Columbia to revamp MBA core

Columbia Business School in New York is redesigning its core MBA curriculum.

The aim of the revamp is to give students greater flexibility when it comes to pursuing their career goals, while still maintaining academic rigour.

“The new core will enable our students to tailor their education to their particular interests, while still ensuring they come away from Columbia with a strong grasp of the fundamentals of business,” says Amir Ziv, vice-dean and faculty director of the Arthur J Samburg Institute for Teaching Excellence.

The new core will be divided into two - required and flexible. The flexible component, which participants will follow in the second term, will allow participants a greater understanding in each of three designated areas; organisations, performance and markets.

The redesigned core curriculum is to be launched later next year, but current first and second year students will have the chance to experience the new course offerings in the flexible core, as several will be offered as electives early next year.

The redesign follows a review of the core curriculum instigated by Glenn Hubbard the dean, late last year. Columbia relied heavily on student feedback from surveys and focus groups to conduct the review.

www.gsb.columbia.edu