In today’s rapidly changing world, business schools are challenged to keep pace with evolving student needs. At the top of the list is demand for competency-building, experiential learning opportunities, new modes of course delivery and specialized training. In response, the Leeds School of Business elevated its MBA experience. Here are a few recent innovations:
A revamped MBA curriculum
Lori Seward, MBA program faculty director, outlined key emphasis areas in our innovative MBA program:
Creative course delivery
We now offer select MBA courses in a more flexible format to meet the needs of working professionals in our community. These innovative courses use technology to deliver 50% of the content via distance/online, with the other 50% in-person spent on high-engagement activities. This innovation allows us to meet the demand for MBA-level skills for an even wider range
of professionals.
Accessibility for Denver’s workforce
CU’s South Denver campus serves an evolving workforce and its needs. It’s where Leeds offers an Evening MBA Program, with the same top-tier faculty as Boulder, to working professionals in the Denver metro area.
A degree for physician leaders
A five-year, full-time MD/MBA dual degree program launched this year in collaboration with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, to educate next-generation leaders. MD/MBA students acquire expertise in business essentials, empowering them to positively impact patient care and health care delivery.
Charting a Course
Toward a Calling
Some MBAs have a clear idea of what they are looking for in a career, whether in consulting, finance, marketing or tech, and we have a robust set of offerings for them. Other students take a more circuitous path and value guidance on how to chart a course to an engaging career. For those students, we created an MBA Pathways program in several strong Colorado sectors—natural and organic, high growth ventures and real estate—in order to help our students best leverage their time at Leeds.
What is a pathway?
It’s a roadmap toward an MBA’s career in a specific focus area. Students work from a recommended set of courses and co-curricular activities from our Centers of Excellence and our Colorado business community to acquire targeted skills, knowledge and connections. Armed with experience, a network in the field and a highly valued skillset, they graduate ready to lead and make an immediate impact.
Natural and Organic Pathway
Natural and organic is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. food industry, with sales far outpacing that of the overall market. With the nation’s largest concentration of natural and organic companies, Boulder is known as the epicenter of the industry—giving Leeds MBA students an unparalleled opportunity to jump into the local ecosystem and launch their careers.
The Natural and Organic (N&O) Pathway is for students passionate about sustainability and making a difference. They are prepared for a variety of careers in natural products, from developing innovative marketing campaigns to designing sustainable supply chains. Corporate partners within this pathway include EcoProducts, Danone, Whole Foods and Justin’s, among others.
Students have been asking for more support in finding a mission-driven career in natural and organic. In response, Leeds asked industry leaders what they look for when hiring, and we incorporated those elements into the pathway.
— Julie Waggoner, associate director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR).
High Growth Venture Pathway
Scaleups, firms that have made it past the startup stage and are growing rapidly, are critical drivers of economic growth and job creation worldwide, with a sizable presence in Boulder’s world-renowned entrepreneurial ecosystem. Armed with targeted knowledge and experience, MBAs who complete the High Growth Venture (HGV) Pathway are ready to become integral players at these ventures or launch one of their own.
Many universities have great programming and courses for how to start a venture. But not many have the expertise and offerings around how to scale a venture. We’re filling this gap.
— Erick Mueller, executive director of Leeds’ Deming Center for Entrepreneurship.
In following this pathway, students work directly with faculty, entrepreneurs, accelerators and investors to learn how to rapidly scale a good idea, build a unique organizational culture and pivot quickly when a roadblock emerges. Opportunities to practice these skills come from Leeds’ corporate partners like Techstars, the Foundry Group, Cloudability, Jumpcloud and Misty Robotics.
Real Estate Pathway
Due to economic and business growth worldwide—as well as technological impacts on the workplace, residential and commercial sectors—the real estate industry is thriving. Leeds MBA students who follow the Real Estate Pathway acquire the tools to navigate these changes and develop the communities of the future.
A career in commercial real estate gives graduates the chance to positively impact every man, woman and child through where we work, shop, live, recreate and educate.
— Mike Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center (CUREC) at the Leeds School of Business
In this pathway, MBAs work directly with faculty, the CU Real Estate Center and a community of 300+ industry leaders who are reimagining the global landscape, like CBRE, Prologis and Urban Villages. Students get their own industry mentor and guidance toward a real estate internship. Demand for MBAs in real estate is high, and jobs are plentiful. Students who follow this pathway find careers in real estate finance and development, real estate investment management, REITs, and commercial lending or commercial brokerage industries.
