Earn Your Radford MBA – Your Way

Beginning in the fall of 2019, Radford University’s Davis College of Business and Economics will offer an innovative opportunity for students to participate in the new tri-modal instruction in its Master of Business Administration program.

All courses will be accessible online. Students enrolled in fall and spring courses will participate, either in a classroom or online, in a 90-minute evening interactive session with the professor each week or every other week.

The sessions will also give students an opportunity to interact with each other. If students cannot participate at the assigned time, recordings of the discussion sessions will be available online.

Before implementing the tri-modal method, Davis College tested the method’s effectiveness and convenience for students. It worked for Joseph England, who works for a multi-national company and often travels domestically and abroad. He recently relocated from Virginia to Buffalo, New York.

“The tri-modal delivery method has allowed me to be successful,” England said. “There is an undeniable value in personal interaction in the learning process, both with your professor, as well as your peers. It gives you the advantage of both, while providing the flexibility to meet your career obligations and educational goals through a fully accredited university - a value that any hiring manager should not overlook.”

Further, England said, the tri-modal approach will prepare students for the global workforce where business is increasingly conducted in a similar tri-modal method.

“This is an innovative offering that differentiates our program,” MBA Director and Associate Professor of Marketing Gary Schirr said. “Research shows that students benefit from peer-to-peer discussion, from instructor to student interaction, and also from learning in multiple modes. This new program is good pedagogy and fits our students’ needs for flexibility.”

“Our tri-modal instruction combines the best features of face-to-face instruction and participating in courses online,” Davis College Dean Joy Bhadury, Ph.D., said. “You can stay in your place and stay in your time, and yet reap the benefits of a live professor teaching you while engaging in live classroom discussions. That is a significant competitive advantage that the Radford MBA will enjoy.”

To complement the new tri-modal method, the Radford University MBA admissions process has been streamlined. To apply, students simply present their undergraduate transcripts, GMAT scores and personal and professional recommendations. Test waivers are available for applicants with five years of work experience after college.

The Radford MBA provides a broad-based, cross-functional education in core business areas with target electives in analytics and innovation designed to prepare students for advanced leadership roles in both private and public sectors of the global economy.

Radford University’s Davis College is among the few business schools in the world to achieve elite accreditation status from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). This accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools and is the hallmark of excellence in management education. Fewer than 5% of the world’s business schools are AACSB accredited.

Full-time students can earn an MBA in two years without taking summer courses. Part-time MBA students can complete the program online in as little as two years with summer courses, or take as long as six years. 

Two other new innovations in the program are the accelerated program for Radford undergraduates and the certificate and concentration in business analytics.