UA EMBA Countdown to End of Year

• December 27th, 2013
• in EMBA Alumni Network, EMBA Program Information

December is the month of holidays, family and memories.  A time to remember and celebrate.  As the month draws to a close so comes the lists, and believe me, there are lots of lists.  Top 100 songs of the year, best movies of 2013, and top 10 iPhone apps – it’s Candy Crush Saga followed by YouTube. Then there are the strange lists like the ESPN Dallas Cowboys’ Craziest Losses – no matter how heartbroken you may be if your team lost this year the Cowboys take the “smack in the head, I can’t believe that just happened” award. Then there’s the 2013 Google’s top 10 searches that ranges from Nelson Mandela to the Royal baby…the lists goes on and on.

Not to be left out, we decided to present our own countdown for 2013. So here goes – the EMBA at The University of Alabama top five highlights for 2013:

#5 – Social Media reigned in the EMBA office.  We started our UAEMBA blog, University of Alabama EMBA LinkedIn group and company page, and UAEMBA Facebook page.

#4 – Istanbul, Turkey was our destination for the EMBA Class of 2013’s global strategy course.  Students encountered a rich cultural adventure and successful company visits. They were also treated to a warm welcome by chairman and CEO of Istanbul-based Bayraktar Group and UA graduate, Mustafa Bayraktar, at his company’s headquarters overlooking the Bosphorous. This year, we also offered spouse/guest optional packages and a post trip to Izmir. We also announced that alumni may join us on future trips.  The alumni package will include the same accommodations, meals, company visits and city tours as is provided to students. In 2014, we will have alumni on our Chile-Peru trip and encourage other alumni to join us in 2015.

#3 – Our 2013 EMBA Alumni survey yielded many success stories that we will be sharing with you in future blogs.  One of many highlights is that after graduation, 46 percent of our alumni received promotions within their company, 30 percent changed companies for promotions and 11 percent started their own business.

#2 – The EMBA Alumni Association was established.  The EMBA program has graduated 766 students.  In November, we celebrated the creation of the EMBA Alumni Association with a return to campus event that included faculty presentations, networking, updates on continuing education and certification programs that are now available to EMBA alumni, and a Welcome Back to T-Town party at Dreamland BBQ.

#1 – UA EMBA welcomed our sixth class in Huntsville and our 30th class in Tuscaloosa.  In 1985, we enrolled our first EMBA class in Tuscaloosa, and we will be graduating our 30th class in May 2015.
It has been an exciting and thrilling year.  From all of us in the EMBA Program, we wish you Happy Holidays and a bright New Year.
Donna, Brian, Cheryl, Linda, Matt, Courtney and Gary

UA EMBA Welcomes Tuscaloosa-EMBA Class of 2015

• December 13th, 2013
• in UA EMBA Latest News/Events

The Culverhouse College of Commerce at The University of Alabama welcomed the incoming Tuscaloosa EMBA Class of 2015 on December 3, for orientation-immersion week. Twenty-three students began their 17 month, four semester program in Tuscaloosa. The average age is 39 with an average of 15 years of work experience.  This year’s class is comprised of 33 percent women (according to the EMBA Council, a non-profit association of over 200 universities and colleges from around the world that run EMBA programs, the average is 25 percent).

The orientation week covers team building and career development. Students also began their first semester classes with accounting for financial control, statistics for business application, marketing and managerial economics.

Companies represented in the EMBA 2015 class include First Partners Bank, Tuscaloosa VA Regional Medical Center, The University of Alabama Office of Information Technology, UA Facilities, Private Law Practice & Miles Law School, CRI Carr Riggs & Ingram, Ricoh USA, Sterne Agee, KBR Inc., Aerotek, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Nucor Steel Birmingham, JMJ Associates, U.S. Army, Regions Financial Corporation, Rumsey Environment, Pittman Financial Partners, ZF Chassis Systems, Southern Nuclear and Young Medical Associates.

This class also represents our 30th intake.  The EMBA program at The University of Alabama began in 1985. In addition to the Tuscaloosa EMBA that begins in December, Culverhouse also has an EMBA program in Huntsville, Alabama, that begins in August each year. For more information on the TEMBA and HEMBA programs at The University go to emba.ua.edu.

EMBA Families – Students’ Biggest Supporters

• December 5th, 2013
• in Helpful Tips and Advice

In the midst of the holiday season, we want to recognize the strongest support network for students in The University of Alabama’s EMBA program — their families.

The decision to return to graduate school and pursue an M.B.A affects not only the student, but their family members as well. It is important for students to work together with their spouse and children to maintain a healthy balance between school, work and family time.

According to Susan Maples, having a spouse attend grad school is an adventure for the whole family. Susan’s husband, Sam Maples, graduated from the UA Tuscaloosa EMBA program in May of 2013.

“Be ready to give up many of the things you do together as a family for about 18 months, and be ready to say no to other things and invites that are not as important. That way, the little time you have together will be quality time doing things you enjoy,” Susan said.

Susan previously worked for 10 years in manufacturing engineering and management for Toyota, but is now a stay-at-home mom. She and Sam have four children — three girls, ages 14, 12 and 10, and their youngest a boy, age 7.

“Seeing their father studying at home had a good influence on the kids. They were able to see it takes time and effort to achieve goals, and they also learned it takes the whole family working together to help each other,” she said. “It wasn’t always fun for them, though. They had to learn that we make choices in life and sometimes the choice made was not always what they desired at the moment.”

Finding a balance between work, school and family time that worked for everyone can be difficult. Susan recommends using study breaks and mealtimes to spend time together and catch up. She also suggests trying to take interest in what your spouse is learning.

“If you are able to help them study, that is still time spent together,” she said. “Get to know the members of your spouse’s team as well. We enjoyed having Sam’s team study at our house and spending time time with them.”

Andrea Elrod agrees that finding a balance between home, work and school is difficult for EMBA students, as well as their families. Andrea is married to Russ Elrod, UA Huntsville EMBA class of 2013.
“It was difficult for everyone, but we all saw that it was the most difficult for Russ to juggle the pressures of work, home and school,” Andrea said. “I was personally amazed at the way he carved out time for the children in the evenings and stayed up late almost every night to read and study.”

Andrea is a CPA and Director of Accounting for Davis Lee Companies in Guntersville, Ala. She and Russ have two daughters, ages 7 and 9.
“Russ used his books and study time as teachable moments with the girls anytime possible. He enjoyed his professors and classes so much that the children even enjoyed hearing about them,” she said.

According to Andrea, spouses of EMBA students should expect conversations to revolve around interesting topics in the classroom.
“I found that even though Russ and I had some stressful times during the program, we also grew closer in some ways because he got me involved,” she said. “He even convinced me to read and enjoy some of his books and articles!”

While the EMBA program requires help and support from the family, it also provides them with new and exciting opportunities. Both Susan and Andrea accompanied their husbands on the 2013 UA EMBA international trip to Istanbul, Turkey.

“Istanbul was not on my list of places to visit prior to Sam starting his EMBA, but it turned out to be an incredible experience,” Susan said. “The optional excursion to Ephesus was definitely a highlight. It was a time where Sam and I could enjoy traveling together since the ‘class’ part of the trip was over, and gave us a chance to enjoy a few stress-free days.”

“The trip to Turkey was a fun and wonderful experience. It was the one point in the entire program where I was truly able to bond with the other students and their spouses,” Andrea said. “My tip for future spouses on the international trip is to research and plan outings with other spouses before your trip. The students have plans all day and night, but the spouses have plenty of time to goof off, so make the most of it!”

Another point in the program that is enjoyable and rewarding for all members of the family is graduation.

“We enjoyed the reception hosted by the EMBA department and the graduation ceremony,” Susan said. “We felt it was important for our children to see their dad receive his degree so they could realize it was one of the rewards of completing the program. We also had a graduation party for him at home.”

“The EMBA office does a great job with their reception before the ceremony, and we enjoyed and appreciated that,” Andrea said. “The most memorable part of the ceremony was when our normally non-emotional 9-year-old looked up during the graduation and admitted that she was so proud of Daddy, she wanted to cry.”
We welcome spouses to attend an upcoming event or an open classroom along with their spouse who is considering the program. For more information on the EMBA program or to attend an upcoming event, contact the EMBA office at 205-348-4501, or caltemara@cba.ua.edu.