Welcome, Part-Time MBA Conferees!

What lies ahead for MBA education? B-school deans, professors and administrators convening at the Naveen Jindal School of Management Oct. 1 will contemplate Jetson to Jedi questions at two conferences exploring the future of professional (part-time) MBA and online MBA programs.

Nearly 200 conferees from 101 universities are coming for the 25th annual Part-Time MBA — PMBA — Conference or the second annual Online MBA — OMBA — Conference — or both.

The conference overlap, with the PMBA meeting convening Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, and Online MBA Conference meetings beginning Oct. 2 and continuing until noon of the next day.

Both conferences have a forward view, with an eye to keeping the landscape of an MBA education relevant and useful to working professionals seeking the degree online or part-time. The PMBA Conference theme is “The PMBA of the Future and the Future of the PMBA.” The OMBA Conference theme is “Keeping Pace with the Future.”

Both meetings acknowledge that technology is changing work and its rewards at an increasingly rapid pace. As they have changed, so have student expectations. Those seeking degrees today want and anticipate an educational experience very different from their counterparts of even a decade ago.

Looking at the future from the student vantage, conferees will consider how schools can be innovative and flexible in providing a worthwhile student experience and education. Conferees also will address the concerns of students today with social justice and their role in their communities. One session also will address how to develop students with high emotional quotients while at the same time meeting the educational needs of their analytical and quantitative minds.

Keep up with both conferences on social media at #FutureofMBA.