BusinessTN

Business education experts say that an MBA program should always arm students for real world challenges.

A new MBA program at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson starting this fall will focus on two big needs—accounting and ethical leadership.

In an era of high-profile business scandals and increasing federal scrutiny of accounting practices, FHU’s two-track MBA will provide leadership tools for current professionals while it also trains a new generation of accountants.

The MBA accounting track was designed for the school’s accounting students. It allows them not only to achieve the course hours needed to take the CPA test, but also to earn an advanced degree. The leadership track is for experienced professionals looking to set themselves apart. Along with its focus on business ethics, it offers graduate-level classes in various business skills and theories, such as logistics and marketing.

The school faces an uphill battle, says John J. Fernandes, president and CEO of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The AACSB is the larger of two business school accrediting programs in the country and counts business schools at U.T. and the University of Memphis as clients. The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs accredits FHU’s business programs.

First, it will be challenged to retain its 10 terminal-degreed faculty as business education Ph.D.s are in high demand.

“We still grow Ph.D.s one at a time, and they are very expensive,” he says. “Demand is greater than the supply.”

The school also will be tasked with making the program excel, so it can draw students away from the lower-priced MBA offerings at nearby public schools U.T. Martin and the University of Memphis. “Privates have to be better than their public counterparts because students will be paying more,” Fernandes says. “It’s a very tight period for privates, and it is not going to get easier.”

But centering the program on leadership and accounting are wise choices that may help the program’s success, says Rick Oliver, a Vanderbilt business adjunct professor and co-founder of online MBA program American Graduate School of Management.

“If I were going out right now to start a new program, these are the areas I would pick,” Oliver says.

The Sarbanes-Oxley law—a new set of federal regulations on public companies—is ensuring full employment for accountants these days, Fernandes says.

While FHU is not alone in this—programs at U.T. Martin and the University of Memphis also offer master’s degrees in accounting—the school has excelled in accounting education, with some recent FHU grads achieving among the top 10 CPA exam scores in the state. For the leadership track, Fernandes says that providing such training makes sense for a school with a strong religious mission.

“It’s demanded of them to be leaders with their program because of their religious affiliation,” Fernandes says. “It’s an advantage in the marketplace. Notre Dame uses this very effectively.”

Two other private religious schools in West Tennessee also offer MBA programs—Southern Baptist-affiliated Union University in Jackson and Germantown and Catholic-affiliated Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

FHU’s Christian mission is a key component of the Church of Christ-affiliated school, but the business classes are not Bible classes, says new business school dean Ray Eldridge.

“They are professional business classes taught by professionals,” says Eldridge, himself a 20-year Army veteran with experience in manufacturing and logistics operations. “It just so happens that these professors believe that there is a standard for truth and how to treat people.”

Faced with the challenge of being in a rural area, FHU’s School of Business has nonetheless grown quickly in recent years. It has done this by developing and recruiting Ph.D. faculty and securing a key donation from alumnus and former Stryker Corp. CEO John Brown.

Brown, a Paris, Tenn., native who met his wife while at FHU, donated $5 million for the School of Business’ new building. The high-tech facility means students get a top-flight business education for a program this size, says MBA program director Jim Shelton.

Eldridge thinks the MBA’s unique focus on leadership fits in well with West Tennessee’s needs.

"There is a diversity of businesses here. Common to them all is the need for strong leadership,” Eldridge says. “It’s something everyone can use.”