Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 1, Page 20 Fall 1992 Du Ponters earn University MBA at the job site Thirty of the Du Pont Co.'s best and brightest-many of whom already hold the Ph.D.-are back in school, participating in an innovative new program that gives these highly trained engineers a basic understanding of business, and does so at their workplace. The Du Ponters are the first students in the University of Delaware MBA at Du Pont Program, an on-site effort to teach future executives of the chemical giant such business-education staples as administrative management, finance, marketing and operations management. All courses are taught at the company's Barley Mill Plaza site in Wilmington, Del. "The program is very unusual," College of Business and Economics Dean Kenneth R. Biederman says. "We're dealing with a Dow 30 corporation, one of the largest companies in the world, and we're dealing with students who are among the best compared to those in any MBA program in the country. The fact that the program is conducted on their premises makes it very novel." While most of the students in the program are extensively trained in engineering, and many hold Ph.D.s, most have received only cursory education in business administration, according to Howard Garland, chairperson of the University's business administration department. The curriculum, therefore, aims to give students a broad business background, just like the University's on-campus MBA program, he says. The chief differences between the Delaware MBA at Du Pont and the University's part-time, on-campus program are the Du Pont program's "lock-step" set-up, which means that all students take all the same classes together, and the total length of the program: The Du Pont students will finish in three years, while on-campus students complete the curriculum in four. John W. Himes, Delaware '66, senior vice president for human resources at Du Pont, says the University's willingness to offer the courses off campus reflects the school's commitment to graduate education. Of the students, Himes says: "This group of very talented people obviously are managing their careers and themselves quite well. People who can handle the complexities of a career, a family and an education are rather unique, and they possess the kinds of skills that Du Pont is looking for." The selection of students, based on undergraduate grades, scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test and a personal interview, was made by the University, although potential students needed the recommendation of their supervisors before applying to the program. "The problem we had in choosing students was that we had to say no to a number of people we'd normally love to have accepted," according to James L. Butkiewicz, associate dean of the College of Business and Economics. There were about 70 applicants for the first class, and the demand allowed the University to enroll a second class, which started its program this fall. Garland says the Delaware faculty who teach in the MBA program are "a group of nationally and internationally recognized scholars." Each of the faculty members holds a doctoral degree, many from such prestigious institutions as Cornell, Harvard, Northwestern, Pennsylvania and Stanford. One of the professors Garland refers to is Butkiewicz, recipient of a University teaching award. Butkiewicz taught the Du Pont students' macroeconomics and says the class was "probably one of the best, if not the best, I ever had." He describes the students as very dedicated and hard-working. "In my opinion, it's always more interesting to teach macroeconomics to adults," Butkiewicz says. "They've seen macroeconomic events happen that affect their workplace. They ask questions about monetary policy. They're motivated and they want to understand the economy, which is really fascinating for an instructor." Recently, University officials started talks with several other area chemical companies about establishing an executive MBA program on the University's Wilmington campus. The program would offer classes on weekends and full-time for two weeks in the summer, and would lead to a degree in 11 to 24 months, Butkiewicz says. There also have been talks with representatives of a local bank, which is interested in the Du Pont-style MBA program, he says. Established in 1953, the University's MBA program is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, the only business school accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. -Stephen Steenkamer, Delaware '92