Master of Business Administration MBA

Business Programs (Undergraduate and Graduate)

College of Business
Interim Department Chair Zhen Ma, PhD

Faculty

Soumendra N. Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Business, BSc University of Calcutta; MA Jawaharlal Nehru University; MA, PhD Clark University

Mary B. Carden, Professor Emerita of Business, BS College Misericordia; MA New York University; MBA University of Scranton

Fred J. Croop, Professor of Business, BS, MBA Wilkes University; EdD Northcentral University

Joan Foster, Assistant Professor of Business, BS College Misericordia; MBA Wilkes University; MET Lehigh University

David Gargone, Associate Professor of Business, BS University of Scranton; MAT Rockford College; EdD United States Sports Academy

Zhen Ma, Assistant Professor of Business, BA City University of New York Queens College; PhD City University of New York Graduate Center

Charles J. Makar, Instructor of Business, BA, BS, MBA Wilkes University

John Mellon, Associate Professor of Business, BS The Pennsylvania State University; MBA University of New Haven; EdD George Washington University

Allen C. Minor, Associate Professor of Business, BS University of Baltimore; MS University of South Carolina; DBA Nova Southeastern University

Ronald V. Petrilla, Assistant Professor of Business, BA Bloomsburg State College; MS University of Scranton; PhD University of Pennsylvania

Corina Slaff, Associate Professor of Business, BS, MBA Wilkes University; PhD Capella University

Thomas J. Sweetz, Instructor of Business, BA Moravian College; MS College Misericordia

Joshua D. Winneker, Assistant Professor of Business, BA Muhlenberg College; JD Seton Hall University School of Law

David F. Zinn, Instructor of Business, BS West Virginia University; MS University of Tennessee; MA Cumberland College

Goals and Objectives

The business department aims to prepare students for success in both their careers and life. This is accomplished through a holistic and integrated approach to learning which enable students to adapt to new and changing business paradigms. The deparment aims to develop students analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to help them to integrate real-world based learning experiences with business concepts and practices. Importantly, the department emphasizes the development of a framework for ethical decision-making, and strives to give students the ability to recognize and understand awareness of social and ethical issues relevant to business. Consequently, students should develop the ability to recognize and understand the values of mercy, justice, and hospitality.

Upon completion of any business program (accounting, business administration, health care management, management, marketing, sport management, MBA, master of science in organizational management), graduates will:

• Demonstrate the ability to use a holistic and integrated approach to learning
• Demonstrate the ability to transfer knowledge across courses
• Demonstrate the ability to approach decision making with analytical problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Demonstrate the ability to integrate real world based learning experiences with business concepts and practices
• Demonstrate the ability to use a variety of communication media
• Demonstrate the ability to use relevant technology
• Demonstrate awareness of social and ethical issues relevant to business
• Demonstrate awareness of the need to pursue life long learning

Master of Business Administration

Interim Department Chair Zhen Ma, PhD

Program Advisor Corina Slaff, PhD

The MBA program will provide a quality business education that is rooted in the values and attitudes of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. The curriculum requirements include courses in social science and ethics. Students receive professional instruction in key business functional areas such as finance and human resources, but do so with special attention to the “human side” of management, ethics, and leadership that will support the expression of the values and attitudes of the Sisters of Mercy is designed into the MBA learning experience.

Program

The MBA will address the ethical, moral, and philosophical issues related to management and business leadership in a direct and meaningful approach. The program is uniquely designed to intertwine a traditional MBA technical curriculum with “people skills” and will cover “the human side of management.” The MBA program goals and objectives reflect the accomplishment of fostering critical thinking and promoting the ability to create and interpret business data through practice-based research. Students who complete the program will be able to carry on a high level of intellectual discourse with regard to business and leadership, and achieve an enhanced professional expertise in their field.

MBA On-Line

Misericordia University offers, in addition to the face-to-face evening program, a fully online MBA program for the following specializations: Accounting, Management, Health Care Management, and Human Resources Management. Some special conditions will apply to the on-line such as visitation requirements and on-line mandatory participation in discussions with business and academic leaders on contemporary issues and topics in business. Interested students should contact the Business Department chair or program advisor for more information.

Admission Criteria

Admission requirements for entry of part-time students into the MBA program:

• An undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher

Requirements for acceptance of full-time students into the five-year BS/MBA program:

• At the end of the junior year, students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and a GPA in business functional areas prerequisite courses of 3.0 or higher.

Conditional Admission:

Applicants who have a GPA of less than 3.0 may be conditionally accepted into the program and restricted to taking a maximum of six (6) MBA credits. Students accepted conditionally will be required to receive a grade of B or better in each one of the two courses and an overall GPA of minimum 3.0. At the completion of these first six credits their file will be reviewed and if all these conditions will not be met, they will not be able to continue in the program and will be dismissed. The decision for the conditional accept rests with the graduate admissions committee.

English Language Proficiency

For applicants for whom English is not the first language spoken, or if English is not the primary language spoken in the applicant’s home, the applican must submit the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The following are the minimum score requirements:

Internet-based TOEFL exam (iBT): The Internet-based TOEFL has four subsections, with a grading scale for each section from 1 to 30 (30 being the highest score). Misericordia University will look closely at the score for each section rather than the total score. The minimum scores for each section are as follows:

Students should indicate on the registration form that they wish the test results to be sent directly to Misericordia University. The TOEFL code for Misericordia University is 2087.

Completion and Degree Requirements

Please see the Graduate Program Standing  and Graduation Requirements for Graduate Students  sections of the catalog (in the “Policies and Procedures” section under Graduate Academics at Misericordia University).

Maximum Period of Candidacy in Pursuit of MBA

The MBA candidate must complete all graduate course work and requirements in a window of five (5) years. Any courses taken more than five years before meeting all the graduate course work and other degree requirements will not count and must be repeated. If a candidate does not complete the requirements for the MBA within a five-year window, he or she will be governed from that point on by the requirements of the MBA program in place at that five-year anniversary date.

Prerequisites to MBA enrollment: