【英语生活】混合型MBA：上班学习两不误

M.B.A. programs that mix online instruction with limited on-campus time are becoming a popular option for prospective business school students who want to attend brand-name schools without giving up their jobs, relocating or trekking to campus for classes several nights a week.

These hybrid programs are also a boon to schools, particularly as the schools look to boost revenue at a time when the recession has left endowments flagging and alumni donations are hard to come by. The programs are also less expensive for schools to run, partly because students in the programs use fewer campus services and resources.

After the initial investment in a hybrid--which can be several hundred thousand dollars to $1 million and up--costs to keep the programs going are relatively low, says Dan LeClair, vice president and chief knowledge officer at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the largest of three main business school accreditation bodies.

Professors and schools do the bulk of the work or preparation upfront but contribute less face time as time goes on.

When Sarah Fisher, a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) employee, decided a few years ago to get an M.B.A. to enhance her chances of landing an overseas assignment, she looked for a program that was flexible--so she could keep working--but had enough prestige to get her promoted.

She found such a program in Babson College's Fast Track M.B.A., a seven-year-old part-time program that blends a limited amount of on-campus time with a heavy online component, including live streaming video lectures.

The Babson program, along with other hybrid M.B.A.s offered at a number of well-known schools, costs students roughly as much as a traditional full-time program and uses the same professors as the full-time M.B.A program. These programs even include group project work--a hallmark of many M.B.A. programs--which is done virtually via conference call or Skype.

'At first, I was reluctant,' says Ms. Fisher, as she worried that an M.B.A. achieved mostly online would have diminished value, even within her own company. But she enrolled in the program anyway in 2008 and the gamble paid off: In June, she shifted to brand management abroad for the company.

There are, however, notable differences between hybrids and traditional campus M.B.A. programs. For one, hybrid programs often have less stringent admission standards--Babson College doesn't require the GMAT, for example--though there are some exceptions. These programs also tend to cut out elective courses, which can be valuable to career-changers. And students who want to take advantage of the school's offerings find they have less access to faculty or campus resources, like career services, because they're not regularly on campus.

Despite the potential drawbacks, the programs continue to grow in scope and size. Schools have reported that applications are up significantly in the past year. Duke University's Cross Continent M.B.A, which is delivered 60% online, for example, saw a 50% increase in applications over last year for the class beginning in August.

Still, for students hoping to network with their peers or get the career guidance typical M.B.A. students receive, hybrid programs might disappoint. Since upward of 70% of class time is online for most programs, there is little face time with faculty and fewer opportunities for personal interaction between other students, something many b-school graduates say is the most valuable part of an M.B.A.

Scott Cronin, a Babson Fast Track graduate and accounts supervisor at Fidelity Investments, says the program leveled the career playing field for him, and he saw classmates make successful career changes. But there was still lack of face time with fellow classmates, who are together all the time during a full-time program.

Andy Policano, dean of the University of California at Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business, says that lack of togetherness is one reason more business schools haven't launched hybrids.

'There just isn't enough team building or interpretation of emotional quotients,' he says. That's particularly true for those with scientific or engineering backgrounds who often need to learn soft skills that in-person interaction teaches, he says.

Duke and other schools that offer these combo programs, like Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh and Babson College of Massachusetts, insist that despite the obvious differences, the option provides the same training as a typical M.B.A. program, while expanding the schools' reach.

Bill Boulding, deputy dean at Duke, says the school's hybrid program appeals to internationally based professionals who don't want to relocate to rural North Carolina for two years but want a Duke education.

'We don't have the same advantage as some of our peers who are located in a major metropolitan area,' says Mr. Boulding, adding that the school aims 'to court the students who are aiming at international assignments with their companies.'

Marketing for hybrid programs is also being expanded at most schools that offer them, chiefly through building relationships with corporate human resource managers.

That effort is just as much about luring students as it is about proving that hybrid M.B.A. programs are as good as campus programs. Currently, how hiring managers feel about hybrid programs varies from company to company.

Since students of these combo programs typically don't participate in campus recruiting, most won't go head-to-head for jobs with their two-year counterparts and end up able to simply list their degree on a resume without indicating that it was achieved in a hybrid program.

如今，结合网络教学和少量课堂教学的MBA课程越来越受青睐，很多学员希望可以不用放弃工作、不用来到异地、不用每周好几个晚上去学校听课便可接受到名牌商学院的教育。

这种混合型课程对于学院来说也有好处，尤其是那些希望能够增加收入的学院，在经济危机的影响下，这些学院得到的捐赠少了很多，校友赞助也很难拉到。这类课程运营费用相对便宜，部分原因是学员享用学校的服务及资源比常规课程的学员要少。

Carl Weins国际商学院联合会（Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business）是全球三大商学院认证机构中规模最大的一家，其副会长及首席知识官丹•勒克莱尔（Dan LeClair）表示，除去最初的投入──从数万美元至100万美元乃至更多──这类混合型课程的运营费用相对是比较低的。

学院和各位教授在前期要做大量的准备工作，不过整个过程中与教授与学员见面的时间要少很多。

几年前，为了争取一个派驻海外工作的机会，强生公司（Johnson & Johnson）的莎拉•费雪（Sarah Fisher）决定去拿一个MBA学位，她找到了一种灵活的课程──她可以继续上班，而拿到的学位又有足够的含金量，可以让她如愿得到提升。

她上的是巴布森学院（Babson College）的捷径MBA课程（Fast Track M.B.A.），这个业余课程开班已有7年时间，学员需要到校的时间很少，重头是网络教学部分，包括现场直播的视频讲座。

巴布森学院以及其他众多名牌学院的混合型MBA课程同传统的全日制MBA课程相比，学费基本相当，师资相同，甚至也安排了MBA课程的一大特色──小组项目──通过电话会议或Skype来实现。

费雪最初有些担心，即便是在自己所效力的公司，主要通过网络教学获得的MBA学位价值也许也会打个折扣，她说，“最初的时候我有些犹豫。”不过她还是在2008年去上课了，结果证明这个险是值得一试的：6月份，她如愿调任公司海外品牌主管。

当然，混合型课程同传统的MBA还是有着显著区别的。比如，混合型课程的入学标准通常会比较松──比如巴布森学院就不要求GMAT成绩──当然也有一些例外。混合型MBA还常常会取消选修课，选修课对于想要换工作的人来说是挺有价值的。那些希望能倚仗院方资源的学员会发现，自己很难利用起学院或者学校的资源，比如就业服务，因为他们多数时间都不在学校。

即便有这些潜在的缺点，这类课程的开设范围及规模都还是在日益增长。根据各学院的报导，去年申请就读混合型课程的人数有了显著的增长。杜克大学（Duke University）的跨洲MBA（Cross Continent M.B.A）有60%的课程是网络授课，其8月份开始上课的班级申请人数在去年增长了50%。

当然，对于那些希望能够扩展人脉、希望得到传统MBA职业指导的学员来说，混合型课程也许会让他们失望。多数混合型课程都有70%以上的课程是借助网络的，学员同教授很少直接见面，也很少有机会能够跟其他学员交往，而很多商学院学生认为这一点正是MBA课程最有价值的部分。

富达投资（Fidelity Investments）的会计主管斯科特•克罗宁（Scott Cronin）在巴布森学院通过捷径课程拿到了MBA学位，他表示，MBA帮助自己提升了职场竞争力，而且他看到自己的同学也都是事业越来越成功。不过与同学见面的时间还是太少了点，如果是全日制课程的话，大家是可以经常在一起的。

加州大学欧文分校（University of California at Irvine）保罗梅拉吉商学院（Paul Merage School of Business）院长安迪•波利卡诺（Andy Policano）表示，很多商学院没有开设混合型MBA课程，原因之一便是这类课程不能给学员提供足够多的共处时间。

他说：“这类课程没有足够的团队建设以及情商培养的内容。”他表示，那些技术或工程学背景的学员通常都希望通过人际交往教学掌握一些软技能，对他们而言这个问题尤其突出。

杜克大学和其他开设了混合型MBA课程的学院──比如匹兹堡卡内基梅隆大学（Carnegie Mellon University）的泰珀商学院（Tepper School of Business）和马萨诸塞州巴布森学院──都认为，尽管存在着显著的差异，混合型MBA课程提供的培训与传统课程无异，同时又能拓宽学院的招生范围。

杜克商学院副院长比尔•博尔丁（Bill Boulding）表示，学院的混合型课程吸引了世界各地那些想要接受杜克大学教育、又不想搬来北卡罗莱纳呆上两年的专业人士。

博尔丁表示，“我们没有地处大都市那些同行所具备的优势。”他又补充道，杜克商学院的目标是“吸引那些希望被自己效力公司派驻海外工作的学院。”

多数开设混合型MBA课程的商学院都加强了对该类课程的营销工作，主要途径是跟公司的人力资源主管搞好关系。

这种努力就是力图证实混合型MBA同常规课程同样有效，藉此来吸引生源。在目前，不同公司的招聘主管对于混合型课程的认识还有很大的差异。

参加这类混合型课程的学员通常都不参加校园招聘，他们多数人都不会跟那些脱产上了两年学的学员直接竞争工作机会，他们在简历上写MBA学位时必须标明是混合型课程。