by Jennifer Cuevas
Staff Writer
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program from the University of La Verne’s School of Business and Global Studies, marked its first cluster of students to the new Singapore extension this past March.
According to Dr. David Kung, professor of business administration, the MBA Singapore extension was an idea originally communicated by Dr. William Relf, dean of School of Business and Global Studies.
Dr. Kung described the program as a vision that Dean Relf introduced to the Department. Or as Dr. Kung described, the vision to “accomplish the world as our campus.”
The new Asian extension is structured somewhat differently from that of the graduate program in the United States, explained both Dr. Kung and Renée Miller, associate professor of business and accounting.
The program can be compared to the U.S. program from class size, to specific courses offered, to the number of weeks per course. The courses are conducted entirely in English.
The difference lies in the style that the classes are delivered.
As explained by the first professor of the Singapore program, Dr. Ahmed Ispahani, professor of business administration and economics, “It’s a 10 week session. The professor is there for one week of intense lecture and the fourth week.” The remainder of the weeks are conducted entirely over the Internet.
Dr. Kung said, “A cluster ranges anywhere from 10 to 20 [students], which is typically our class sizes here.” He said the Singapore program is “very technology driven.”
ULV will continue to provide the professors, curriculum and admissions for Singapore.
Dr. Kung said one goal of the department is to use professors from various ULV extensions and/or countries.
As the first professor invited to teach in Singapore, Dr. Ispahani had exclusive insight, particularly on the students’ experiences. “The students like the American style of teaching,” which includes a great deal of student-professor interaction.
Currently, the number of students enrolled is 12, which is expected to increase rapidly within the next year.
