Thirteen adult students came to Bluffton (Ohio) University Aug. 11 from as far away as Iowa, Washington D.C. and Ontario, Canada. They went home four days later as one close-knit group.
The one-week residency at Bluffton was only the beginning of a two-year journey for the first students in a new teaming Bluffton with 91短视频 and Goshen (Ind.) College. Most of the program will now be taught via interactive videoconferencing, but the brief time together on campus left an impression on members of the first cohort.
In addition to an orientation鈥攊ncluding an introduction to videoconferencing鈥攖hey completed their first class, on 鈥淟eadership and Management for the Common Good.鈥� The 鈥渃ommon good鈥� concept is the basis of the Collaborative MBA curriculum, with emphasis on six values鈥攕pirituality, community, leading as service, justice, sustainability and global citizenship.
Group members also heard , PhD, program director and the vice president and dean of at Eastern Mennonite, outline the philosophy of 鈥渓eadership for the common good.鈥� It is, he said, 鈥渁 belief that developing authenticity in people is the way to help them transform their world鈥攖hat the common good is established each time a person, organization or community reaches beyond individual self-interest for the sake of the greater whole.鈥�
After the residency, 鈥淚 think I鈥檒l have more courage to speak about my values,鈥� said Freeman Edwards, a cohort member from North Ridgeville, Ohio. Edwards added that he considered other MBA programs but the new collaboration among the three Mennonite institutions seemed 鈥渢he most ethical.鈥�
For Marsha King, the Collaborative MBA is 鈥渁 bridge鈥� between her Mennonite background and corporate America, where she works in medical device sales.
King, from Goshen, Indiana, said the residency provided a community experience as a group with 鈥渃onnected values.鈥�
Liz Klassen said she, too, took a sense of community and cohesiveness from the residency as she prepared to return home to Kitchener, Ontario. She had looked at MBA programs that have 鈥渢he dollar being the bottom line,鈥� but that approach 鈥渄id not fit, when I鈥檓 in a people business,鈥� explained Klassen, executive director of a seniors鈥� community within , New Hamburg, Ontario.
The diversity of the cohort members鈥� backgrounds, as well as ages (28-69), was beneficial to the group dynamic, added Mark Leinbach and Doug Zehr. Leinbach is executive director of , Dundee, Ohio, while Zehr is a Foosland, Illinois, farmer who will soon start a job with Orrville, Ohio-based .
Spending a lot of time together outside class was also part of the benefit, said Ruth-Ann Shantz, from London, Ontario. Group members ate every meal together and found 鈥渢hey could bounce significant day-to-day issues off each other,鈥� noted George Lehman, PhD. Lehman is the聽Howard Raid professor of business at Bluffton and served as instructor of the 鈥淟eadership and Management for the Common Good鈥� class.
鈥淲e packed a lot of content into five days,鈥� said Lehman about the class, which included a one-day visit from Bill Grace. G,鈥� which summarizes 25 years of study on how businesses and other organizations develop leaders.
The content, including a self-assessment by each individual of 鈥渨ho you are as a leader,鈥� proved challenging, according to Chris Paterson, who works for the network in Iowa City, Iowa.
Cohort members studied leadership styles and discussed both where they鈥檙e going as leaders and where they would ideally like to go, Zehr explained. 鈥淭his will be a journey in getting there,鈥� he acknowledged, but, said King, 鈥淚鈥檓 glad we have this framework to operate from.鈥�
It was good to hear that there鈥檚 a 鈥渉igher purpose鈥� as a leader in an organization, added Dominique Burgunder-Johnson, director of online campaigns for the in Washington, D.C.
Paterson said he has worked for 10 years with community leaders who have tried to approach issues differently but haven鈥檛 been quite sure how to do it. The Collaborative MBA shows 鈥渢here are ways you can be leaders for 鈥榯he common good,鈥欌�� he said, predicting 鈥渁 large potential audience for this.鈥�
Paterson and his peers鈥攁lumni of the three collaborating institutions as well as others鈥攚ill jointly take nine of the 12 courses in the program, which has been in the planning stages since fall 2010. Faculty from Bluffton, Eastern Mennonite and Goshen will each teach three of the nine courses via videoconference. Students will take the remaining three courses, in their respective concentrations, from the institution where they are offered. Program concentrations are leadership; health care management; accounting and financial management; leading nonprofits; conflict transformation; sustainability; intercultural leadership; and a self-designed concentration.
The shared experience of the residency reinforced the value of 鈥渨alking together and not alone,鈥� said cohort member Bethany Nussbaum, advancement director at in Kidron, Ohio. 鈥淭his is just a reminder that it鈥檚 so important.鈥�