The
Denver
MBA
THE CONCEPT Introducing challenge-driven education. It’s centered on progressively deeper and highly personalized action learning. It develops enduring capacity for exceptionally high performance in business.
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THE CONCEPT
WHY REINVENT THE MBA? “Business schools need to become the center for performance development. Challenge-driven education produces a higher-value MBA.” Dean Chrite Explains A recent Bloomberg survey asked all of the biggest corporate recruiters to rate the effectiveness of their hires from essentially every business school in America. Every schools’ graduates came up short, with no school breaking three on a five-point scale. The market is clearly signaling that something different is needed. The traditional MBA model does not focus enough on performance and market connectivity. Case studies and team projects are not meeting the needs of the marketplace. Action learning, offered as one-off projects, and disconnected from professional growth, is simply not enough.
BRENT CHRITE, PhD DEAN, DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS What does the market want from an MBA graduate? The market wants graduates with skills built outside of the classroom. Of course, academic training is vital, but students need an opportunity to practice the concepts they are learning. The classroom is not the place where performance is best learned and sharpened. We are shaking loose from the idea that the classroom is the center of our universe. Students need to experience successes and failures, learn from them, get real feedback, and then practice again. That is what The Denver MBA model provides.
The Outcomes How does challenge-driven education lead to higher performance? Challenge-driven education provides the structure to create high performers. Students interact with business leaders from the moment they step foot on campus. Through our core challenge curriculum, they work on actual business problems for the entire 20-month program. Doing so will be demanding, but the reward is higher performance. Graduates will understand ideation, value creation and that business is a performing art—not just an academic undertaking. Our students will leave with the capacity for continuous growth and agility on the job. Finally, they will develop a powerful narrative to illustrate to employers their past accomplishments and lessons learned.
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THE PROGRAM Four real-world business challenges, academic courses with options for electives and specializations and a Personal Growth Agenda to guide your development into a leader.
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THE PROGRAM
THE FOUR CHALLENGES The Denver MBA’s center of gravity: four real-world value creation challenges. Working in a team with support from faculty and a personal coach is how it all comes together. You practice your academic training, refine your skills and develop a capacity for continuous growth that will stay with you for life.
THE CHALLENGES
INTRODUCING DANIEL BAACK, PhD ASSISTANT DEAN & PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF THE DENVER MBA
Each challenge emphasizes a different dimension of your development. Together they form a cumulative experience linked together through your Personal Growth Agenda (see page 8). The Enterprise Challenge The lessons are far-reaching. The curriculum aligns the academic fundamentals of building a company with the hands-on experience of pitching a start-up business. Through lessons learned in class and a series of business pitches, culminating in a presentation to earn seed money, students learn what they need to know to launch a business. 10 WEEKS
Daniel Baack is an associate professor of marketing and heads up the design and delivery of all aspects of The Denver MBA. He has led overseas action learning projects in Australia, mainland China and Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Taiwan.
The Social Good Challenge Students will engage with community stakeholders to evaluate possible responses to identified social issues and then create and evaluate a plan to address them. The issue will be around a theme such as “social good in Denver”. Concurrently, students will learn how to be a consultant. 10 WEEKS The Corporate Challenge Students are provided with the opportunity to take classroom learning and practice it in a real-world context. Students will work with companies on a challenging business issue, delivering actionable results, while further developing capabilities to succeed in complex environments. Students will see if their work passes the most stringent market test. 10 WEEKS The Global Challenge Integrating what you have learned over the three previous challenges, you will work with an organization on a major problem, providing an opportunity to balance cultural and business issues. The first 10 weeks are spent preparing on campus, followed by an approximate two-week working trip to the global destination. The final 10 weeks, students are back on campus to complete the challenge. 22 WEEKS
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ACTIVATION Before classes start, you will ramp up for the program through Activation. First, you will begin your Personal Growth Agenda (see page 8) in the mountains outside Denver. Then, you will plunge into an ideation session with a Denver business — all while beginning the Enterprise Challenge.
Y E A R O NE
THE DENVER MBA CURRICULUM ACTIVATION
1. ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE
PERSONAL GROWTH AGENDA You go into each challenge with a Personal Growth Agenda focused on professional competencies such as leadership, teamwork and the ability to deal with ambiguity. You use each challenge to hone strengths and overcome weaknesses. When one challenge is complete, you refresh your growth plan to up your game in the next one— producing cumulative, exponential growth over time.
INTERNSHIP You will be expected to obtain and participate in a summer internship during which you will continue to refine your skills on the job.
Y E AR T WO
The challenges are real-world corporate and social valuecreation engagements done in small teams with a lead faculty support and an executive coach. You will have a new team each challenge.
INTEGRATED INTEG R ATED 5-WEEK 5 MODULES -WEEK MODUL ES
THE FOUR CORE CHALLENGES FALL
WEEKS 1-5 • Strategically Transitioning from Uncertainty to Risk • Corporate Financial Reporting • Ethics in Practice
WEEKS 6-10 • Understanding Your Market • Opportunities with Data Skills 1 • Navigating the Global Economy
SUMMER INTERNSHIP
Classes are delivered in five-week integrated modules. The challenges and classes happen simultaneously. What you learn in the morning you try out in the afternoon, then come back to class again with a clearer idea of what you need to get the job done.
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ININTEGRATED T E G RAT E D 5-WEEK 5MODULES -WEEK M O D U LE S
SIMULTANEOUS CLASSES
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FALL
WEEKS 1-5 • International Business Theory in Practice • Elective 3 • Elective 4
WEEKS 6-10 • Global Macroeconomics
THE PROGRAM
360˚PERFORMANCE REVIEW
3. CORPORATE CHALLENGE
2. SOCIAL GOOD CHALLENGE
PERSONAL GROWTH AGENDA & TEAM BUILDING
WINTER
WEEKS 1-5 • Managing Cost Information • Mastering Managerial Financial Competencies 1 • Leading Effective Organizations
SPRING
WEEKS 6-10 • Profit Planning and Measuring Performance • Economics for Decision Making • Mastering Managerial Financial Competencies 2
WEEKS 1-5 • Opportunities with Data Skills 2
WEEKS 6-10 • Creating Sustainable Enterprises
• Elective 1 • Elective 2
LAUNCH
4. GLOBAL CHALLENGE
PERSONAL GROWTH AGENDA & TEAM BUILDING
WINTER
WEEKS 6-10 WEEKS 1-5 • Law & Public • Strategic Policy Marketing Decision Making
SPRING
WEEKS 1-5 • World Issues • Personal Reflection
• Elective 5 • Elective 6
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THE PERSONAL GROWTH AGENDA The Personal Growth Agenda—unique to The Denver MBA—develops individual performance priorities and identifies ways in which the challenges, courses and additional resources will provide opportunities for action. It sets individual performance development priorities and maps out how to use the challenges, courses and other resources to act on those priorities. It both connects to your near-term career objectives and sets you on a pathway to lifelong growth and achievement—all supported with expert coaching. INTRODUCING ALI BOYD
Form-fitting
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF LEADERSHIP &
Your Personal Growth Agenda is based on an assessment of your strengths, weaknesses and career aspirations. The Agenda ensures you use the four challenges to maximum personal benefit and it links every aspect of The Denver MBA into a coordinated developmental program.
PERFORMANCE FOR THE DENVER MBA
You work with executive development experts at the start of each challenge to set your goals for the quarter. At the end of each challenge, peers, faculty and host partners evaluate your progress. Then you update your Agenda for the next challenge. This produces a cycle of everdeepening development. Employer Appeal
Ali Boyd oversees the Personal Growth Agenda program. She is an executive coach and talent development expert who has worked with clients at Amazon, Google and McKinsey & Company. Ali has also worked with the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where she helped create a vision for leadership education and established a coaching development program for MBA students.
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Within the Personal Growth Agenda, your goals will include building a personal narrative matched to your intended career path. In the challenges, you will also prove yourself in ways that make your résumé catch the attention of employers or start-up partners and gives you stories to tell in the interview room. Lifelong Growth The Personal Growth Agenda also serves a deep developmental purpose. It is a 20-month exercise in how to develop and act on self-awareness: understanding strengths and weaknesses, how to evaluate and improve one’s own performance and the performance of others, and what it feels like to grow. Graduates of The Denver MBA will have the tools, competencies and mindset needed for true lifelong learning and continuous growth.
mba.du.edu | +1.303.871.3416 | daniels@du.edu
THE PROGRAM
Activate
Build
Craft your Personal Growth Agenda during Activation with your executive coach. Start with where you want to be at graduation to get where you want to be in life—together we work backwards to see what skills and experiences you will need to build over the next 20 months in the program.
Learn
Work with your executive coach to set your goals for the quarter, and then try them out during your challenges.
Grow
Grow through feedback. At the end of each challenge, you will hear about your progress and opportunity areas from peers, faculty and executives through a 360 o performance review.
Adjust
Repeat
Launch
Work with your executive coach on how to incorporate this feedback into your plan.
Do it all again with the next challenge. We will work with you to do a final check of your Personal Growth Agenda and you will have intensive executive education-style modules to help you fill any final gaps or add any needed polish. Above all, you will get a refresher on the habits and tools for lifelong learning and growth. The world changes constantly, and one of the most critical determinants of your success and advancement will be your agility. You will start and stay ahead of the curve.
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OUR STUDENTS The Denver MBA is rooted in community. It is based in a city that is at the core of a high-growth, high-innovation region. Our students find extraordinary levels of access and personal attention in a beautiful campus setting and an environment with deeply held values of ethics and social responsibility.
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OUR STUDENTS
MEET OUR STUDENTS HOPE WROBLEWSKI “If I need someone to talk to about my career, I go to Professor Tricia Olsen. She’s the kind of hands-on mentor I’ve always wanted—she took a personal interest in my development from day one, helped open doors when I needed it and has made herself available for me at every turn. As a woman striving to be a leader in business, she’s been a great role model for me as well.” Education B.A., Boston University, 2006
Fun fact Before coming to Daniels, I was an Army aviation officer and Blackhawk helicopter pilot for 9 years.
KENTON THORNTON “I really appreciate how collaborative the Daniels culture is. It’s competitive, but not cutthroat. That’s true of the students, but also of the faculty. Professor Franco Marini, just one example, really pushed us to work in teams—he wanted everyone to find their voice, share it and learn from others. He knows there’s value in diversity and he pushed us to embrace our differences and utilize them to find better answers.” Education B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009
Fun fact I played college football for four years as a wide receiver.
RHOADS CANNON “There are no barriers to faculty at Daniels. I wasn’t enrolled in any of Professor JP Tremblay’s classes, but that didn’t stop him from advising me and opening my eyes to a new career possibility: financial management and portfolio planning. That’s the kind of thing that just happens at Daniels. It feels good to know that as I explore that career option, I have constant access to someone with so much expertise.” Education B.A., Middlebury College, 2012 Master’s, London School of Economics, 2013 Master’s, Oxford University, 2014
mba.du.edu | +1.303.871.3416 | daniels@du.edu
Fun fact I lived in England for three years, play the bagpipes and am ethnically Czech and Irish.
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CAREER SERVICES A team of professionals that offers expert guidance to develop a career and job search plan. The team is also part of the Personal Growth Agenda and provides input based on their relationships with employers regarding what knowledge, experiences, capabilities and personal narrative will make your candidacy stand out.
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CAREER SERVICES
CAREER SERVICES INTRODUCING PAT PERRELLA
It’s your career to pioneer.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
Before you arrive on campus, your Daniels Career Services team has already been working on programming that will enhance your career and professional development. From resume preparation to cocktail etiquette, our team of industry professionals and career consultants are dedicated to helping you navigate your individual job search process as well as provide logistical support during your campus interviewing experience. The team strives to keep a pulse on a variety of industries and maintains contacts with employers and alumni that are key partners for the Daniels College of Business.
CAREER SERVICES
“The challenge-driven education model, and the magnitude of the real-world experience, will provide students with practiced and proven skills. AT&T’s fortunes are won or lost based on how well we stay on top of our customers’ needs and expectations and how well we stay ahead of the market. We need people with the capability and the agility to do that.”
The Career Services office is headed by Pat Perrella, whose corporate background includes a long career with Citi in New York City, London and Dublin. Prior to joining Daniels in 2015, Pat led graduate career services at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
– MICHAEL KIRK, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL INTERNET OF THINGS DEVELOPMENT, AT&T
He currently chairs the Corporate Advisory Board of Prospanica, the Association of Hispanic Professionals.
SELECT COMPANIES THAT HIRED DANIELS MBAS IN 2015 & 2016 Alpine Bank
Charles Schwab
GCM Grosvenor
Ogilvy & Mather
Apple
Cigna
Henkel
PG&E
Autonation
Denver Broncos
Medtronic
Samsung
Bank of America
Deloitte
Merrill Lynch
US Foods
Blue Moon Digital
DISH
Molson Coors
WhiteWave
Centura Health
Exclusive Resorts
Northwestern Mutual
Zayo Group
Denver is known as a hub for entrepreneurship. In addition to pursuing a traditional corporate or non-profit career, many of our MBA students go on to start their own business or join a start-up. mba.du.edu | +1.303.871.3416 | daniels@du.edu
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ADMISSIONS
Tuition The Denver MBA is a financial investment in your future. Like any sound investment, your MBA will yield positive outcomes for years to come. Your $87,000* investment includes tuition, most fees and the global challenge trip. *Subject to change.
APPLICATION CHECKLIST Completed online application
Requirements
$100 non-refundable application fee*
Graduate students must have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
Official transcript in officially sealed envelope from each higher education institution attended
Work Experience
GMAT or GRE test score
A minimum of two years professional, postbaccalaureate work experience is required. Three or more years is recommended as our students’ average work experience is nearly five years.
Two letters of recommendation Professional résumé Admissions interview (by invitation only)
Tests The GMAT or GRE is required for The Denver MBA. We look for a good balance of verbal and quantitative scores on your GMAT or GRE. While we do not have a minimum test score requirement, we do suggest that if you score below 550 on the GMAT or 310 (combined score) on the GRE, you may want to consider retaking the test to increase your candidacy for this program. Join us at an on-campus event, design a custom visit, attend a webinar or come see us when we are in a city near you. Contact or Visit Us Graduate Admissions Office daniels@du.edu +1.303.871.3416 or daniels.du.edu/visit
Essays: Two required, one optional Internationally-educated, non-native English speakers: TOEFL or IELTS scores *As a way of honoring our valued alumni and those who serve our country (past and present) we offer application fee waivers to the following individuals: • University of Denver alumni • Current and former members of the U.S. military • Current and former members of Peace Corps • Current and former members of AmeriCorps • Current and former members of Teach for America If you think you qualify for an application fee waiver based on these criteria, please email your request to daniels@du.edu.
Application Deadlines November 15: Priority January 15: Round 2 April 15*: Round 3 May 15: Round 4 *Final deadline for international applicants. Applications received after May 15 will be considered on a space-available basis.
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ADMISSIONS
MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS
OTHER FINANCIAL AID
Dean’s Scholarship $38,000 – $60,000+ The Dean’s Scholarship is awarded to exceptional applicants with impressive academic backgrounds and outstanding test scores.
U.S. Military & Veteran Students:
Director’s Scholarship $16,000 – $36,000 The Director’s Scholarship is awarded to those who have strong credentials and who have exhibited an exemplary commitment to academics.
Yellow Ribbon Program The University of Denver participates in in the Yellow Ribbon Program to help U.S. military and veteran students cover costs.
Daniels Leaders Scholarship $5,000 The Daniels Leaders Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate strong leadership skills and experience.
Need-based Financial Aid
Daniels Pioneer Scholarship $8,000 – $16,000 The Daniels Pioneer Scholarship is granted to individuals who have a strong academic track record and/or noteworthy professional work experience. Prospanica, the Association of Hispanic Professionals $10,000 Applicants of Hispanic heritage, or applicants that have demonstrated commitment to the Hispanic community are eligible for this scholarship. Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship $10,000 This scholarship is awarded to candidates who will enhance the diversity of our student body, including students from underrepresented populations.
GI Bills Both Montgomery and Post 9/11 GI Bills can be utilized at Daniels.
Domestic Students To qualify for federal funding (Work-study positions, grants, loans, etc.) and need-based scholarships, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For more information, visit du.edu/financialaid/graduate. Private Education Loans Available to credit-worthy students; no FAFSA is required. Eligibility for private loans varies among lenders, but a credit check and/or debt-to-income ratio is usually required. Third Party Scholarships Third party, private scholarships can provide students with additional funding options to cover additional costs. Scholarship amounts and application processes vary.
Graduate Assistantship (GA) Positions GA positions are awarded based on extraordinary academic performance and relevant work experience. They require a work commitment of 10 hours each week, and include a tuition waiver and stipend. *Students are eligible to receive more than one scholarship. mba.du.edu | +1.303.871.3416 | daniels@du.edu
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LIFE IN DENVER No.
For business and careers — Forbes
No.
5
Best places for millennialaged entrepreneurs
No.
Best place for a start-up
— NerdWallet
300 Days of sunshine
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— Forbes
154 Craft breweries
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No.
Best place to live in the U.S. — U.S. News
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Nearby ski resorts
No.
3
Fastest growing states in the U.S. — U.S. Census Bureau
No.
6
Best cities for foodies