“Learn on Monday. Apply on Tuesday.”
That’s how the Jack Welch Management Institute frames its online MBA program. The slogan has it all: imagery, balance and contrast. More importantly, it represents a certain truth that resonates with Dr. Michael Silverman.
A 50-year-old emergency room M.D. in New Jersey, Silverman describes himself as a “fixer.” He holds three board certifications, along with serving as vice chair of the emergency department and treasurer for his center’s medical staff. However, these achievements pale in comparison to his biggest accolade: “Educator of the Year” in his center’s residency program. In an online MBA program, Silverman switched places and became the resident, testing out what he was learning for an immediate return and reinforcement.
“I wasn’t going just to study MBA topics,” he explains. “The coursework required me to actively apply those principles and learnings into real scenarios to better improve the care and flow in a high-pressure emergency room setting as well as throughout the hospital in the future.”
While Silverman remains focused now on patient care, he does dream of joining the c-suite in his health system. Whether he ultimately becomes an executive or stays a practitioner, his online MBA has prepared him to make an impact as his career progresses. “I learned to evaluate businesses from a high level. I understand now how different departments operated together, and how to communicate to employees, stockholders, and other executives. JWMI provided a big-picture perspective to running a business and building a team. So even if you never aspire to be a CEO, you still gain the insight into what senior leadership is looking for in employees and how to over deliver to grow both the business and your place in the organization.”
Silverman is just one member of Poets&Quants’ 2nd annual Best & Brightest Online MBAs – the 50 MBA graduates from 2019 who were “so fundamental that you can’t imagine the class without them.” They include military commanders, entrepreneurs, engineers, and sales directors. Ranging in age from 28-65, they hold key roles at companies like Google, Citigroup, Apple, Nike, Disney, Cisco, and General Motors.
Like last year, P&Q reached out to the top programs in its online MBA rankings, asking for two nominations from each school. These schools were encouraged to consider students based on “academic performance, critical and consistent contributions, personal narratives, or innate potential.” Overall, P&Q extended 29 invitations, receiving nominations back from 24 online MBA programs. This includes 8 of the 10 highest-ranked programs, including USC, Carnegie Mellon, Indiana, Maryland, and Arizona State.
This year’s Best & Brightest includes Cassidi Reese, a 15-year U.S. Navy veteran who has completed more than 2,000 skydives. When she wasn’t studying online at the University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium, she was a pilot who has spent over 2,400 hours in the air in both flight testing and combat operations. How would an MBA benefit a pilot? For one, she was able to use her assignments to learn about Department of Defense acquisitions processes. At the same time, she applied what she’d learned to qualify for further training in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“With business credits, I completed in this program, I was able to apply for membership in the Defense Acquisition Corps, a pre-requisite for selection to command a Test and Evaluation Squadron,” Reese explains. “In March, I was selected by the Navy’s annual board to command VX-31. While my online MBA education was not the sole reason I was selected, I would not have qualified without it.”
Or meet Kurt Oettel. He is the Cancer Center Director at the Gundersen Health System in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where he oversees departments ranging from Oncology to Infusion Therapy. For him, the online MBA program offered the flexibility to operate on his schedule. In his words, it freed him to “do class work at odd hours and class postings at 5:00 a.m. in my pajamas.” More than that, he adds, the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s online program introduced him to high caliber peers who taught him far more than he could learn from readings and lectures.
“Many of the individuals I worked with were very accomplished in their respective fields,” he acknowledges. “It gave me a different perspective on the business of medicine and really pointed out how much I did not know.”
“Diverse” would be the perfect word to describe the backgrounds of the Class of 2019. At Syracuse, the online cohort included Kati Isaacson, a first vice president who headed her bank’s branding and communications strategies. The University of Delaware’s Jeremy Searer runs the control room at an atomic power station, while Samuel Speet designs missile systems for Raytheon outside the University of Arizona. Indeed, you’ll find many of the world’s most promising professionals choosing the online route for their MBA. Take Daniel Prorok. The this University of Illinois MBA heads up global hardware planning and vendor management at Citigroup. If you’re looking for results, start with Penn State University’s Ariel Prochowski. His claim to fame? He saved Apple $200 million dollars a year by adding new suppliers and re-negotiating with current ones.
One reason why the online MBA is becoming increasingly popular is that it gets results – fast. Thanks to earning his MBA at Carnegie Mellon University, John Campion was able to make the transition from political science professor to McKinsey consultant. Jaap Veneman racked up three promotions during his time in the University of North Carolina, accelerating his career by five years by his calculations. An online MBA didn’t just benefit this year’s graduates either.
“As I moved into a management position, the online education provided me with the required tools and a skillset to effectively manage my direct reports,” explains Jeremy Searer. “My team is high-performing, motivated, and effective due to the leadership skills I learned through the MBA program.”
This year’s Best & Brightest also encountered several surprises along the way. That started with networking. For some, the expectation was that the cohort would work in isolation, occasionally communicating via discussion boards and conference calls. In reality, online MBAs often worked closely. In many cases, their experience expanded far beyond their laptop screen.
I was absolutely amazed by the level of group engagement, camaraderie, and networking that happens within the online environment,” explains Eric Hensley. “Auburn provided incredible opportunities to stay involved on campus and with the cohort, including on-campus orientation, an international experience which sent us to Croatia, invitations to speak with incoming students, business site visits, and group case studies and projects. This has not only provided a great networking opportunity but has also led to great friendships from coast-to-coast.”
The support for online cohorts was equally impressive. At the University of Florida, Juan Lopez was struck by how the school “goes above and beyond” during the program – with the career services team helping out with interview prep and resume fine-tuning long after graduation. The faculty also left a deep impression with the Class of 2019. Jeremy Searer, for one, loved how available his Delaware professors were, often delivering quick responses to his questions. What’s more, adds Indiana University’s Elisa Stampf, they seamlessly adapted to their students.
“They were willing to work with tough schedules and leveraged our expertise in our given fields to help us individually and as a class. Many of my classes allowed me the opportunity to study my company strategically and evaluate it against business norms and practices. Not only was I able to immediately apply what I was learning, but I’ve also been able to help my company with the discoveries I’ve made.”
What advice does the Class of 2019 offer to future online MBAs? For Jaap Veneman, the secret is to take care of the home front first so you have time for work and class. “My wife Sarah had already completed her MBA before I started at UNC, during which time I looked after our children when she studied. She offered to do the same during my MBA, usually three weeknights and most Sundays. I’m grateful that I never had to worry about cooking or putting kids to bed on those days.”
When it comes to class, Arizona State’s Alejandro Lozano has a simple message: Be humble. “Come with an open mind and you will learn just as much from your peers as you will from your classes,” he notes. “Everyone has valuable experience and strengths to bring to the table. Make sure to check your ego at the door, and you’ll be surprised at how much you can learn and achieve.”
To access 50 in-depth profiles of the 2019 Best & Brightest Online MBAs, click on this link.
