Recognizing the growing trend in higher education around the country to offer Master of Business Administration degrees focusing on specific professional areas, Indiana Wesleyan University is offering the MBA in School Administration degree program, beginning in the 2014 fall semester.
A partnership between the DeVoe School of Business and the School of Educational Leadership, the MBA in School Administration will provide aspiring school leaders the opportunity to earn an advanced degree through a program that merges best practices from both educational leadership and business administration arenas.
"As the role of school leadership changes significantly in Indiana, the preparation of building administrators requires more than a traditional educational pathway to the principalship," says Brad Oliver, Associate Professor, School of Educational Leadership.
To be successful in an ever-changing academic environment, today's principals, superintendents and school administrative personnel need to be equipped with more knowledge. In addition to learning educational leadership from a nationally recognized program, the mastery of both education and business disciplines will allow these graduates to have far more marketable skills, allowing them to excel at their chosen profession.
"The MBA in School Administration offers school administration the ability to examine constructs such as systems, thinking, strategic planning, public policy, market positioning, and communication while addressing areas of school law, finance, facilities, personnel management and curricular and instructional leadership," Oliver explains. "Offered through an online learning modality," he continues, "practitioner scholars from business and education have created an innovative preparation pathway for those seeking to leave the K-12 classroom to provide transformational leadership as a building administrator."
Information about this innovative new program and other programs for educators from the School of Educational leadership can be found at indwes.edu.