The MBA program is designed to develop candidates for positions of leadership in modern organizations.
Objective
Analytical Skills
A graduate of the MBA program will have the analytical skills necessary to function in the current business environment.
Indicator
Quantitative Skills
Students will have an understanding of financial, statistical and other quantitative techniques used in business decision making.
Criterion
Quantitative Skills
A majority of the graduate students will indicate on the Graduate Program Capstone Survey that the program increased their quantitative skills.
Indicator
Critical Thinking Skills
Students will take the Texas Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills (TACTS) in BAN568, a required course.
Criterion
TACTS scores
The average score on the TACTS test will be statistically significantly higher than the undergraduate average score.
Finding
Critical Thinking Skills
Graduate students averaged 17.4 correct while undergraduate students averaged 13.4 correct on the assessment instrument. The mean scores were statistically significantly different.
Indicator
Skills To Organize, Process, And Interpret Data
Students will be able to organize, process and interpret data to provide options for decision-making.
Criterion
Skills to Organize, Process, and Interpret Data
A majority of the graduate students will indicate on the Graduate Program Capstone Survey that the program increased their ability to organize, process, and interpret data.
Indicator
Ability To Resolve Ethical Issues
Students will be able to identify ethical issues and apply value-based reasoning systems to ethical questions.
Criterion
Addressing Ethical Concerns
A majority of the graduate students will indicate on the Graduate Program Capstone Survey that the program increased their understanding of ethical issues.
Finding
Addressing Ethical Concerns
Of the 77 responses to item 25 (The graduate program has made me more aware of ethical issues) on the Graduate Program Capstone Course Survey, the mean response was 3.974. Scaling is as follows: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = somewhat disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = somewhat agree; 5 = strongly agree. Only four students scored their response as strongly or somewhat disagree; seventeen responded that they neither agreed nor disagreed; and 56 somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement.
Action
Critical Thinking Skills
The TACTS critical thinking instrument will continue to be administered to students in graduate-level business core classes. The instrument continues to be evaluated in an effort to improve its reliability and validity.
Action
Analytical Skills
Analytical skills will be assessed in additional graduate business core classes during the fall and spring semesters. The required classes in finance and business analysis will be added to accoutnting and marketing. Assessment of economics and management will be added in the spring semester.
Objective
Interpersonal Skills
A graduate of the MBA program will have the interpersonal skills necessary to work with all types of people in a wide variety of settings.
Indicator
Team-building And Leadership Skills
Students will be able to work with groups/teams so as to lead, influence, organize, and delegate tasks, to motivate and develop people, and to withstand and resolve conflict.
Indicator
Ability To Deal With Diversity
Students will have the ability to interact with culturally and intellectually diverse people.
Action
Interpersnal Skills
During the fall and spring semesters courses in which teams are utilized will be used to assess the growth in students'' understanding of team-building and leadership skills.
Objective
Communication Skills
A graduate of the MBA program will have the ability to communicate effectively.
Indicator
Communication Skills
Students will be able to present, discuss, and defend views effectively through formal and informal, written and spoken language.
Criterion
Written Communication Skills
80% of students assessed will meet or exceed acceptable standards using a written rubric developed by the communications faculty.
Finding
Written Communication Skills
95% of students assessed in GBA 587 met or exceeded established standards on the communications rubric.
Indicator
Listening Ability
Students will be able to listen effectively
Indicator
Data Skills
Students will have the ability to locate, obtain, organize, and use information from human, print, and electronic sources.
Action
Written Communication Skills
The assessment instrument proved to be unwieldy and too time intensive in the evaluation process. The instrument will be reviewed, revised and administered during the next academic year.
Objective
Organizational And Business Knowledge
A graduate of the MBA program will have a greater depth of knowledge of the tools, practices, and procedures used in today's business environment than undergraduates.
Indicator
Business Environment Knowledge
Students wil have developed a knowledge of the activities of business, government, and nonprofit organizations, and of the environments in which they operate, including the major economic, legal, political, social, and cultural forces and their influences.
Indicator
Basic Business Knowledge
Students will have developed a greater depth of knowledge of the basic business disciplines by completing the following core courses: ACC 564, BAN 568, 500-level ECO course, GBA 587, FIN 531, 500-level MGT course, MGT 567, and MKT 570. Mean scores will be significantly higher on post-tests than on pre-tests addressing major areas in the core classes.
Criterion
Basic Business Knowledge
Students in MKT 570 will score significantly higher (at least 50% higher) on the post-test than on the pre-test addressing basic marketing knowledge.
Finding
Basic Business Knowledge
On the first day of class in the spring 2008 semester, students in MKT 570 were given a 40 question pre-test covering the major sections covered in the course. Topics included: the role of marketing in business strategy; analyzing marketing opportunities; product and distribution decisions; and promotion and pricing decisions. The same questions were later embedded in the final exam. On average, students grades improved by 71.98% from the pre-test to the post-test.
Finding
Basic Business Knowledge
Students in the ACC 564 class were given exams with embedded questions covering the following basic accounting topics: cost behavior; job order; break-even analysis; relevant costing; budgeting; variances; activity-based costing; cash flows. Students averaged 77.1% correct on the topics covered.
Action
Basic Business Knowledge
Assessment of graduate students'' basic business skills will be continued in the next academic year to include more of the required classes.