M.B.A. programme kicks off at U.B.
Official orientation ceremonies were held at the University of Belize, Belize City campus this afternoon to mark the beginning of the fourth session of the Executive Masters in Business Administration course. The degree programme is a joint initiative of the University of the West Indies and U.B. and is designed to arm local professionals with the skills needed to survive and excel in the dynamic world of business. According to local coordinators and participants, in the context of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, the programme will enable graduates to work anywhere while improving the quality of management in Belize.
Henry Anderson, Provost, University of Belize
“This programme is through the Centre for Management Decisions out of Barbados, an arm of U.W.I. and the University of Belize. So U.B. has gone out and made a strategic alliance to offer a service that people are asking for. The way it was designed in cohorts, it allows people, professionals who are in the workplace to come and get the additional skills that they need. And in terms of the elective courses that they take, it’s tailor-made to suit the needs that they have.”
Marie Gomez, Executive Masters in Business Admin. Student
“It’s a bit scary. I’m taking on a lot, I have a busy schedule at work, I’m a mother of two kids, but I have good support so I’m sure I can handle it.”
Janelle Chanona
“What advice would you give to other women in your position in general to not give up on their education?”
Marie Gomez
“As I was telling one of my colleagues earlier, all the younger people are coming home with degrees and if we don’t step up we’ll soon be out of our jobs, so we need to do the right thing for ourselves.”
Andrew Godoy, Executive Masters in Business Admin. Student
“My personal motivation was one, I guess, the pressure of being in the workplace. You find that more and more there is a need to get greater education and now that its more affordable, being that it’s being offered right here in country, it makes it even more accessible for us who are busy executives within the workplace to now complete your full day’s work and yet pursue a degree course in the evenings.”
Thirteen professionals have signed up for the 2005-2007 programme as cohort four participants. At the end of cohort three, some fifty-one Belizeans had successfully earned degrees. Officials estimate it costs approximately thirty thousand dollars to complete the two years of study.
