits and then choose four out of five elective courses focused on the nonprofit sector. The capstone class, required of all students, is a field project to be done preferably with the student’s own employer or another suitable organization.
Self-tutorials: All Executive MBA in Nonprofit Management students must take the self-tutorials and exceed a benchmark score predetermined by our faculty. The self-tutorials provide foundational knowledge in statistics, finance, accounting, and information technology. A student will have up to a year to pass the tutorials, but until doing so cannot take additional classwork in our graduate program. Students having difficulty with a self-tutorial also have the option of taking an equivalent MBA class, however, doing so will add to the student’s cost of tuition.
Values Perspective Courses (choose 3 of 4)
The values perspective courses introduce students to issues of leadership, understanding cultural differences and developing multicultural skills, sustainability, and the role of business in society.
BUS 511 Cross Cultural Management
BUS 512 Leadership and Higher Level Management
BUS 513 Social Responsibility in Organizations
BUS 5xx Metrics for Sustainability
Managerial Tools (choose 3 of 6)
Managerial tools courses allow the Executive MBA student to customize their program to their needs. Students choose the type of managerial tools best needed for his/her future career. Students can enhance their communication and negotiation skills, learn to be more creative, obtain an understanding of the entrepreneurial process, or learn and/or improve their Excel Spreadsheet Modeling skills.
BUS 523 Negotiations
CST 511 Communication Across Barriers
CST 531 Intercultural Communication
BUS 571 New Venture Management
BUS 5xx Creativity
BUS 5xx Excel Spreadsheet Modeling
Nonprofit Required Class
This class is required of all students enrolled in the Executive MBA in Nonprofit Management. It deals with topics such as finance and accounting fundamentals, budgeting and management control, financial reporting and interpreting financial results, and strategy, tactics and budgeting, amongst others.
BUS 5xx Accounting for Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit Electives (choose 4 of 5)
BUS 5xx Management of Nonprofit Organizations
Selected topics include the critical role of mission and vision, governance and leadership of the nonprofit organization, board roles and effectiveness, volunteerism and HR management, planning tools, advocacy and government relations, and ethics and professionalism in the nonprofit organization.
BUS 5xx Social Entrepreneurship
Key topics discussed in this class include the role of social entrepreneurship in creating social value, venture philanthropy, earned income strategies, crafting alliances, and measuring performance.
BUS 5xx Marketing for the Nonprofit Organization
Topics addressed include the use of social media, cooperative strategies such as cause-related marketing, negotiations, PR and advertising for nonprofit managers, and pricing in the nonprofit sector.
BUS 5xx Financial Management for the Nonprofit
Key topics include fundraising, grantwriting, philanthropy, financial capital markets, ephilanthropy, corporate giving/sponsorships, working capital and cash flow analysis, using excel for financial analysis, and managing investments and working with foundations.
BUS 5xx Program Evaluation: Measuring Outcomes
This course addresses the topic of measuring social outcomes. It focuses on needs and impact assessments, methods of collecting, analyzing and interpreting organizational data and information, and reporting evaluation results, as well as other measurement topics.
Required Capstone Course:
BUS 5xx Field Project
A required course for all Executive MBA in Nonprofit Management students, this class is the culminating experience for the student. It comprises a field project to be conducted with the student’s own employer, or a suitable alternative.
Additional Course Options:
Other courses, such as BUS 581 (Advanced Business Communication) and special topic courses offered with a BUS 590-592 designation may be used to substitute for selected Managerial Tools courses with the approval of the Program Director.