Oregonian Julie Haddock had more than ten years of banking experience when she enrolled in Boise State University’s Online Master of Business Administration (MBA), but the program still added valuable knowledge that has already enhanced her career.
“I am very thankful to everyone — my peers, my professors and my advisors,” she said. “The Online MBA has been a great experience. I am a better person, a better banker and a better business person because of it.”
Haddock, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Idaho State University, is a vice president and deposit services manager at Citizens Bank in Corvallis, Oregon. She graduated from the Online MBA in December 2022.
“After completing the Managing Successful Projects course, I was able to better understand the importance of a designated project office and a project manager,” she said. “In the past, when we started new projects, which we do quite a few of, the person who wanted the new product or the new service became the project manager. None of us had any project management experience.”
“I wrote a proposal and outlined a job description for a project manager, along with a plan for how projects would be handled moving forward. That proposal was approved by our executive team. I now oversee a full-time project manager who manages all bank-wide projects, in partnership with the product manager and the project sponsor.”
The idea of having a dedicated project manager was so successful that the team member is now completing coursework at the Project Management Institute.
“That’s an internal promotion of one of my direct reports,” she said. “I am happy to help her and help the bank do better at project management.”
Capital Gains
Haddock gained valuable insights from other courses in the Online MBA to incorporate into her role at Citizens Bank, where she has worked for more than seven years after starting in the account service center.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned and enjoyed the Operations and Supply Chain Management course,” she said. “I learned about bottlenecks and inefficiency. A little over two years ago, during the pandemic, we implemented e-sign, which allowed customers to sign documents electronically, either in the branch or through e-mail communications.
“It had not been adopted by our branches, with only 15% of our new accounts having been signed by e-sign. After completing the Operations and Supply Chain Management course, I did a survey of the new accounts employees to get their feedback on why they were not using the product.”
Plus, Haddock’s team conducted a time study of the new account-opening process to get an itemized list of functions and times required to complete.
“We identified bottlenecks, which matched up with the survey results, and have been able to eliminate two processes that slowed down and made the e-sign process clunky and not user-friendly,” she said. “We have three more steps that we are proposing to change or be eliminated to speed up the process and make e-sign more functional. We hope to have those approved within the next six months.”
Haddock is happy to see her investment in Boise State’s Online MBA continue to pay off in her career in the form of strategic leadership and collaborative decision-making with her colleagues.
“I very much enjoyed the Online MBA, and I know that I have learned a lot,” she said. “This program has been very valuable for me, and, in turn, for my organization.
“I am surrounded at work by a supportive group that is always asking how it’s going and what I’ve learned. When I share, they listen. We’ve been able to implement several ideas that I would not have had had I not participated in the program.”
Learn more about the Online MBA at Boise State
Julie Haddock is an excellent example of how transformational Boise State Online can be for your career. With a relevant, applicable curriculum, students apply their learning at work the next day – just like Julie. Are you ready to learn more about the Online Master of Business Administration?