Kenan-Flagler Business School administrators say a new program, which allows students to earn their Masters of Business Administration degrees without setting foot on campus, is running smoothly.
The school is one of the first major business schools in the country to offer an online program for MBAs, said Douglas Shackelford, associate dean of MBA@UNC, the new program.
He added that despite some concerns, the program has been successful so far.
“I think it’s exceeded all expectations,” he said. “Across the board, things have gone better than could have reasonably been expected.”
But online degree programs are nothing new to UNC, with the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Gillings School of Global Public Health already boasting online options.
The online curriculum offered by MBA@UNC loses little in the move from the residential model, Shackelford said.
“It’s a real class, except it would be like having a seminar with 10 to 15 students sitting around the table,” he said.
Class discussions are conducted online, some by video. “Call it the Brady Bunch,” Shackelford said. “Everyone’s face is on the screen.”
Students raise their hands by clicking a button, discuss material and review problems together.