Top Questions – Naveen Jindal School of Management

Kelley McClain, managing vice president at Capital One and 2010 graduate of the Executive MBA program at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, will be honored Sept. 30 as one of Dallas Business Journal’s top 25 women leaders in North Texas technology.

“This achievement has validated my belief that we must continue to learn and take risks to enable our full potential,” she says.

McClain has worked at Capital One 19 years, progressing from front-line operations management to a variety of executive roles before moving into her current position. McClain notes that the opportunities she has been given to work in diverse executive roles, from business risk to technology and other areas, have been instrumental in her success.

She praises Capital One for its company culture, which, she says, is fostered by leaders who are “invested in the development of their associates and supportive of the bold choices they make in their careers.”

McClain has used technology skills in several roles over the years. As vice president of loan servicing for Capital One Auto Finance, she led the transformation of the organization’s technology, including core systems, user interfaces, data architecture, cloud migration, robotic processing automation, and more. Earlier, as vice president of home loans fulfillment operations, she headed the digital transformation for loan originations.

In her effort to continually learn and advance her career, McClain chose to pursue an executive MBA at the Jindal School.

“The University of Texas at Dallas’ Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program was a game changer for me both personally and professionally,” she said. “Most notably, the executive coach feature of the program was life-changing — I still have several fond memories of Dr. [Richard] Miller and Dr. [David] Springate’s course offerings. Throughout my time at Jindal School, I gained confidence, established executive presence, learned to collaborate and enhanced my critical thinking skills.”

McClain said that this award has encouraged her to continue to learn and take risks in order to rise to her full potential. She referred to a favorite quote by New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker Jon Acuff, who said, “Be brave enough to be bad at something new.”

The DBJhonor “has further motivated me to keep this message in the forefront of my mind and continue pushing forward even when the journey ahead is unknown,” she said.

“Throughout my time at Jindal School, I gained confidence, established executive presence, learned to collaborate and enhanced my critical thinking skills.” — Kelley McClain, EMBA’10, managing vice president at Capital One

The seventh annual Dallas Business Journal Women in Technology Awards seek to honor women who “are mavericks when it comes to technology and innovation, forging the way for both women and future tech leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth.”

The honorees have been selected for being key contributors in implementing or developing technology during their careers. On its hiring website, Capital One states that it is “building a leading information-based technology company” that is driven to help customers “succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity and humanity to banking.”

Other Women in Technology honorees with UT Dallas ties include Susan Tidwell, an Azure specialist at Microsoft who is a 2004 alumna of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, and Toni Portmann, co-founder and CEO of Walkabout Workplace, a frequent speaker at and participant in JSOM’s Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance events.

UT Dallas offers two different tuition plans. The variable tuition rate plan is based on a traditional plan that only locks tuition rates in for one academic year at a time. The rates on the variable tuition plan are subject to change each academic year.

The guaranteed tuition plan is a plan that locks tuition rates in for four consecutive years and protects the student against increases during those four years. This plan is designed to aid students and families in the budget and planning of college expenses.

All new incoming students will be automatically placed into the variable tuition rate plan, but will have the option to lock in their tuition rates for four consecutive years with the guaranteed tuition plan.

To make your tuition plan choice, please follow these instructions on this page https://www.utdallas.edu/finance/bursar/tuition/

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You have met the English proficiency requirement, and do not need to submit an English proficiency exam for admission, if:

• Your native country’s primary language is English. View a list of countries that are excused from the English proficiency requirement through this page

or

• Your bachelor’s or master’s degree (or its equivalent) was earned through instruction and examination in English

No. International applicants who have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a college or university in the United States are waived from the English proficiency requirement.

A GMAT/GRE score is not required, and students have the option to submit a test score if desired. A GRE/GMAT test score will only be used for admission purposes if one is provided by the applicant.

To indicate where the official GMAT score should be sent, please follow the list of GMAT program codes or, if submitting the GRE, use our GRE School Code, R6897. (No program code is needed.)

Knowledge of calculus is required for the following graduate programs: MS in Business Analytics, MS in Energy Management, MS in Finance, MS in Management Science and MS in Supply Chain Management. Applicants who have not satisfied this requirement may take OPRE 6303 (Quantitative Foundations of Business).