For Dori Lombard, business department chair, the process of applying to New York State for the expansion of Molloy College's business program was long and intense. Dr. Lombard says she spent about "90 hours a week" on the process, "even on my vacation," and she admits, "When the applications were approved earlier this year, I celebrated!" And as a result, Molloy is now accepting applications for its new MBA program, which will begin in spring 2004.

Molloy College initiated the task of reevaluating its undergraduate accounting program and creating a new Master of Business Administration nearly a year ago. When a task of such magnitude is undertaken, it's common for a number of players to be involved, and in the case of Molloy College, which opened its doors as a women's college in the fall of 1955, the task was coordinated by four Molloy women administrators.

According to Dr. Valerie Collins, vice president for academic affairs and faculty dean, Molloy College devised a strategy to strengthen its programs more than a decade ago, and in the early 90s, began with its traditional courses Ð first nursing, and then by 1995, the education program. By the early 2000s, the business climate was changing Ð New York State increased the requirements for eligibility to sit for the CPA licensure exam and the Stock Market meltdown and corporate scandals at Enron and Worldcom brought public lack of confidence in business leaders. "The time had come to strengthen our next program," says Dr. Collins, a 27-year faculty member who earned her nursing degree and previously taught nursing at Molloy. Together with College President Drew Bogner, she identified the business program for evaluation. "And we were ready to launch a master's in business," she adds.

Meeting community needs
Attending a non-residential college, Molloy's students' roots are on Long Island; they work on Long Island, and they stay on Long Island after graduation. Additionally, Dr. Collins comments that Molloy maintains a connection to Long Island's business community, and adds, "Business is going to be a vibrant part of the Long Island community, and Molloy wants to be a part of that growth." MBA Director Dr. Kiran Chaturvedi concurs with Dr. Collins' assessment, and says, "Long Island is a very competitive market and its economy has been strong. Grumman is coming back, too, and that's good for us."

Applying for approval and student benefits - dual degrees
Having completed a reevaluation of its undergraduate business management program last year, attention focused on the restructuring of the undergraduate accounting program in light of the CPA exam requirements. New York State, which mandated all colleges and universities to reevaluate their qualifying programs by 2009, requires students to have a combination of 150 hours earned at either the undergraduate or graduate level to sit for the exam. The Molloy business team creatively designed its MBA program so that while students are earning their undergraduate degree, unlike traditional undergrad students, they can take up to 9 credits of graduate courses. That puts them only 24 credits shy of receiving their master's if they wish to expand their studies to a five-year program and receive a dual degree, a BS/MBA, attaining both bachelor's and master's degrees. Students can also pursue a dual degree in management.

Following Molloy's community concerns, the college began the long path to MBA approval with a feasibility study. "We surveyed students who expressed interest in enrolling for an extended program and we studied programs at seven other universities," remarks Dr. Lombard. Then came the arduous task of shaping the curriculum, designing core courses that set the program tone and a capstone project that sets Molloy students apart from the competition.

Once the undergraduate and graduate proposals were packaged, they underwent consultancy review: the University of Niagara business program dean reviewed the management piece and Pace University's accounting chair reviewed the accounting piece. After evaluation, adjustments were made and final proposals were submitted to the Department of Academic Affairs and the President.

While preparing the state application, Dr. Lombard sifted through a regulation binder 4-inches thick, and by February 2003, following two separate sets of regulations, she submitted two separate proposals to the Department of Education: the management program proposal to the Office of Higher Education and the accounting program to the Office of the Professions. Both approvals were returned shortly after the spring 2003 semester.

MBA Curriculum and Capstone Project
Dr. Lombard and Dr. Chaturvedi worked closely on the curriculum for the MBA program. Several core courses were designed to shape a well-rounded education, and Dr. Chaturvedi notes that courses will be taught across subject areas and students will not feel, as they often do, that they are taking courses that are irrelevant. "Every course ties in," she adds. Taking its cue from the business world, the MBA program will stress interpersonal skills and teamwork, and students will study principals of management and international business.

Tapping the college's newly opened Center for Business Leadership and Ethics, Dr. Chaturvedi and Center director William Kline will team-teach an organizational leadership course that will include theories and styles of leadership. "Practical knowledge is not enough," remarks Dr. Chaturvedi. "Students need to know philosophy of leadership." Dr. Kline lends his expertise in ethics, and will explore ways to implement ethics in the business world. "MBA students need to know about grievance procedures, hiring and firing, Internet usage and sexual abuse," remarks Dr. Kline. "They must be constantly vigilant."

Molloy's MBA capstone project involves an independent, entrepreneurship research endeavor. While Dr. Lombard comments that Long Island is "an entrepreneurship area," Dr. Chaturvedi, reflecting on Molloy's tradition as a women's college, adds, "Women tend to have an entrepreneurship streak, which might give them an edge. They have a knowledge of their environment and the speed with which to react. In business, one can't afford to nap, but must seize what opportunities arise."

"An MBA has always been seen as a ticket to moving up," adds Dr. Chaturvedi. "Undergraduate work stresses technical skills (financial statements), but during graduate work, the stress is on concept skills (where you are headed) and human skills (management). Concept is important at middle management, but leadership is about vision. One can't ignore human skills, emotional intellect." While an MBA helps students move up, our focus, she adds, "is to take people to the top."

"I see our challenges as helping students write resumes and sharpen interview skills," contributes Dr. Lombard, pointing out that many CPA candidates are required to attend all-day interviews, and corporate candidates often are subjected to a three-day interview where they are expected to engage in intellectual conversation, mingle with company personnel and their families, show proper etiquette and wear appropriate attire.

Qualifications of department leaders
Dr. Lombard and Dr. Chaturvedi bring worlds of experience to Molloy's expanded business department. Dr. Lombard graduated from the University of San Francisco with a dual bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. She worked with Coopers Lybrand, which later merged with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a controller and CFO. In the entrepreneurship arena, she owned a flowershop as a student and worked for an independent certified public accountant. In later years, she was a consultant to companies in "turnaround" situations, desiring to improve profits to satisfy loss or bankruptcy. Dr. Lombard graduated from C.W. Post with a master's degree in tax law and received a doctorate from Pace University in accounting and finance.

Dr. Chaturvedi, who has been a Long Island resident for 15 years, earned her Ph.D. from Bombay University in India and developed her international business expertise while working for a large international bank in India and Hong Kong. She moved into organizational training and development, serving as an internal consultant to banks with extensive global assets on every continent. She became a visiting faculty member at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus and moved to a full time professorship at the Brooklyn campus. More recently, Dr. Chaturvedi moved into the entrepreneurial consultant world, exploring the human aspects of business Ð building diverse teams, handling conflict and focusing on gender related issues.

Building enrollment
Through a conscious effort, Molloy has been experiencing enrollment growth in all programs over the past 10 years. According to Linda Albanese, vice president for enrollment management and the fourth female member of the business expansion team, increases in the past few years have been even more dramatic. In the fall of 2000, total enrollment stood at 2,471 and rose 3% during the following academic year. In 2001-2, the increase was 9%, and enrollment increased another 7% last year, bringing the student body to about 3,000. Working with admissions, Ms. Albanese hopes to grow a diverse enrollment for the new MBA program.

"Our responsibility is to recruit the MBA class," says Ms. Albanese, and it's imperative we fulfill our promises of service to the incoming students, including convenient bookstore and registrar's office hours, and competent food service. She remarks that Molloy expects to build on its reputation, adding "word of mouth is the best way to promote a program." "Graduates from Molloy's accounting program attain a passing rate on the CPA exam that is among the top three for Long Island business departments," comments Dr. Lombard. "Companies are interested in hiring our students."

Why Molloy
Dr. Chaturvedi reports that Molloy's strength is its faculty/student ratio, which is 9-to-1 overall. "That's a major attraction," she says, added to a good undergraduate experience and dedicated faculty. "Molloy College is a caring, nurturing, small place in this big New York City, and you can find a little comfort here."