Executives wanted for MBA program

The recession that devastated the ranks of middle management at many companies also hit those educational programs that catered to those corporate up-and-comers on the Gulf Coast.

For example, the executive MBA program at Florida Gulf Coast University hasn't had a new class form since 2007. Generally, an executive MBA takes a more accelerated curriculum than a traditional MBA program and is geared to senior managers who are working.

But Stephen Drew, the director of the Center for Leadership and Innovation at FGCU's Lutgert College of Business, is busy reorganizing the program. Drew is focusing on two growth areas in particular: health care and international business.

Drew, who is a professor of business strategy, has been canvassing health-care companies to see how an executive MBA program might be tailored to that group. “We've had some discussions on how this program should be designed,” he says.

He's also been talking to colleagues at the University of Wurzburg in Germany about collaborating on an executive MBA program that would enroll students from both sides of the Atlantic. “It's in the works and we're quite far along in our discussions,” Drew says.

Stay tuned.