Master of Business Administration
Faculty
Paul C. Stumb, Ph.D., Dean
Mary Lewis Haley, DA
Max Melnikov, DA
Eric A. Landis, DBA
Russ Cheatham, Ph.D.
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree is offered by the University in keeping with Cumberland’s mission to provide opportunities for advanced study in fields appropriate to the needs of the community. The program primarily seeks to provide individuals who have earned an accredited baccalaureate degree in any field with an opportunity to acquire advanced business expertise while continuing to work full-time during the period of enrollment. The program of study was instituted in 1995 and the first graduates of the program were awarded the MBA degree at the May, 1997 commencement exercises.
Enrollment in the MBA Program is subject to acceptance. A qualified student may begin studies in the Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters. A student can complete the program by attending as few as three semesters in any sequence. A student’s matriculation must be completed within a maximum period of seven years.
MBA Program Vision
The vision of the Cumberland University MBA Program is to contribute to the enhancement of organizational leadership in the Middle Tennessee area and beyond by graduating persons with advanced business decision making skills and heightened commitment to ethical business practices.
MBA Program Mission Statement
The mission of the Cumberland University MBA program is to equip qualified adult learners with an enhanced set of skills and knowledge that can be deployed in the successful management of a business and/or technology related enterprise. The MBA curriculum is designed to afford students the opportunity to work both independently and in teams, to hone both analytical and communication skills, and to assimilate and deepen their understanding of the following core elements of an advanced business education: Marketing, Management, Finance, Managerial Accounting, and Strategic Leadership. This mission is achieved by using a blend of traditional classroom learning experiences, online eLearning experiences, and extra-classroom assignments.
MBA Program Learning Goals
Faculty members are committed to help persons accepted into the MBA Program at Cumberland University to meet four learning goals:
- To demonstrate advanced business and economics knowledge and high ethical awareness;
- To demonstrate advanced decision making skills;
- To demonstrate advanced competence in gathering and analyzing organizational information from internal and external sources using technology and literature;
- To demonstrate advanced competence in the synthesis, evaluation and communication of information.
The core curriculum for the MBA program (as defined by the nine core courses) is designed to achieve the four learning goals above. Students must also earn nine credit hours of electives in addition to the 27 hours of required core courses. Students may choose to take any three MBA electives to earn the degree; or they may elect to concentrate their 3 electives in one of three optional tracks. These are as follows:
Track 1: Entrepreneurship
This track is designed for the student who desires to start, manage, own, or run a small business. Emphasis is placed on the creation of business plans, debt and equity financing alternatives, and the importance of sales and marketing.
Track 2: Education Leadership
This track is designed for students who desire to pursue a career in the business aspects of education – e.g. academic administrators, school superintendents, principals, etc. This program draws heavily from the Cumberland University Master of Arts in Education (MAE) Program.
Track 3: Services
This program is focused on the service sector of the economy – including but not limited to: banking, insurance, retail, entertainment, hospitality, sports management, health care, etc.
The pursuit of any one of these optional tracks is made in consultation with a students' academic advisor and is based upon the selection of the three elective courses most appropriate to the selected track and a student’s individual interests and abilities.
Thesis Option
A thesis option is also available. Students who wish to pursue this option will complete the nine required core MBA courses (27 hours) but will not be required to complete the 3 elective courses (9 hours). Instead these students will complete a minimum of 9 hours of thesis work. Each student thesis will be directed by a member of the full time MBA faculty and approved by a thesis committee, which consists of at least 3 appropriately credentialed faculty members.
Application Regulations
The rules and regulations found elsewhere in this Catalog and in the Cumberland University Student Handbook apply to MBA students. These regulations include, but are not limited to, admissions, registration, schedule changes, withdrawal from class and/or the University, graduation participation, grade-point average, release of information, student services, class availability, use of English, class attendance/preparation, grade reports, enrollment, certification/verification, change of name/address, and academic misconduct.
Application Requirements
Cumberland University makes no distinction in its admission, policies or procedures on grounds of age, sex, religion, race, national origin, or physical handicap.
- A bachelor’s degree (regionally accredited university) with a minimum 2.5 GPA
- Students with a non-business related bachelor’s degree are required to successfully complete an MBA Foundations Survey Course as part of their program.
- Students with less than a 2.5 GPA may complete three courses under provisional acceptance. If the student earns a grade of B or higher in all three courses, they will earn final acceptance.
Once accepted into the MBA Program, the student may continue to register for courses to complete the degree requirements unless poor performance intervenes.
Degree Requirements
The number of semester hours required for the MBA degree is 36 semester hours or 12 three hour courses, for each of the core and elective classes has three semester hours of credit. All courses are scheduled for eight weeks, one evening per week for four hours and/or offered on-line. Of the 12 courses required for graduation, nine are required core courses. The other three are electives. There are two sets of course sessions during the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Courses are held on campus in one of the “wireless” Labry Hall classrooms or on-line as hybrid classes, i.e., partially on-line. All MBA courses typically have some on-line components.
Transfer of Course Credit into the MBA Program
No more than six semester hours of course credit can be transferred for graduation credit into the MBA Program. A transferred course must be a graduate-level course and have been earned by the requesting student at a regionally accredited college or university with a grade of "B" or better. The transferred course must be similar in content to a course offered in the Cumberland University MBA Program, and the transferred course can only be used as a replacement for the similar MBA course with the MBA Director’s approval. A minimum of 30 semester hours of Cumberland University MBA courses must be successfully completed at Cumberland University.
Degree Requirements
MBA Course Requirements
MBA Course Electives