New Realities in Education

The Carlson School added a medical industry specialization to its MBA offerings this fall. It already graduates more than 100 MBA students who work in the medical field each year. The new specialization, supported by the school’s Medical Industry Leadership Institute, prepares students for leadership-track careers in functional areas of the medical industry, including finance, marketing, consulting, operations, and information technology. New electives added for this specialization include a course that explores interrelationships, market opportunities, and barriers within the $2 trillion medical industry, and one for non-clinician managers that provides a basic overview of vocabulary and physiology relating to major body systems.

Zitnick is optimistic about the appeal of medical-oriented executive education. “There are 28,000 employees at Mayo and there’s something like 30,000 involved in health care in the Twin Cities, but the number may be as high as 38,000. So it’s no surprise that there’s already been a lot of interest,” he says.

The University of St. Thomas has also seen a spike in student interest. The school had no more put up a Web announcement about its new master of science degree in real estate when it received more than 300 inquiries for a program that accommodates just 30 students.

“Commercial, industrial, corporate, and investment real estate transactions have become much more complex,” says Dr. Thomas Musil, director of the program. “Over two years, we examined what the market needed, what the employers needed, what the [real estate] investors needed and, ultimately, determined what students would need to succeed in the marketplace.”

The program offers a comprehensive understanding of quantitative and financial decision-making processes related to real estate, including valuation and land economics, legal issues, marketing, and investment analysis. The faculty includes corporate leaders such as Robert Strachota, president of the Shenehon Company, a Minneapolis-based business and real estate valuation firm.

As You Like It

Weekends, evenings, on line, or even at a north-woods resort, you can find executive education just about any way you like it in Minnesota.

For mid- to upper-level executives who want to expand their knowledge quickly, the Carlson School provides three- to five-day programs on everything from finance for non-financial managers to talent-management strategies. In 2008, new programs will be added in corporate renewal (a focus on reviving mature businesses) and advanced executive communication.