Kristen Walker Appointed at Nazarian College
Nazarian College Dean Dr. Chandra Subramaniam recently appointed Dr. Kristen Walker, Professor of Marketing, in the role of Interim MBA/GCBA Director for Nazarian College. The Dean welcomes her to the position, noting that Dr. Walker “is well recognized within her discipline for her academic success both through her publications, and presentations in academic conferences and as a speaker on privacy to the state and national governmental agencies.”
Dr. Walker plans to use her extensive experience to highlight the coalescence with the innovative research interests of Nazarian faculty and the evolving needs for graduate business students. While taking on a new role during a pandemic is challenging, Dr. Walker says that she will “continue to seek opportunities for research, teaching, and service to benefit students’ educational experience and success – promoting the university’s mission, values, and vision in the surrounding communities and nation.”
Dr. Walker views the Nazarian MBA program as not just education offered “to” students, but an educational experience “with” students. Students’ experience and point-of-view offer unique insight along with faculty members’ expertise, leading to a quality educational experience. Along with the MBA/GCBA staff, Dr. Walker aims to support this philosophy of “added value with relevance” and help students succeed.
This relevance is key for guiding Nazarian MBA students in their culminating experience – the MBA Consulting Project. Dr. Walker has experience managing numerous client projects – partnering with many SFV and LA County businesses such as, CASA LA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), 88.5 FM SoCal, Facebook Custom Audiences, Fox Sports University (UFC/Fox Deportes, Golden Boy Boxing/Fox Deportes, UEFA Champions League/Fox Deportes, Fox Sports 1), and consulting with Buzzine, a multi-platform content network. As the marketing faculty mentor at META+Lab, she helped students manage/execute marketing events/activities for client projects and platform development, such as Cal State Pays. She is also the Principal Investigator for an NSF grant on EdTech, addressing the unexpectedly topical intersection of tech companies and educational experiences, data collection, and privacy.
As a proud CSUN alumnus, Dr. Kristen Walker earned her doctorate at UCLA, then began her tenure at CSUN as a marketing professor, becoming a full professor in 2017. Her research interests merge public policy, technology and marketing to include interactive marketing, social media, retail environments, brand preference, Big Data, Internet privacy, information quality, and youth privacy protection. Increasing interactions using technology and a growing consumer reliance on the convenience of technology have led Dr. Walker to focus on social responsibility issues facing the tech industry (i.e. MarTech) and more specifically, consumer privacy challenges. She hopes to be able to highlight the pertinent costs/benefits involving technology in the MBA coursework and the overall program experience.
Finding SoCal’s Most Affordable MBAs
The first thing that springs to mind when thinking about Southern California is its reputation as the nation’s capital of all things glamorous and sun-kissed, but there is actually another side many may not consider.
Continue reading…The Fastest MBA You Can Earn in Los Angeles
Los Angeles may not be typically associated with the break-neck pace of life like New York or Washington DC, that doesn’t mean your business school career has to be slow there. A fast MBA is becoming an increasingly large priority for new MBA students throughout the U.S., and, luckily, Los Angeles has plenty of fast options.
With businesses constantly growing in the city (LA added 6,400 new jobs just last April), the faster MBA students can get their degree in hand means the faster they can get to work. Not to mention that accelerated or shortened MBA programs usually mean spending less money on tuition and living expenses while in school—minimizing the amount of time students will have to forego an income.
We looked at some of the fastest MBAs you can earn in Los Angeles, with some unique programs taking as little as 12 months to complete. These MBAs will allow you to get quickly down to business without sacrificing the quality or integrity of the program.
Finding a Fast MBA in Los Angeles
Marshall School of Business – USC
The USC Marshall MBA is one of the top ranked programs in the country, and with the One-Year International MBA for Mid-Career Professionals (IBEAR MBA), you can have that degree in your hand in just 12 months. The program, which is designed for mid-career professionals looking to expand their leadership opportunities in global business, provides career development opportunities, personalized career plans, and plenty of chances to explore the world.
The program is truly global and the average class size of 55 can represent anywhere from 12-15 countries. Participants, with an average of 11 years of professional experience, come from a wide range of academic backgrounds, including those with undergraduate majors in computer science, science & engineering, and even the humanities. These mid-level professionals can seriously minimize the amount of time they must take away from work, and in the process gaining an IBEAR alumni network of 1800 across 60 countries.
Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles
The Mount Saint Mary’s MBA program is designed to create effective global leaders who are trained in value-based decision making to bring real and impactful change to the businesses they lead. And the best part? The program takes just 18 months to complete. One of these semesters consists of “Foundations” courses for business leaders just starting out, and may be waived for candidates that have taken similar courses during their undergraduate studies, which may even further reduce the program’s length.
The Mount Saint Mary’s fast MBA is a unique program that centers itself around theme-based models, combining business disciplines like marketing, law, or finance, to give students a broader view of the interdisciplinary nature of business. The 18-month program also includes a final project that will require teams of students to partner with a “real world” organization to solve their business problems.
Argyros School of Business – Chapman University
The Professional MBA program at Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business allows students to customize their degree and move through the program at their own pace. For dedicated students, the program can be completed in as little as 21 months. The class schedule is flexible, which allows students the chance to move at their own pace throughout the program, choosing between both evening and daytime courses. Students may also choose a specialization in which to focus their degree, such as marketing analytics, entertainment, and global business, among others.
Even though the Chapman Professional MBA is flexible and at times fast-paced, the university does not compromise in quality and students will have the same benefits available to them as those in more traditional programs. Students in the Chapman MBA program will be taught by professional and renowned faculty, have access to the university’s career services department, and even have opportunities to travel around the world.
CHECK THIS OUT: Here are the Los Angeles Internship Opportunities You Need to Know
California State University, Long Beach College of Business Administration
The Accelerated MBA program at California State University, Long Beach is designed for young professionals with little experience in the business world. Focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation, the program will train these up-and-coming business leaders in how to bring new products to the market, identify business opportunities, and manage small business ventures.
The Accelerated program at CSULB can be completed in as little as 13 months, allowing students to jump back into work with an MBA on their resume just over a year after they start. The program is also heavily centered around internship experience, which will allow students to gain crucial hands-on experience while earning their degree, and get closer to the school’s objective of ensuring every student has a job offer by graduation.
Anderson School of Management – UCLA
The UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, offered jointly through UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and the National University of Singapore Business School, can be completed in just fifteen months and results in two fast MBA degrees from two of the world’s top business schools.
If you are looking for a truly global degree—and the international experience to back it up—this could be the perfect degree for you. Every three months, your cohort of students from around the world will gather for two weeks at locations from Los Angeles to Shanghai and anywhere in between.
The New East LA Incubator, Merage Rankings Rise, and More – Los Angeles News
Take a peek at some of the top stories coming out of the Los Angeles business schools this week.
From Family Business to Drucker School: A Talk With Koji Ogura (EMBA ’11) — Drucker Newsroom
Koji Ogura, alumnus and staff member at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, recently shared his thoughts on business, leadership, and the new Global Family Business Institute opening soon at the Drucker School.
Ogura, who graduated in 2011 from Drucker’s Executive MBA program, today serves as the school’s Director for Japan and Drucker-Ito Relationships. Before joining the Drucker community, Ogura worked as an executive with Yamato Holdings, a company founded by his grandfather nearly 100 years ago in Japan. With a new Family Business Institute poised to open at Drucker this month, Ogura shared his thoughts on how the new institute will shape and train future business leaders.
“We will … give them more of a global sense of how family businesses work in the world economy,” Ogura said. “That is something you cannot get with on-the-job training in one company. But you can get that at the Drucker School.
To learn more about the Global Family Business Institute and read Ogura’s insight, click here.
UCI Paul Merage School of Business Fully Employed MBA Program Up to 10 Spots in U.S. News & World Report — UCI Paul Merage School of Business News
The U.S. News & World Report recently released their 2019 ranking of the “Best Business Schools,” with MBA programs at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine climbing in the rankings since last year. The Fully Employed (FEMBA) program at Merage jumped 10 spots in the ranking to 32nd in the nation for MBA programs, 19th for public universities and 4th in California. The full-time MBA program at Merage also moved up two spots, ranking at 42nd nationally.
“All of our full and part- time programs at every level are experiencing success as a direct result of the efforts by our faculty and staff, the selectivity of our programs, continuous enhancements to our curriculum, and innovative methods of delivery,” commented Merage dean Eric Spangenberg.
“I am confident the Merage School’s reputation will continue to ascend as a result of our differentiated focus and our ability to deliver the most business-relevant, highest quality MBA, Specialty Masters, Undergraduate and Ph.D. education possible.”
Read more about Merage’s programs and the U.S. News & World Report ranking here.
East Los Angeles College, OmniWorks to Launch Business Incubator — Los Angeles Business Journal
A new business accelerator was recently announced to open in Los Angeles, created as a joint venture between the East Los Angeles College Foundation and the start-up support company OmniWorks. Estec LA, the new incubator which will open at East L.A. College in Monterey Park, will be funded through an investment from JP Morgan, Union Bank, and the California Strong Workforce Program.
This will be one of the first incubators in the East Los Angeles community, following in the footsteps of a bioscience incubator that opened two years ago at the California State University Los Angeles. The incubator is expected to open with a free workshop on April 13, focusing on veteran, women and LGBTQ-owned businesses in the area. “By focusing on entrepreneurs that are often overlooked by other incubator and accelerator programs, we are democratizing access to capital, markets, and financial and business education,” said OmniWorks founder Brent Imai.
Click here to learn more about the new incubator.
Don’t Forget These April MBA Deadline Dates
Don’t be left behind, and get a jump on the MBA application process this April! Here’s your guide to the April MBA deadline dates in some of our top metros.
USC or UCLA? Which Business School Is Right For You?
If you are in the midst of choosing your perfect MBA program, it’s likely you’ve already considered factors like cost, location, and prestige. But even within each of these categories it can be difficult to narrow down your selection to just one perfect school. Some of the nation’s top MBA programs can be found just within California, considered one of the best states for higher education. Today, our School v. School comparison will take a look at two of these top California programs: UCLA Anderson and USC Marshall.
