College of Business

-I've already encouraged multiple friends and colleagues to enter the Butler University MBA program and two of them are now enrolled in the program. It has a very high quality of education with a dedicated faculty and staff, good and growing reputation, and it is affordable. The program is flexible and the faculty understands that “life happens”. The faculty works with you when you need to miss classes due to business travel. The flexibility was also apparent after the birth of my first child midway through the program. I was able to adjust my class schedules accordingly to better balance the needs of work, school, and family; yet I was still able to take the electives I wanted and graduate near when I had originally planned.

-I think that the classroom experience in most of my classes was good; only a few classes were strictly lectures. I think anytime you pull in current examples, projects, guest speakers, etc., it always makes the subject material more applicable and interesting.

-There is a gap with the program related to Entrepreneurship studies. There should be a core class devoted to entrepreneurship, as well as electives. You can do independent studies to cover entrepreneurship, but there needs to be a structured curricula regarding this topic.

-The Butler MBA program was a very beneficial and influential program with many bright and talented individuals. I am very grateful to have been a part of the program and I encourage anyone seeking an excellent part-time MBA program to seek this one out!

-I believe Butler offers a great value. They should really focus on building their networks at corporations beyond the Indianapolis area and focus on a regional network of corporations to draw them to their graduates.

-I think PowerPoint presentations should be banned altogether. I don't need a prof to 'read to me'. It's interesting that you ask about analytical skills because it seems like everything was turned into a quantitative exercise. For one of my last projects, I was in a group that had to assess an office location. Some criteria was a little bit 'gut feeling', and some students were so hooked on trying to quantify everything that it seemed like their heads might explode if something didn't lend itself to being reduced to figures.

-The Butler University MBA program is by far the best post-secondary education experience I have had. It has helped me more in my career than my technical Masters degree and has opened my mind to many of the intricacies of the business world. Additionally, I have gained the confidence to launch my own company, which I plan to do shortly after graduation. This will initially be a side venture as I plan to continue employment with my current company; but I plan that it will grow and become stable enough for it to be a full time activity in a couple of years. I feel that the knowledge I have gained at Butler in addition to the resources that I have available to me will help me succeed in this new career field -- from engineering in the aerospace industry to financial services. The Butler University MBA program feels like that of a family and I will always feel part of Butler University.

-Student body is very homogeneous (at least 90 percent 25- 35 y/o white males). Seems like they were all in similar jobs at only a handful of local companies. It was not a very friendly or open atmosphere, and students were not encouraged to speak up if they didn't understand something (quite the contrary: Students who asked questions were usually berated by 'smarter' students who would snicker under their breath but loud enough for most to hear). Profs didn't really encourage an open atmosphere or allow students to make mistakes (and learn from them).

-The major strength of the instructors is that they take the students' learning very personally and seriously. They undertake large measures to make sure the students learn to think analytically, master the concepts, and apply the concepts appropriately in the business world. The professors may not be the most published or be in the latest research circles, but they are able to communicate and teach effectively. However, this is the reason one gets an MBA; the research would be more appropriate in a PhD program.