Karla Townley-Tilson

1. TXGAP 2017 Summer Institute
Raising an MBA Family in Overdrive
KARLA TOWNLEY-TILSON, ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR, MBA
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON - DOWNTOWN

2. Raising an MBA Family in Overdrive
Partnership between Admissions,
Administration, Faculty & Corporate Partners
to Reinvent a Successful MBA Program

3. Learning Objectives
1. Discuss benefits to thinking creatively with regard to structure of delivery
of program, admissions criteria, and program completion options.
2. Identify the benefits to involving corporate partners in developing
curriculum content.
3. Recommendations on how to overcome the challenges of low staffing,
faculty, and systems when your program is growing so rapidly.
4. Learn about how to scale decisions from one-off decisions to creating
policy to capture a majority of issues that arise.

4. About University of Houston –
Downtown
 Founded in 1974
 One of four distinct universities in the University of
Houston System
 Accredited by Southern Assoc. of Colleges & Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
 44 Bachelor’s & 8 Master’s Degrees
 Banner School, PeopleSoft implemented 2017-2018

5. UHD Student Body
 14,262 total students (1,017 Graduate)
47% full-time, 53% part-time
60% female, 40% male
44% Hispanic, 25% African American
Average Age - Undergrad - 27, Graduate - 33.5

6. UHD Marilyn Davies College of Business
D. Michael Fields, Ph.D.
Dean UHD – College of Business
The College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB-International, the premier
professional accrediting body for business school programs.

7. MBA Program History
 Created Spring 2012
 Admitting cohorts of 20 students
 34 credits total - 20 Core, 14 General Management
 13th (out of 13) largest Houston MBA program
 Fall 2013 – 80 total students
 Spring 2016 – 914 total students
 91% increase in student population

8. Structure of MBA Program
 Leveling/Prerequisite Classes (16 credits)
 Eight, 2 credit courses, for students without business
undergraduate degree
 Concentration/Certificate Courses (14-19 credits)
 Five or six courses in sequence
 Core MBA Courses (20 credits)
 8 week sessions Fall/Spring
 6 week sessions Summer

9. Reasons to evaluate MBA Program
 MBA Program evaluated in early 2014
Small cohort enrollment
New Dean’s experience
Untapped Houston market
Preparing MBA students to be competitive in the
job market

10. MBA Redesign Focus
 Admissions Process
 Hybrid, Flipped Classroom
 Development of Corporate Driven Concentrations
with Corporate Engagement
 Team Teaching – Corporate Fellows
 Course Assessment

11. Admissions
 Soft Start Admissions
 Take certificate/concentration classes first
 Waive GMAT requirement if student finishes concentration
courses with 3.0+ GPA
 Program Delivery
 Geared towards working professionals
 Flexible option for Graduate Certificate or full MBA
 Hybrid format, flipped classroom

12. Corporate Driven Concentrations
 Created Industry Curriculum Working Groups
 Mid-top tier industry professionals
 Created 77 learning objectives across 5
concentrations

13. Dean Fields

14. Concentration/Certificate Courses
• General Management (not available for soft start option)
• Finance
• Investment Management
• Human Resource Management
• Leadership
• Supply Chain Management
• Business/Sales Development (new Fall 2015)
• Accounting (new Fall 2015)
• International Business (new Fall 2015)

15. Team Teaching
 Corporate Fellows
 Started with concentrations classes only, rolled out to core
classes in year two
 Professor offers theoretical knowledge
 Corporate Fellow offers practical knowledge
 Very high student satisfaction

16. Course Assessment Highlights
 Assessed 5 concentrations
 Students met or exceeded expectations on average
of 84% of learning objectives
 Student satisfaction 4.08 on 5 point scale
 Would recommend the program to others – 4.07

17. Challenges
 MBA & Admissions team staffing bandwidth
 Supporting a growing program with current faculty
 Use of CRM system, lack of reporting, manual
processes
 Dean’s customer service level expectations

18. Staffing
 Starting MBA Staff
 Associate Dean, Assistant Director, Academic Advisor
 Current MBA Team
 Graduate Coordinators (3)
 Academic Advisors (4)
 Administrative Assistant, Student Workers

19. Collaboration
 Team meetings with Graduate Admissions
 Internal frequent team collaboration
 Financial Aid approval for Graduate Certificates

20. Faculty & Systems
 Faculty Resources
 Stacking classes on one night
 Increased number of sections per faculty
 Hired 30 new faculty in past two years
 Student fee for concentration courses
 Systems
 Hobsons Radius & Banner reporting
 Supporting Dean’s service expectations

21. Scalability
 University & Program are young
 Created policies/procedures
 Early warning, appeals, international student advising,
handbook, website, advising syllabus

22. Results
Enrolled 80% of students admitted
Retention rates are around 80%

23. Results
 Accolades
 MBA Roundtable innovation award finalist
 #1 Largest Houston MBA program, Houston Business
Journal
 13th to 1st in 2 years (13 total programs)
 Student surveys & videos
 College of Business strong investment in program’s
future

24. Next Steps
 Create online MBA Program
 Houston community engagement – UHD QEP
 Solidify business model of Advising
 Tackle space resource issues

25. Why UHD MBA is Fastest Growing in
the Region!
1. Corporate-Driven Concentrations
2. Team Taught Classes
3. Flexibly Scheduled Classes
4. Graduate Certificate Options
5. Soft Start Option

26. Why UHD MBA is Fastest Growing in
the Region!
6. Flipped Format
7. Hybrid Classes
8. Working Professional-Friendly Schedule
9. Assessment Against Corporate-Defined
Learning Goals
10. High Student Satisfaction

27. Contact Information
Karla Townley-Tilson
Associate Program Director, MBA
Davies College of Business
University of Houston-Downtown
One Main Street, 401C
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: 713-221-8252
tilsonk@uhd.edu
mba.uhd.edu