When the economy dips, MBA program applications increase, Johnson & Wales University Graduate School Dean Frank A. Pontarelli says. He spoke recently with Providence Business News about this phenomenon and new programs planned at JWU.
PBN: Can you give me a little background on the graduate program?
PONTARELLI: We have the largest MBA program in Rhode Island. We’re the second largest in New England [behind] Harvard University. We have two major tracks. We have an MBA in global business leadership, where students can concentrate in finance, accounting, marketing, organizational leadership and international business. Or students can get an MBA in hospitality and concentrate in either marketing or event planning and operations.
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PBN: How many students are enrolled?
PONTARELLI: We have 877 students as of last count, an increase of about 120 from the prior year.
PBN: Why the increase?
PONTARELLI: MBA programs increase enrollment in bad economies. First off, people are out of work or looking to change careers. Or, people who are already in business are looking to secure and perhaps advance in their current positions.
Many people come in from nontraditional areas, where they may have had a bachelor’s degree in French literature or Italian Renaissance studies.
And, also, if they don’t need foundation courses they can finish our program in a year and a summer, because we’re on a trimester system.
PBN: Will that grow next trimester?
PONTARELLI: We begin a class in December and even that’s up. It’s at about 150 people, when normally that’s about 100 students.
PBN: Do you expect that to keep growing?
PONTARELLI: I think so. We have had more people at our information nights, more telephone calls, more mailing of catalogs.
PBN: Where is that interest coming from? Is it mostly Rhode Islanders?
PONTARELLI: Rhode Island and international – 60 percent of our students are international.
PBN: Is that just in the MBA program?
PONTARELLI: That’s just the MBA. The Johnson & Wales program started off initially as an international MBA program, where a lot of recruiting was done overseas because of the competition in MBA programs. …
We’re seeing a big influx from China, India and various other countries.
PBN: You have a background directing policy at the state level. Tell me a little bit about the transition from that role to academia.
PONTARELLI: Well, I was trained in academia and it’s pretty much the same process whether you’re writing policy for an education formula or writing policy to deal with graduate students. It’s the same process: input from stakeholders, development of objectives, setting of benchmarks and goals and evaluating the implementation.
PBN: What new initiatives is the graduate program planning to roll out?
PONTARELLI: We’re looking at a concentration in communications. The reason being that many businesses are telling us that many students are well prepared for the technical aspects of the MBA, but if you look at any survey the No. 1 area [that’s lacking] is communication.
PBN: Tell me a little bit about the Business Advisory Council and its consulting role.
PONTARELLI: The Business Advisory Council is chaired by Bennett Singer, who is a vice president at Citizens Bank, and includes representatives from business and hospitality.
They look at curriculum. Right now, they’re undertaking a project looking at an online-learning MBA. We’re also in the planning stage for an MBA in hospitality online, because what we find is that with hospitality folks it’s very hard for them to come to classes because they’re running their hotels or their resorts. So we’re looking at a program that would have limited on-campus work and the majority of the program would be online. We’re looking to start that in either 2010 or 2011.
PBN: Will that be a unique program?
PONTARELLI: We will be the only one [in the country]. The advisory committee is looking at what courses could be online, how could they be online. … Another advisory committee task is review of curriculum, because research is showing that many schools are moving back to a standard MBA of 12 courses. While we give choices – marketing, finance, accounting – the trend is toward a more general MBA and then degrees in the specialties. For example, a master’s of science in accounting along with an MBA. Or a master’s of science in finance.
The other program that we’ve experimented with is a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study – and that’s for people who already have a master’s. They come back for five courses in a field other than what their master’s is in. For example, if a student has an MBA with a major in marketing and they get out there and they find there are no marketing jobs, they can come back and take five courses in finance.
PBN: Do you find that most of your graduates stay in Rhode Island?
PONTARELLI: Most of our graduates are international, so they go back home. The in-state students tend to stay in-state, because when we get them they tend to have pretty good jobs. We get a big contingent from National Grid. We actually ran a program a few years ago right in the Taco Inc. offices. We’re looking to do more of that – more on-site MBAs. •
INTERVIEW
Frank A. Pontarelli
POSITION:Dean of Johnson & Wales University Graduate School since 2003
BACKGROUND:After three years as a teacher at North Providence High School, Pontarelli went to the R.I. Department of Education, eventually becoming director of administration and finance, a position he held until 1995. He then became policy director for the speaker of the R.I. House. In 2000, he became director of JWU’s Center for Education.
EDUCATION:B.A. in business administration/education, Bryant University, 1968; MBA, Bryant University, 1972; Ph.D. in higher technical and adult education, concentration in business, University of Connecticut, 1981.
FIRST JOB:As a teenager, Pontarelli was a playground supervisor in his native North Providence.
RESIDENCE:Lincoln
AGE:61
