MBA Online –October 2014

Monica Chowaniec: My name is Monica Chowaniec, and I'll be your moderator for today. And we'll go ahead. And again if there are any questions please go ahead and type them in the right of the screen. I will be recording this event as you just heard, so it will be emailed to you in case you miss any portions or have to leave early. Today, we'll be discussing several topics, including the WSU history, a little bit about the College of Business, some information on the online MBA program, of course. And then we have a student with us today who will give his perspective on his experience in the program so far. I would like to now introduce Samantha Margentina. She is our enrollment advisor and our host for this event. So she'll be leading most of the presentation. And then, of course, as I just mentioned, we have a current online MBA student by the name of Jared Kelly who will be speaking a little later in the presentation. Samantha, I'd like to go ahead and give it to over to you now.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We're welcoming you. Let's start off by giving a little bit of history on Washington State University. We are a land grant university founded in 1890. We 2 have multiple campuses across Washington as well as several international learning centers in Switzerland, China, and Tanzania. The College of Business is AACFB accredited at multiple levels of the undergraduate Master and Doctoral levels. Washington State University has been offering an MBA program for over 55 years. The College of Business has embraced online learning and we have really invested our time and energy into creating a strong online educational program. Our online MBA program has been offered online since 2009, and our online executive program has been offered since 2011. Accreditation and recognition are important aspects when trying to consider and finding the right program. Washington State University is among the top two percent of business schools worldwide to achieve accreditation through the AACFB on multi levels. We are ranked among the top ten best online graduate programs by US News and World Report in 2014. We are ranked third best online graduate program by the US News and World Report for 2014 as well. And we are recognized by the Princeton Review as one of the best 290 business schools. 3 Now, let's take a deeper dive into the program discussing some of our distinctive qualities. We're going to touch base on the quality of our program, convenience, relevance and support in campus life. The quality of our program, you will notice as you start this program that you'll have exceptional classmates, students that will have the same motivation and passion that you share. We have world class faculty and curriculum. We want to make sure that you have professors that have given the experiences and are able to bring those into the program for you. And you'll be able to interact with your classmates through group projects and other interactive discussions. We find that's very important when students are looking at MBA programs to have networking opportunities. It's something that we hold to a high degree of value here. And then we do have a vast alumni network of Cougars that we'll talk about a little bit later. As far as convenience, we want to make sure that students have a program that is absolutely flexible. So it's 100 percent online with no set login times or login dates and no residency is required. We do offer live lectures in the evenings generally twice a week. And these lectures available free to login 4 live or they are recorded for your convenience. In the online platform, you'll have access to your assignments, test scores, online resources, library and reference materials as well. As far as relevance, we are focused on solving today's business problems and giving students the best tools. You will formulate actionable business strategies. You'll be able to identify and evaluate global, ethical and societal invocations. You will analyze business situations and correctly apply the proper series and practices for each circumstance, and you'll participate in optional study of broad opportunity. And the last distinctive characteristic will talk about will support in campus life. Although you are taking classes online, we want to make sure that students really feel a part of our university. With that comes our levels of support. So you'll be able to work with an enrollment advisor from your interest in the program all the way through the admissions process to being accepted. Once you've been accepted to the program, you will have one student service advisor that will take you from Day 1 of classes all the way to our anticipated graduation. And throughout the program, you'll have the support of 5 the faculty. Your professors and section instructors will help guide and mentor you throughout the program. We also want to make sure that students have the availability to again feel a part of our program at the university. So we offer different opportunities like an online student association. Students can connect through our Cougar sync so that not only can you connect with other students, but you're able to learn what things are going on on campus that may be non-academic, football games and other opportunities there. And then we also offer the opportunity to be a part of our online student government. So there are many ways just feeling a part of our culture in the program. Jared, I know that being a part of our program currently, that you had some things that you wanted to add about your experiences?

Jared Kelly: Yes. Can you hear me?

Samantha Margentina: We can.

Jared Kelly: Okay. Great. Yeah. I completely agree with this line. That's a good look at what the program offers. I especially want to underline the convenience aspect. It's one of the things I like best about the online MBA program. 6 My weeks personally have some variability to them as it is. So I don't always have time to go to a lecture hall and sit for an hour, you know, one week, Monday night is maybe the preferred day for (inaudible) material. Other weeks, it may be Tuesday. And then with programs I've been in before, you don't always have ready access to what was said by the instructor. Here, the videos and discussion boards are available 24 hours a day. And as long as you adhere to the deadlines, you're able to go to class according to your personal schedule. Sometimes, it helps to see the professor's (inaudible) words or be able to reveal a couple of times at your own pace.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you so much for adding that.

Jared Kelly: Yes.

Samantha Margentina: Okay. Now that we have been able to dive deeper into the program, let's break down the MBA and our Executive MBA programs into a little bit more aspects of the classes. So with our MBA program, there's going to be 13 total courses, 36 total credits. It breaks down into seven core courses that every student takes. There are three elective courses where students can 7 choose and tailor their program to their specific needs. With that being said, if a student were to choose classes in a particular area, that would designate a concentration. In the MBA program, we have concentrations in marketing, finance, and international business. And then we have the last three courses of the MBA program are our Capstone projects. Instead of having just one large project at the very end of the program, we break it down into three smaller courses spread throughout your program to offer that much more flexibility and convenience. We do offer an international field study generally one time a year, and we'll talk about that a little bit later in the program. The courses in our MBA program range from five to seven weeks. The majority of our classes are seven weeks, but some foundations classes that we'll talk to a little bit later in the presentation are generally five-week courses. You are taking one class at a time in this program so it does offer the flexibility of being able to continue a full workload, family and other obligations as well. The length of the program will be dependent upon your previous academic experience with foundations courses and transfer credits. So, generally, students are completing 8 their program with 22 to 29 months. For our Executive MBA program, it is designed for students that have a minimum of seven years or more or progressive management experience. This program is a little bit more accelerated. So students are actually completing their courses in five weeks. There are no foundations classes required in this program so you'll see that there are 15 total classes and it's an 18-month program. It will also have a Capstone project aspect to the program, too. Now that you have a better understanding of our two MBA programs that we offer, let's discuss requirements for acceptance to determine which program may be best for you. With our MBA program, we do prefer that students have work experience, although it is not required, as well as there are no management experience requirements. We do ask that students complete a GMAT or GRE and submit that as part of their application process. With the flexibility of our program and having seven-week courses in the MBA program, you'll see that there are six different start dates. Classes beginning in January, March, May, June, August and September. For our Executive MBA program, we do have the seven years of progressive management experience as a minimum 9 requirement. We do prefer about ten years of work experience as a whole. You'll see that a GMAT is not required for the executive program. And we'll touch base a little bit on that and why, and that there are three start dates throughout the year for the executive program. And there's a beginning semester so we have our January start date, May and August. So we had mentioned earlier that there are 13 total MBA courses. But based on a student's academic background, there may be up to seven foundational classes that can be added to a student's program. Here at Washington State University, our goal is make sure all students are set up for success in the program. So for students that come from outside of a business degree background, we want to make sure that you have all of the classes necessary to be very successful. So there are seven courses that we find students really benefit from to being a part of our program. Those classes are a statistics course, a managerial economics course, a foundations and marketing, foundations and operations management, foundations and business law, foundations and finance is the last one. With the GMAT requirement, I do want to touch base on that. I have students that ask frequently if there are 10 ways to potentially waive that requirement. So we will have a GMAT waiver that could be a part of a student's application process. Students that have completed a Master's degree or a minimum of seven years of progressive management experience with a minimum GPA of a 3.0 or higher may have the availability to waive that requirement. That's why you'll see that for the executive program, it's not usually required because of the requirements to entering that program are a 3.0 GPA and the seven years of management experience.

Monica Chowaniec: And really quickly for everyone on the call, I am receiving your questions. If I have not answered them to date, it's just because I would prefer with Jared or Sam to answer those because of their breath of experience. So please be patient with us. Those will be answered at the end of the webinar. We just have a couple of more slides to go, and I'll go ahead and turn it over to Sam to talk about the international business trip opportunity.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you so much, Monica. So, yes, Washington State University does offer an exciting opportunity to bring in more of a hands-on global perspective into the program. With this international business trip, we do one 11 generally one time a year. It is faculty led. So it's also a great opportunity really network with your professors as well, and, obviously, the other classmates that will be joining you on the trip. They are general ten days in length and the cost is usually around $5,000, including airfare. We are actually hosting our net trip at the end of January 2015. We will be going to Beijing so we're very excited for that opportunity. For students that are starting in January, there is an opportunity to participate in this trip, but also know that we are going to have another trip in Spring 20016. So what's great about the Spring 2016 trip is that students who are starting this year will actually be able to vote on maybe the next countries that we'll visiting. So you will get that opportunity. With this trip, the important part of why we do this is to give you the emersion into the business settings of different countries. We'll also give you time to relax and enjoy yourself, and you'll be able to do some sightseeing and independent exploring. What's nice about this program, too, is that depending on the students that are participating in the trip, they do try to tailor the businesses and different things and the 12 different activities that you'll participate in based on your background. So the areas that you work in, career goals that you have in mind, so I think it's very important that we express that we want to tailor it to fit you. And what it will do, if the students choose to go on this trip, it will count as one of their elective courses. So that's something to also keep in mind. It would replace one of your classes in the program. Now, Jared, I know that you've spent some time in Beijing. Is there anything that you would maybe like to add about this particular (inaudible)?

Jared Kelly: Yes. Thank you, Samantha. I did want to add a couple of notes. So this spring, I was looking for an internship and one of my career goals is to work for a multi-national corporation, and perhaps do some traveling to other countries as part of my job. So when the opportunity to do a finance internship in Beijing came up, I jumped at the chance. And as Samantha just explained, WSU does offer a study abroad opportunity. I actually went on my own program. But I worked in downtown Beijing, took the subway about 30 minutes per day. I was there for three months. The best part was being able to apply my MBA knowledge to a live situation, particularly for a company, an industry in 13 a country that's so focused on growth and expansion. They basically (inaudible) here are the parameters, did some research on it. There was some freedom and creativity in my work, but I really enjoyed the feeling of making a positive contribution. I loved what I was doing and it gave me ideas about where I wanted to direct my energies professionally. It did increase my workload with an average of 25 hours of study every week on top of the 40-hour work week. You really have to rely on - or build some time management skills. That said, and I was able to maintain an active social life in addition to school and work, I took two classes over the three months and earned As in both of them. So it's hard to do, but very possible. And there is a ton of (inaudible) but whether the question is living or working abroad, I've been impressed to meet classmates as far away as Italy and Okinawa, Japan. They are doing their classes from there and they're going to be there a while. Another of my team members from the spring was in Texas when I met her, and another classes later, had resumed life - she was in New York, sorry, when I met her, and now she's in Texas. And then I think this was mentioned, we have faculty that's in Switzerland, and I've had other professors in Virginia, California and southern 14 Idaho. So, really, it is an international program. So I do appreciate that aspect.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you so much, Jared. We really appreciate everything that you bring from your experiences. Let's then talk about the military. Because we do have a lot of students that are active or veterans in our program. So we are a very military-friendly university. We offer a discounted tuition rate and waive application fees to military students that are active and veterans. We are certified to receive the GI and the post-911 GI bill. We also participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. We are a service member's opportunity college member, and we're listed in the Dante's Catalog of Nationally Accredited Distance Learning Programs. And as Monica had mentioned earlier, we have the honor of having Jared speak today, and he's actually a veteran as well. So if there's anything that you would like to add on that, on this topic, we'd love to hear it.

Jared Kelly: Okay. Great. Thanks. I see that there are some veterans in the audience tonight. Thank you for your service. I was in the Marine Corps for four years and post-911 15 GI bill has been a huge benefit in terms of financing my education. The amount of funding available is based on how long you served. I forget the minimum requirement, but it's pro-rated. In my case, I receive 100 percent of the benefit. So it essentially covers the cost of tuition. Additionally, there's a monthly housing allowance which depends on whether you are enrolled in courses all month. You know, sometimes, you get a week off or, in the case of Christmas, several weeks off. So your housing allowance is reduced accordingly. But this really helps to fray the cost of living. And it means I have less loans to worry about. And, then, finally, there's a supplement for books and supplies. I think it's about $1,000 per school year. So if you're a veteran, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity. WSU has a knowledgeable and skilled veteran's coordinator who is able to help students work with the VA getting paperwork pushed through and receiving benefits. Monica, Samantha, did you want me to share that information, the contact, or just let that go for now?

Samantha Margentina: Well, what I can do is any student that's interested in learning more about that, I can send them a message with Blane's information. Thank 16 you, though, Jared.

Jared Kelly: Okay. Great. Thanks.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. Thanks so much, Jared, for sharing your personal experience. We'll go ahead and let you continue talking. I know there's a few more points you wanted to discuss before we go into the Q&A session in just a few minutes. So I'll let you go ahead and keep the floor.

Jared Kelly: Okay. Well, thank you. So as the slide says, the big thing about this is the online experience. As has been discussed and as I'll tell you, an online program is the ideal environment for me. It provides flexibility of schedule. You know, that allowed me to travel to Beijing while I'm still progressing in my courses. And it removes any geographical barrier to meeting other business professionals. As Monica and Samantha can tell you, there are students from all over the country in the WSU MBA program, all over the world really. And, you know, the people I've made the closest connections to are in Vancouver, Washington. That's about five hours from me. California, Texas, people that I wouldn't meet in the standard classroom. That brings me into my next point about networking. A bit of advice that's passed around (inaudible) grad school 17 is that you go for the networking opportunities. I mean, without question, you go because you want to enhance your knowledge and augment your marketable skills, but it's very important to make professional connections. It is harder to meet people when you don't see them in a classroom every day, and each one of your peers is engaged in a 40-hour work week (inaudible). But I commend WSU for enabling me to interact with and collaborate with so many traverse personalities. And then student support, in an online environment, it's nice to have someone to balance questions off of, particularly in terms of administration, but also any type of question that might arise. I've worked with two academic advisors during my program. Sara Swagler (ph) which (inaudible) about a year and a half, and she did an outstanding job. Now, I'm working with Lori Scrapel (ph) and she also provides excellent support. I'm the type of student that likes to ask questions and their office has always been patient with me. As an example, what they do, an email just went out today guiding students through the spring semester registration process. I've enrolled several prior semesters so it's very routine to me now. But, just in case, the email gives detailed instructions and then contact information in case 18 you have a rare question that was not addressed.

Monica Chowaniec: Great. Thank you, Jared. And we'll go ahead and give the floor back to Samantha before we take questions from the panel. Go ahead, Sam.

Samantha Margentina: All right. Well, we have spent a lot of time discussing all that WSU has to offer. Let's talk about the fun topic of tuition. So with the total MBA cost, it's 750 per credit hour. So students taking the 13 total MBA courses at 36 total credits are looking at 27,000 for their program. And that's spread over the 22 months that it would take to complete that program. For students that may come from outside of a business degree background, I know we had mentioned several times the foundations courses, those courses would be in addition to the 13 MBA classes. So it would really depend upon how many classes you would need, but if you did need all seven foundational classes, you're looking at 53 total credits, and so you're looking at 39,750 over 29 months in the program. Now, Washington State University does not offer specific scholarships through the university, but our advisors do give out different scholarship information through (inaudible) type vendors, and you can always visit 19 the website. It's called Staffweb.com to see if there's anything that may be applicable to you. A lot of students that we work with also utilize financial aid. As you can see on the screen, we do show the link to look into that option as well. We can also have an enrollment advisor reach out to you specifically. I know a lot of students may not know what foundations classes and things like that that might pertain to them, so we're happy to review any transcripts that you may have and help give you a better idea of what your program and your time and cost commitment would look like.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. Thank you, Samantha and Jared. And now the time everyone I'm sure has been waiting for questions. I've already received a lot great questions. Some have been answered. Some have not been. So we're going to go ahead and open the floor now. If you think of any others as I'm reading through the questions, I'm going to go ahead and read them in order in which they were received. Please go ahead and type in the chat box to the right of your screen and we're going to go ahead and go through them right now. And, also, on the screen, you'll see the application deadline and the next start dates which is the Spring January 12th.

Samantha Margentina: So we still have plenty of time to work together on an application. So feel free to contact us right away.

Monica Chowaniec: Great. I'll go ahead and read. I know this question was touched upon a little bit. But, Jared, if I could have you reiterate a little bit. How is the workload for classes? And they're concerned about having a family and a job and also doing school. So could you address that a little bit more at this point in time?

Jared Kelly: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that's one of the main benefits to this program is that it gives you the time to juggle all those tasks. Some of it is on the individual. I want to bring up an important point. Maybe this was later, but on that topic. Pretty much every instructor reminds you at the beginning of every course about time management and keeping up with the pace. They are seven-week courses and so you learn a lot of material, and you really just can't get behind. Now, granted, look at it, you have an entire week generally speaking to get an assignment done. So sometimes it works for me to be a night owl. I know people are 21 working eight-hour days and, eight, nine-hour days, and then they have a regimented sleep schedule and a family life. But, no, I think this program lends itself to that. That's what it's designed for. So it really hones your time management skills. But, yes, I think it's designed for that purpose, to have a life and then also progress in your degree. Does that kind of answer the question or -

Monica Chowaniec: I believe it does. And if there's any further questions on experience of the online student, please feel free to go ahead and type them in the chat box. But for now, I'll move on to the next question. And it's a question I've seen several times throughout the night. So I'll go ahead and pose this to Samantha. Because we are calling it an OMBA and the website's OMBA, will the degree say online MBA?

Samantha Margentina: That's actually a great question. It'll be the exact same diploma that students receive on campus. So it will not show that you received that or you took classes online.

Monica Chowaniec: Great. Thank you. And the next question I'll also direct at you, Sam. How many classes does one need to take to be considered full time? They just wanted to confirm that as 22 they do have a post-911 GI bill.

Samantha Margentina: That's a great question. We actually have a financial department that will help kind of answer specific questions to the post-911 bill is Blane Golden. But the way our program is designed that even though you're taking one class at a time, think about we have three 16-week semesters in the school year. So you'll have two classes in a 16-week semester. Generally, schools will consider anything of six credit hours per semester is full time. I don't know if maybe - I know that Jared had used the post-911 bill. Maybe he has a little bit more insight on that as well.

Jared Kelly: I actually tried to find the most recent mailing from the VA so I had a range to talk about. What I know is after four years of service, and taking what the program prescribes, one class at a time, I qualified for 100 percent of the benefits and 100 percent of financial So I think that's what you're looking for is if you do the program, and, say, you have four years, I don't - unfortunately, I don't have numbers if you only did three years or two years. You'll still be eligible for funding, but a standard four-year contract, as I understand, they do 23 in the military that is about 100 percent benefit.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you so much. And, again, we can always reach out to you separately and give you Blane Golden's information if there's any other questions following up with that. So thank you.

Monica Chowaniec: Absolutely. And Blane is a really great resource that I know, I've heard from several students, he goes above and beyond. So this next question I'll go ahead and answer. It's just a logistics question. I did want to confirm that this session is being recorded, and it will be sent out along with the pdf of the slides. I've gotten that question a few times as well. So I did want to answer that logistical question. And then I'll go ahead and read the next question and this one is for Samantha. What is the difference between the MBA and Executive MBA, and are both of them online?

Samantha Margentina: Okay. Thank you for that question. So the reason why we offer two online MBA programs is because we want to gear the different programs to different audiences. So the executive program is guaranteeing that every student in your class will be at the same level of 24 experience. So a minimum of seven years of progressive management experience. I often see that in the executive program, most students are averaging between 12 to 15 years of upper management experience. So that program, I usually see students at our, you know, VP level, higher level executives, CEOs, CFOs. So that program, it's actually going to be the same classes as our traditional online MBA program. The approach to the courses will be a little bit different. So you are bringing in a little bit more of your work experience and bringing that into the classes, and no foundations courses are required because at that kind of level, we assume that students have that business practicum, that acumens that they would need to be successful in the program. And, again, there are more accelerated courses so that also is something to think about because you're going to have five-week classes in the program. With our traditional MBA program, like I said, it's going to be geared to students of all different levels which I think is really a great opportunity for students to build different relationships and that works that way. And then we do have the foundations courses so that you are prepared, you are successful in the program, that you have all the foundations necessary when completing the 25 program. Those are the main differences of that program.

Monica Chowaniec: Great. And if there are any follow-up questions to that, again, please go ahead and type in the chat box to the right of your screen. This next question is again directed at Samantha, and I've seen quite a few of these. How often is the GMAT waiver granted? And is it possible for the MBA program?

Samantha Margentina: The GMAT waiver is offered to both programs, online traditional MBA and our Executive MBA program. We don't have a cap as to how many GMAT waivers that we're able to provide students throughout the school year. Really, it's just very important that we make sure students meet the criteria to waive that requirement. So like we have said earlier, we do ask that the students have completed a Master's degree. With I guess the Master's degree program, it's also important that the coursework that you had taken in that Master's degree are quantitative courses. We don't want to just torture students, and that's why we require a GMAT. It's really important because it allows for us to find students that have the skills necessary to being successful, that they have the mathematic skills so 26 that when they're taking finance and accounting courses, or the stats course, that they have that kind of - that knowledge base. So it's not to torture you guys. So I would say that if you've completed a Master's degree with quantitative coursework, or that you have seven years or more of progressive management experience, and it's absolutely required to have a 3.0 GPA or higher, then there's a great opportunity for you to take advantage of that waiver. What I would suggest is reaching out to an enrollment advisor. If you have a copy of your transcripts, if you would like to share your resume with that advisor, they would be able to speak with you one-on-one on what availability you would have for that GMAT waiver. They'd be happy to do that.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. And then we have some degree questions. What degree is required for each program? Can a Bachelor's in Management Science waiver the foundation courses? So then there's just some questions I'm grouping together for you, Samantha.

Samantha Margentina: Okay. Yeah, of course. So we do not require that students have to have a certain Bachelor's degree behind their name. What we do look at is that the school that you've attended is regionally accredited. That is the utmost 27 importance to our AACFB accreditation. So students that do not have a regionally accredited Bachelor's degree unfortunately would not be able to be accepted into the program. As far as waiving foundations courses, when a student graduates from a business degree that is an AACFB accredited program, and you have that 3.0 GPA or higher, we will automatically waive all seven foundations classes. For students that may have a business degree that didn't necessarily have that accreditation, the AACFB accreditation, then what we do is we actually look at your transcript on an individual basis. We look for each class that you've taken. Does it match our curriculum? Did you get a B or better in it? And then that's the way that we can look into waiving foundations courses. And that also means that sometimes the student does not come from a business degree, or they may have taken some Gen Ed courses in their beginning, and so that's very well that you may have taken some of those classes anyways, especially, for example, our statistics course. A lot of students I work with that come from more of the science background degrees have taken plenty of statistics courses. So I always say reach out to an enrollment advisor, we 28 can give you a much better idea of what your program will look like.

Monica Chowaniec: And also the next question is someone here has a CPA. Would that constitute as a professional degree for the GMAT waiver?

Samantha Margentina: That's a really great question. Unfortunately, unless you had a Master's degree, unfortunately, that will not qualify. Students that have taken LSAT, you know, the CPA, CSA, any of those exams, although, they're very impressive, you know, part of your background and would make you a great fit for the program, it unfortunately does not test the skillsets that the GMAT will. And so, unfortunately, we would not be able to waive it at that point.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. The next question is regarding not being able to start till May. Can they apply now or do they have to wait?

Samantha Margentina: Of course. So we accept students on a rolling enrollment basis. So I think it's only best to apply early. You'll be able to know that you've been accepted, and then plan around the start date a little bit easier. So, yeah, we are accepting applications for actually all six start dates of the 2015 school year. Great question.

Monica Chowaniec: And the next couple of questions are regarding the international trip. The first one is the cost for the trip that was mentioned earlier leaving from the U.S.?

Samantha Margentina: That is correct. Leaving from the U.S. So students can arrange their own flight details based on where they're located.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. And then for the international trip, knowing that it counts as an elective, does that mean ten days counts as three credit hours or is there a different meaning?

Samantha Margentina: No. That's correct. So it will count for a three-credit course. The way it's kind of brought up in the program or when you're on this trip, there is a project tied to it. So that something that although it's just a ten-day trip and a regular class may be seven weeks, you'll be working on a project while you're there. And then you'll be submitting it after you return. So it will give you the full three credit hours.

Monica Chowaniec: And a follow-up question to that question is, is it recommended to take another class in tandem with the trip?

Samantha Margentina: You will not be taking classes while being on that trip. That's why we have specific 30 dates of when we're offering that so that in your carousel of your program, it's when the elective courses are being offered. That's generally when one of those classes would

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. Thank you so much, Samantha. Then, the next question is, is this trip required? So another follow-up to the international field study.

Samantha Margentina: It is absolutely not required. We just want to make sure that we can give students that want more of a global aspect or perspective to the program so that they have that availability to see how other countries conduct business, how it's different, you know, from the United States. So it's a benefit. It's an opportunity. It's not required. I have a lot of students that would just, you know, maybe they travel on a (inaudible) basis. For them, they won't stay at home and enjoy themselves. So that's when you'll have that seven-week course instead. So it's absolutely up to you.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. And then one more international trip question. Does the international trip cost include the credits that you gain or is that cost extra?

Samantha Margentina: So when we gave you that range of about 5,000, what it really breaks down to is that you 31 pay for the three-credit hour course, and then you pay - it's usually about - for example, for students starting in the phasing (ph) trip, then they're paying out of pocket about 2,700. So it's about 5,000 total. The nice part about that is for students utilizing financial aid, you're able to utilize financial aid towards that course. So you're not thinking of I have to pay out of pocket $5,000 for a trip. You're maybe looking at that 2,700. And that would be like hotel accommodations, your flights, those types of things. That's what the 2,700 would cover. So, hopefully, that answered your questions to the best of my ability at this point.

Monica Chowaniec: Great. And the next question is another MBA versus Executive MBA. They applied for the MBA program, but they meet the requirements for the MBA, can they be automatically considered?

Samantha Margentina: That's a great question. It's actually something that we have started doing. For students that have applied to the MBA program but have met the criteria, our director of the executive program actually is starting to review certain students. And if he feels that you would be a great fit to that executive program, he will actually offer you a spot in the 32 executive program instead. So I would say depending on where you are in the application process, if it's just that you just applied and it was the MBA program but you think the executive may fit you better, reach out to your enrollment advisor. We have a couple of additional documents and steps of that application process. But if you're almost done, then we'll have our director of the program, then when we submit your application for review, review it separately. So that's a great question. And like I said, both programs are excellent programs, and we want you to find the right program for you.

Monica Chowaniec: Thank you so much for the response. And then for the next question, I apologize. I want to make sure not to repeat any of them. When are the start dates for the MBA program and how far in advance to the start date should someone submit their GMAT scores?

Samantha Margentina: Okay. Wonderful. So the six start dates will be a class in January, March, another Spring 2015 semester, then we'll have Summer I which will be May 11th, and then we'll have Summer II which will be the end of June. I believe it's June 29th. And then that's our summer semesters. 33 And then for fall, we'll have classes August 24th, and then late September. So those are all the start dates for the 2015 school year. And then with applying to the program, that ends usually about two months out from the start dates. So keep that in mind. Really, you can take your GMAT at any time. The beauty of the GMAT is that you actually - the score is good for five years. So I would say, you know, get in contact with an enrollment advisor, put a nice game plan together for your, you know, what start date you're interested in and then they can help you find a good plan of when to take that GMAT.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. And then we have a few tuition questions. So I will try and group those together. One person asks what are the costs for non-military students?

Samantha Margentina: That was 750 per credit hour. And it's 658 for a military student.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. That answered the second question. The second one was about tuition rate for veterans. And then the next question is the tuition rate the same for the EMBA program?

Samantha Margentina: It is not. So the executive program is at a different price point. You're looking at 34 1137 per credit hour. It's a 44-credit hour program so you're looking at $50,028.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. And then the next question is can I waive foundation courses if I have a business minor and have taken several undergrad business classes?

Samantha Margentina: So what we would do in that instance is that we would look at every class that you have taken and your business minor. If we see that you've already taken some or all of the classes, you know, they match and to the curriculum, and then you had a B or better, and we can waive as many as you have taken. We just can't automatically waive it because it's a minor and not your major. But that's a great question.

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. Here's a great question. And, Jared, if I could possibly direct this to you. Are there a lot of group projects involved with this program? How was your experience so far?

Jared Kelly: You know, I wasn't keeping track. It is a pretty common feature, yes. I want to try and swoop up another question I've got about networking, if I can. My response is about the same. I have a personal question to me about networking. I guess I missed that in my discussion. I can identify several different instances where you're expected to contribute. So when you begin a class, 35 you have introductions. Well, part of the assignment is to respond to other people. So everyone's putting their biographical information out there and feel free to put your contact information in it, and part of the assignment is that you need to have something relevant to say people. Two or three responses, but feel free to say hi to everyone. And that really breaks the ice and gets you going. And then there are the discussion boards. So as you look at the web program here, app or I'm not sure what the proper term is, the program, you have the discussion boards and then you have questions for the instructor. And it's highly encouraged that students with the answer jump in. If they're correct, you know, the instructor may not have to chime in themselves, but it's really encouraging and facilitating a group effort. So that's kind of expected of you along the way, and, then, yes, group projects, I don't have a frequency off the top of my head, but I'd say every other class. Generally speaking, I just finished accounting last term, and we had a group of four. And so, usually, those are assigned to you. In some cases, you can pick your own group. But for about four projects I think it was, I 36 collaborated with three other individuals and that's also getting our schedules to coordinate and meeting other people. So, yes, I'd say you just generally run into people. And then there is the option to - there's a Facebook group at least for our program, the tract I'm in, and then LinkedIn. So if you're trying to make connections, they're out there. Did I miss something or is that a (inaudible)?

Monica Chowaniec: No. That's great, Jared. No. Thank you. I think that answers several questions. And, Samantha, if you're okay to go ahead and answer these next ones.

Samantha Margentina: Sure.

Monica Chowaniec: Does WSU help students locate scholarships or talk to their employers?

Samantha Margentina: So with scholarships, of course, if anything were to come across into the College of Business, we do send out that type of information to students. As far as the (inaudible) website that we had provided, that one is regularly updated. Of course, unfortunately, we don't have any control of what scholarships are there or those types of things. But I always say, you know, regularly check those. 37 As far as employers about tuition assistance, things like that, we do have a business partnership committee that if your employers are interested in maybe having some kind of partnership share with Washington State University, there may be opportunities of having a ten percent discount. There are a lot of partnerships that are already set up, so I certainly recommend when you speak with your enrollment advisor, to talk about where you work and see if anything is set up. If not, we're always looking for other partnerships. So that's something that we can maybe look into and that committee would actually reach out to your HR department and set things up that way. So that might be an additional step that you'd have to take. You would just provide us the right contacts for your employers and we would start from there and see what we can do.

Monica Chowaniec: Is there a history available showing tuition rates from the past three or four years?

Samantha Margentina: I'm glad you asked that question. The beauty of Washington State University, I think partly has to do with the land grants, is that we have not had to increase our tuition for the past five years which is pretty much unheard of for most schools. So 38 we're very excited that we have not had to add any other, you know, tuition or fees.

Monica Chowaniec: Jared, this next question, I'm going to direct at you. Would you mind going into a little bit more about how classes are delivered? Is it like video conference? Is it webcast? Is there office hours? Could you into a little bit more detail about how classes are actually set up?

Jared Kelly: Yes. There's at least two touch points with the instructor, well, okay, I'll back that up. But let me talk about that posted for each week is the learning module. And in that will probably be a video lecture that you would log in and then you could watch that in your browser, and you can watch it any time of day or several days in a day. You can pause it. It varies whatever the topic is. Maybe it's a minute for an overview or it could be a half-hour discussion. That is the lecture portion. And then the courses I've seen, I'm pretty sure all the courses have a lead instructor, and then a section instructor. And so there will be a video conference with the lead instructor every week and with your section instructor. So those are two different hours when you can log in just like this web event we're doing now, and you're given 39 the chance to get on video if you want to. You can get on the microphone, generally, yes, and definitely the chat. So those were the two touch points I was going to mention. But, also, you have the discussion boards. So any time of day you have a question, you ask the lead instructor, you ask the section instructor, wherever you put it. Other students will chime in. And then there's always email. And I found in these last two options whether it's on the discussion board or private emails to an instructor, they have a pretty quick turnaround. It could be maybe a day, but, yes, I think there's very good flexibility from the faculty as far as responding to the student's needs.

Monica Chowaniec: All right. Thank you, Jared. And then there's one more question regarding courses. Is it possible to work around tests or assignments if there's a life event in the future that you are aware of? For instance, if a child or a wedding. Is there any way to work with the professor to (inaudible)?

Jared Kelly: Well, I actually had to do that. As I was leaving for Beijing, I was - let's see, I left in the middle of the week. But I went ahead and prepared a couple of weeks ahead in assignments. So from day one, you're given a list of the assignments. There may be specifics you don't know how to 40 do yet, but the material is all there and you can learn at your own pace. You can do all seven weeks notionally. You can start flushing out responses to - they're called deliverables every week. You can start getting your answers. And it's very possible to work a week or two ahead in assignments. I would caution you to wait until it's that week to submit. That may be a rule. I'm not sure. But, yes, you can work ahead on assignments. And then exams are generally, I would say there's like a three-day window. It's always going to be over the weekend, and then you might have five business days. I'm not sure. But they give you a pretty generous window. And the instructors that I've seen have been willing to work with students on availability. They'll open it up one day left or one day right depending on what the need

Monica Chowaniec: Okay. Thank you so much, Jared. We are out of time. I'm going to take one more questions and then I do have to cut off the recording. Please don't fear, any unanswered questions will be responded to either via email or phone call. We really appreciate your time tonight and for joining us. And there is a recording and pdf slides of this that will be sent out by week's end. 41 And then there's some people I'll be reaching out to tomorrow as promised. So the last question is regarding entrepreneurship. What aspects of entrepreneurship are involved in the program? Jared, would you feel comfortable sharing some of your experiences?

Jared Kelly: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear the question.

Monica Chowaniec: No, not a problem. Entrepreneurship, what aspects of entrepreneurship are involved in the program?

Jared Kelly: Well, as we kind of mentioned, there is a three-course Capstone project and I'm in the middle right now. I'm in Capstone B, A, B, and C. And this course is 14 weeks long. And essentially every week, you are turning in a facet of your research in the opening of business. So starting in Cap A, the very first week, you're asked to brainstorm and pick three businesses that you might like to open. And then at the end of the week, you narrow it down. And then, largely, for the seven weeks of that course, the 14 weeks of Cap B, and then I haven't seen Cap C yet, it's a three-part program on entrepreneurship. There's quite a bit of reading and learning (inaudible) modules. 42 But, yes, I think that's a very significant portion of your program is actually walking through the steps to build a business and gaining the skills, examining like what is necessary to build a business.

Monica Chowaniec: I think that is a great thing to know, and I hope that answered our audience members' questions. Everyone had a lot of great questions. Once again, I want to thank you so much for your time and participation today. I hope that we are able to work together in the near future. I will be sending out the slides and recording once again. So if you need anything, please feel free to respond to my email. I will also put Samantha's contact information and we'll go from there. So thank you again, and I wish everyone a wonderful night.

Samantha Margentina: Thank you so much. And I am going to be in the office probably the next hour if there are any questions that you want to call in the next of minutes, I will be here. So -

Monica Chowaniec: Right. Samantha will take five minutes to get to her desk, but the number on your screen is where she can be reached in about five minutes. So thank you all and thank you, Jared, for joining us. I wish you all again a wonderful evening.