University of Alabama Welcomes HEMBA 2017 Class

• August 21st, 2015
• in EMBA Program Information, EMBA Uncategorized, UA EMBA Latest News/Events

Fall on the University of Alabama campus is exciting as new and returning students arrive. There is cooler weather and talk of classes, faculty and football, and not necessarily in that order.  From Denny Chimes to the Bryant-Denny Stadium, from the President’s Mansion to the Ferguson Center (Ferg), from Coleman Coliseum to the Park at Manderson Landing along the Black Warrior River, The University of Alabama is welcoming its students.

On August 12, the Culverhouse College of Commerce greeted the new Huntsville EMBA Class of 2017 with its first orientation at UA. The HEMBA Program began in 2008. In the past, students would take classes on the UAHuntsville campus and only come to Tuscaloosa for graduation. We wanted to do something different this year and have them begin their 21-month, five-semester experience with the Capstone. For many it was their first time on campus.

Over the two-and-a-half day orientation, the students met with their first semester faculty, participated in team building, and met with the Executive MBA Alumni Board. They also spent time seeing some of the sites and meeting other alumni and students on campus while involved in a team challenge scavenger hunt. They also nailed down the “Rammer Jammer” and “Roll Tide” cheers and are looking forward to a tailgate this fall in T-Town.

The students represent companies such as PPG Industries, ADTRAN, Infosys, Nissan North America, Sikorsky Aircraft, Southern Telecom, Amerex Corporation, the US Army, Northrop Grumman, and the Missile Defense Agency. The defense and manufacturing agencies are hugely represented in this cohort, with 28% and 24% of the students working in them, respectively. Other industries include finance, technology, healthcare/pharmaceutical, retail, telecom, construction, real estate and services.

The class reflects more diversity in terms of educational backgrounds. 43% of the students who just joined the program graduated with undergraduate degrees in engineering, followed by 29% with liberal arts degrees, 19% with business degrees, and 10% with science/math degrees. The average age is 37 with an average of 15 years of work experience. We also have 38% of our students coming from a military background.

Incoming students have goals to develop and further their career, develop business skills, further their mentoring and leadership skills, pursue financial security, own a business, have an impact on their company, become a better manager and motivator, and travel and work abroad.

Please join us in welcoming our HEMBA Class of 2017:

Ryan Burch, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Felicia Craig, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation

Jason Deane, Nucor Steel

Chuck Freind, Amerex Corporation

Sonya Harner, Nissan North America

Jimmy Hassan, Dayton Superior Corporation

Rodney Hoover, DRS Technology

Shane Jackson, AMRDEC

Ray Morris, VentureSouth

Barry Navarre, Southern Telecom

Gaurav Negi, ADTRAN, Inc.

Phillip Patterson, Stutts Properties, Inc.

Nicole Reynolds, Zero Point Frontiers

Joshua Rountree, Nissan North America

Will Stinson, TotalPrint, DEX Company

Joe Taylor, PPG Industries

Bhuwan Thakur, Infosys Limited

Josh Vinson, Parallon Business Solutions

Dustin Whited, MDA/ECM

Nirvana Williams, ENDO Pharmaceuticals

Matt Zepp, Department of the Army

For more information on the Culverhouse Executive MBA Program, click on EMBA or contact Cheryl Altemara at caltemara@cba.ua.edu or call 205.348.4501.
 

Announcing the 2016 UA EMBA International Trip

• August 3rd, 2015
• in International Trip

The Culverhouse College of Commerce Executive MBA Class of 2016 will be going to Marrakech and Casablanca, Morocco and Madrid, Spain, February 27-March 5, 2016.

The 2016 trip is a requirement of the IBA 550 International Business course in the students final semester. It is also open to EMBA Alumni who would like to attend. “We began formally inviting alumni to join us on our study abroad trips in 2013 when we visited Turkey and it has been a successful program,” said Cheryl Altemara, assistant director, EMBA Programs. In addition to visiting companies, meeting with senior executives and government officials, and touring cultural sites, participants may also take part in an optional post trip to Barcelona, Spain.

The students not only visit companies but will tour Marrakech and Madrid and take a day trip to Kasbah Le Mirage situated just outside of Marrakech. They will experience Moroccan life, camel rides and a dinner in Berber tents. A special consulting project focusing on social enterprise in and around Marrakech is also being added to the program this year. Spain offers another business climate, culture and economic transformation for the students to study in depth.

Our travel agency this year will be the International Study Programs (ISP). Headquartered in Prague, ISP has been organizing global trips for EMBA Programs since 1999. Their vision is to create meaningful global academic experiences for business school students.

Morocco has a GDP of $179.2B (2015), 4.5% growth, unemployment at 9.2% and inflation at 1.9%. Benefiting from a stable political environment and increasing levels of foreign investment, Morocco benefits from its geographical proximity to key markets in Europe and its perception as a stable destination in a region where many countries have seen widespread political unrest. The country is expected to welcome over 11M visitors in 2015, up from 10.5M in 2014. Europe is a major source for arrivals but Morocco is increasingly targeting affluent visitors from the Middle East – and Emirates recently expanded its flight routes into the country from the UAE.

According to Spiegel Online, Spain is back from the brink and emerging as a model for Europe. During the crisis, Spain instituted strict reforms and successfully put its emphasis on exports, with one-third of Spanish goods and services shipped outside the country. Although Spain still has a long way to go, the European Central Bank is predicting that Spain will be one of the economic drivers of Europe in 2015. Powered by a cheap euro and low-interest, economic growth is predicted to rise by 2.3 percent this year, GDP at 1.4 trillion, while the Spanish government predicts increasing job growth.

The post trip is to Barcelona, the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region, is defined by quirky art and architecture, imaginative food and vibrant street life. It has medieval roots, seen in the mazelike Gothic Quarter, but a modernist personality represented by architect Antoni Gaudí’s fantastical Sagrada Família church. The central Boqueria market, ranging from fine dining to tiny tapas bars, anchors Barcelona’s restaurant scene. In addition, we will also travel to Tarragona and the caves Montau de Sadurini.

To join the trip, please contact the EMBA office for more information. The trip package for alumni, from check-in February 27 to check out on March 5, includes a single room (5 star accommodations), breakfasts, company visits, lunches, city tours of Marrakech and Madrid, the February 28 Kasbah excursion, and opening and farewell dinners. Spouses may also attend.
If your class never got to go on an international trip, here’s your chance. If you have attended a previous trip, this time you get to enjoy without classwork or a final presentation!

We look forward to having you join us. For more information and cost, contact Donna Blackburn, 205.348.8748. For more information on the Culverhouse Executive MBA Program check out the website at www.emba.ua.edu.