Video Transcript
[Title: Boise State University: Get Your Executive MBA at Boise State]
[Anne Hamby Assistant Professor of Marketing & EMBA Communication Coach]: Rather than just a series of courses on economics and management, the originators of the program went to different industry leaders and said, “Hey, what is it that you need your workforce to be able to do?”
[Timothy Dunne Associate Professor Of Management & EMBA Faculty Lead]: Everyone teaching in the program understands everything we do—from the topics we teach to the assignments—needs to be immediately relevant. It’s integrated so that people are solving business problems like they would in the real world.
[Brodie Griffin VP of Operations at Amalgamated Sugar Company]: It allowed me to take what we were learning and put it into my job. I enjoyed that and I enjoyed the ability to be able to implement as I saw fit as I went along.
[Lili Mathis Portfolio & Project Manager at St. Lukes]: The instructors are top-notch. They don’t just pick from BSU. They literally pick from the best that they can get.
[Brodie Griffin VP of Operations at Amalgamated Sugar Company]: And they were real people. They spoke to us on our level. They knew who their audience was.
[Lili Mathis Portfolio & Project Manager at St. Lukes]: We had people that are in industry. We had folks that are top of their field.
[Brodie Griffin VP of Operations at Amalgamated Sugar Company]: So, it wasn’t just a lecture. It was more of a team concept. We’re all in this together and here’s some ideas that we can help.
[Lili Mathis Portfolio & Project Manager at St. Lukes]: It is manageable. It is designed for people who are working full-time. The vast majority of people in our program are parents, and the workload is meant to balance that.
[Brodie Griffin VP of Operations at Amalgamated Sugar Company]: As a busy professional, having to think about all the logistics—where am I going to eat? When am I going to get my books? What am I doing this time? —the EMBA team takes care of it.
[Argia Beristain CEO at the Boise State University Foundation]: The EMBA team does everything to make sure you know where you’re supposed to be. I wish I had them in my everyday life. As someone who is a working mom and who was also going to school, I was always coming in hot and the EMBA team always had my things ready to go. It is quite a community that works to support each other in the program.
[Brian O’ Morrow Sr. Director MBA, for Working Professionals]: One of the fascinating things I hear people say towards the end of the first year is that they actually feel like they’re less busy once they’ve started EMBA than they were before. Our EMBA participants are actually focusing on the things that are of the greatest importance and they’re turning their teams free to work on the more minor problems that they normally would be involved with.
[Music]
[Oliver Kijas Senior Projects Manager at Idaho Power]: I like to think I’m a better listener now. Before, I would say talking /listening was 80/20. I learned that if you take a step back and let some other people lead—or give them the opportunity to lead—they will step up and they will get there.
[Argia Beristain CEO at the Boise State University Foundation]: During the EMBA program I was supervising a team of 14 and by the end of the EMBA program I had a team of 38.
[Jay Lugo Executive Director at Envision Sight Inc.]: This reinvigorated me personally, emotionally, physically, mentally to go out and do something brand new with the organization.
[Brodie Griffin VP of Operations at Amalgamated Sugar Company] I went from having about 50 employees to a thousand when I made this change.
[Jay Lugo Executive Director at Envision Sight Inc.]: We all agreed that it was the confidence we acquired after graduation that was worth its weight in gold. It was confidence in knowing that you’re doing the right thing.
[Timothy Dunne Associate Professor of Management & EMBA Faculty Lead]: We all know that networks are really big in business, and I think our EMBAs often come into the program hoping to build their network—and they definitely do that within the program.
[Jay Lugo Executive Director at Envision Sight Inc.]: That cohort provides this large network. Now if I have a finance issue, I know a VP of Finance for a large corporation here that I can call and he’ll help me out.
[Lili Mathis Portfolio & Project Manager at St. Lukes]: It’s this incredible space where you help them grow and they help you grow. Even after EMBA, they become your network. They become your peers. They become your support. [Music]
[Argia Beristain CEO at the Boise State University Foundation]: I was considering it for years and I always thought I didn’t have time for it. I couldn’t make time for it. And I am so thankful that I did. It’s probably one of the best decisions of my life because I’ve seen my career and my trajectory completely change.
[Oliver Kijas Senior Projects Manager at Idaho Power]: Just do it—because like having kids, there is never the right time. The sooner you start, the more time you have to apply what you learn.
[Jay Lugo Executive Director at Envision Sight Inc.]: And it’ll change many things for the people around you in a very positive way.
[Music]