Source: SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
PLANNING FOR THE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA) DEGREE PROGRAM IN AGRIBUSINESS
 
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Londhe, S. R.
 
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
AGRIBUSINESS & ECONOMICS
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
ORANGEBURG,SC 29117
 
NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY: South Carolina State University is planning to implement a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program in agribusiness through its School of Business. The School of Business is accredited by the AACSB International. The strong product recognition of an MBA would attract a large and academically talented students, and facilitate the placement of graduates with the industry. The availability of an MBA program in agribusiness would provide minority students an opportunity to prepare themselves for professional careers in the agribusiness industry where the minorities are under-represented.
 
OBJECTIVES: (1) Develop the curriculum for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in agribusiness that contains a proper balance of core business courses, applied agribusiness courses, electives and experiential learning. (2) Promote faculty development to enhance faculty skills and expertise in concepts, application of technology, instructional techniques, and issues related to business and agribusiness disciplines. (3) Enhance the learning opportunities for students through experiential learning, field trips, and attendance at professional meetings. (4) Set up a computer laboratory for graduate students and acquire basic library resources. (5) Implement the MBA degree program in agribusiness. An MBA degree program in agribusiness would be available to students at an AACSB accredited business school with an 1890 land grant institution. Approximately 15 students each year are estimated to enroll into the agribusiness MBA program. The faculty development activities would enhance instructional expertise and more effective delivery of instructional material. About six faculty members who are expected to teach one or more courses in the MBA program would engage in organized faculty development activities. As a result of taking field trips, attending professional meetings and doing industry internships the students would learn to interact with agribusiness professionals thereby enhancing their self-confidence and professional development. It is estimated that about sixteen students will take field trips, eight will attend professional meetings, and four will do business internships. Essentially, this project would establish a high quality MBA degree program in agribusiness available to students at an 1890 land grant institution.
 
APPROACH: The Project Director (PD), in cooperation with the Agribusiness MBA Planning Committee of the School, would coordinate all activities to achieve the objectives of the project. (1) The MBA curriculum would be developed using several sources of information such as the graduate agribusiness model programs from the published literature, graduate agribusiness programs from other institutions, and the advisory group of agribusiness professionals from other land grant universities. The curriculum would conform to SCSU environment and meet the accreditation standards of AACSB International. (2) The faculty development would be achieved by encouraging those faculty members who are expected to teach in the MBA program to attend topical lectures, workshops, and short courses in business and agribusiness that are offered at other land-grant universities and professional organizations. This activity would continue throughout the planning period. (3) The student learning opportunities would be enhanced through field trips to Washington, DC to visit the USDA and the Congress to learn agricultural policy process, industry internships, and participation in the regional and national meetings of professional organizations. (4) A computer laboratory with multimedia capabilities will be established for the graduate students. (5) The MBA program is expected to be operational by August 2005. The implementation would involve: (a) program approval, internally within the university and externally from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education Commission (SCCHE), (b) preparation and dissemination of program brochures and other recruiting material, and (c) marketing of the program and recruitment of the first batch of students.
 
CRIS NUMBER: 0197862 SUBFILE: CRIS
PROJECT NUMBER: SCX-522-09-03 SPONSOR AGENCY: NIFA
PROJECT TYPE: SERD GRANT PROJECT STATUS: TERMINATED MULTI-STATE PROJECT NUMBER: (N/A)
START DATE: Sep 15, 2003 TERMINATION DATE: Sep 14, 2006

GRANT PROGRAM: CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS - 1890 / TEACHING
GRANT PROGRAM AREA: Federal Administration SERD

CLASSIFICATION
Knowledge Area (KA)Subject (S)Science (F)Objective (G)Percent
903609930203.1100%

CLASSIFICATION HEADINGS
KA903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery
S6099 - People and communities, general/other
F3020 - Education
G3.1 - Economic Opportunities for Growth


RESEARCH EFFORT CATEGORIES
BASIC (N/A)%
APPLIED (N/A)%
DEVELOPMENTAL 100%

KEYWORDS: agribusiness; graduate students; colleges; administration; curriculum; curriculum content; teacher education; teachers; program planning; experience; learning; skill development; workshops; opportunities; computers; laboratories; libraries; educational materials; delivery systems; professional development; recruitment

PROGRESS: Sep 15, 2003 TO Sep 14, 2006
The overall objective of this project was to develop and implement a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program in Agribusiness. The MBA program was implemented in August 2005. The MBA program South Carolina State University (SCSU) is the only 1890 institution to have a MBA program in agribusiness. Another unique feature is that this program is offered through an AACSB-accredited Business Program at SCSU. The MBA program at SCSU has two concentrations - agribusiness and entrepreneurship. Thirty-six semester credit hours are required to complete the MBA program. Students take 15 credit hours of core courses and then complete specialized courses in their respective concentrations. The formula for admission to the MBA Program is based on the GMAT score, cumulative undergraduate GPA, and work experience. Applicants to the MBA program who do not have undergraduate majors in business are required to complete a maximum of eighteen credit hours of prerequisite courses. Major project accomplishments were: (1) developed the MBA degree program - the Business faculty designed the curriculum and detailed course syllabi for the courses that were developed after a methodical study of similar programs at other institutions; (2) approval of the MBA program by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education in November 2004 and its implementation by SCSU in August 2005; (3) enrolled 11 students in the MBA program, three in agribusiness and eight in entrepreneurship concentrations; (4) provided faculty development opportunities such as attending professional meetings, presenting papers, participating in seminars and workshops focusing on agribusiness, etc.; (5) the MBA program was evaluated by a tem of five agribusiness professionals, three from major 1862 institutions and two from 1890s; and (6) provided a variety of professional development activities to students - three students participated in a Business Plan competition at an Entrepreneurship Conference, one student did summer internship with an agribusiness firm and several students participated in the Executive Speaker Series of the Business Program. PRODUCTS: Availability of a MBA degree from South Carolina State University is the main product of this project. The MBA program at SCSU is housed with the Business Program that is accredited by the AACSB International, one of the most rigorous and prestigious accreditations. This CSREES-funded project facilitated the development and implementation of the MBA program. OUTCOMES: Major outcomes of the project are: (1) MBA program in agribusiness was developed and implemented at SCSU, (2) Faculty development opportunities were provided for six faculty members in agribusiness and other business disciplines, (3) About 200 recently published books and references were acquired, and (4) Internet-ready computer laboratory was set up for the use of graduate students. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: A high priority was placed on the dissemination of information about the new MBA program as it was crucial for student recruitment. Program brochures were developed and mailed to all 1890 institutions and selected other regional colleges. Faculty members carried sets of brochures to various professional meetings. A table top display about the MBA program was put at the AARD Biennial Symposium in Atlanta in 2006. Additionally, the University put two roadside billboards advertising the MBA program on I-26 and I-95 in South Carolina. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The next immediate initiative of the program is to develop and foster internship opportunities for the MBA students. Experiential learning through student internship is a vital ingredient of the MBA program. The Business Program at SCSU is developing relationships with private agribusiness firms and expects to place students for internships with them. Another important initiative is to increase student enrollment to about 12 to 15 students per year. Currently we have only three students in the MBA-agribusiness program.

IMPACT: 2003-09-15 TO 2006-09-14 The most significant impact of the project is that a unique new degree program - the MBA in agribusiness - is available to the clientele served by SCSU. The SCSU student clientele is traditionally underrepresented in higher echelons of management in the agribusiness sector. The graduates of the MBA program will be in a position to fill that void. Also, the implementation of the MBA-agribusiness program has enriched the program offerings at SCSU thereby strengthening its land grant mission

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2003-09-15 TO 2006-09-14
No publications reported this period

PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: Londhe, S. R.
PHONE: 803-536-8449
FAX: 803-533-3639