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Dalhousie's Corporate Residency MBA Defies Recession

February 25, 2009: Halifax, Nova Scotia

As graduating students cope with an impending era of fiscal constraint, Dalhousie’s School of Business Director reminds us that hard times call for wise investments. “Senior HR executives have to manage not just for the present but for the future of their organization,” says Peggy Cunningham, the new director of the School. “Having the right people being groomed now to face the leadership challenges of tomorrow is a wise strategy. Our Corporate Residency MBA delivers highly employable self-starters to organizations who can then partner with the student to tailor the academic, professional development and work experience components of our program to meet their leadership needs.”

Students of the Corporate Residency MBA will start classes in July and head off to earn management-level salaries for eight months starting in January. They will compete with their classmates for a position with one of 24 employers that have partnered with the program to date. The school is engaged in partnership negotiations with at least another 20 private and public sector employers looking to take advantage of the recruitment efficiencies offered by the program. Pat Creaghan, Vice President Business Management with Shell, says that partnering with Dalhousie in the delivery of the Corporate Residency MBA is a great investment on many levels. “When we were first approached to participate in this unique program, the benefits to us were obvious. Recruiting, especially at the management level, is a lengthy and expensive process; this program eliminates major elements of that process. It also eliminates a certain amount of risk in that the eight-month residency gives the student and the employer an exhaustive test-drive so both parties can make a decision around an offer of full-time employment with confidence.”

The July start date for the program means that the admissions process shifts into high gear much sooner than other MBA schools across Canada. The design of the program also means that the program is accessible to recent graduates with little or no work experience. “We're only offering 50 seats in the first year of this program and interest has been high from every province. Our deadline for scholarship consideration is March 15. While we have already issued a good number of offers, many of our applicants will not be writing their GMAT exams until they finish the school year. Anyone interested in this program should open an application now so that they can enter our rolling application process before we complete our quota of acceptance offers,” said Scott Comber, Executive Director of the Corporate Residency MBA.
   
Media inquiries, contact: Colin Craig, Faculty of Management, tel. 902.494.3610, colin.craig@dal.ca