No One Offers an MBA Degree Like UNK

Posted: October 29, 2024 12:00:00 AM CDT

It’s no surprise that students can receive their Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at almost any university, but nothing can compare to the unique experience offered to the MBA students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Led by Dustin Favinger, who also serves as the director of UNK’S College of Business and Technology Career Center, the MBA program is designed to prepare students through a blended program.Dustin Headshot

At UNK, MBA students can enjoy the convenience of online courses blended with face-to-face experiences both in and out of the classroom. Experiential learning is the hallmark of the MBA program, preparing students for the level of leadership, critical thinking, and networking that they will need as professionals in today’s fast-paced global economy.

For students such as Kiley Bamesberger, her experiences as a student at UNK made her feel like “part of a team/family with the rest of the business management students.” Thanks to Favinger and the rest of the MBA faculty, she shares how she was able to “develop relationships” as they worked “together on projects” and took the time to “study together, and even pass along advice/expertise that has worked in our current positions that may transfer to a classmate in a similar field.”

She shares how her “dream career since starting in healthcare at 15 was to become an executive director” and how she is “still in shock that (she) was able to obtain this at only 25 years old, ten years later.” Her success at UNK, especially the knowledge and experience she gained during her graduate internship, makes her “forever in debt to them” for assisting her with reaching her career goals. She appreciates all she learned at UNK, especially as a graduate student when she gained “real-world knowledge” during her internship. Due to the fact that she is a “hands-on learner,” she was grateful for the chance to engross herself in the process which she shares helped her “learn more than (she) could have imagined.”

Dustin working with studentsShe’s also grateful for how her UNK professors personally had “real hands-on experience in the business world.” She says she “always felt comfortable approaching” them “outside of class for questions, whether about homework or (her) career path trajectory.” In fact, she has remained in contact with many of her professors since graduation, crediting them for continuing to help her by discussing her career growth.

Aaron Osmond, a second-year student in UNK’s MBA program, recently interned for Cirrus Tech Inc., a company based in Kearney. He shares how participating in this internship “was a really unique experience” as well as an opportunity to put his “education into practice.” The chance to work with a company as part of an internship was enriching for Osmond, and he is grateful that he “could gain this industry experience.” During his internship, he “received feedback” that his workplace skills were “well above candidates from the same background” which he believes “speaks to the individual and tailored education” unique to UNK’s MBA program.Osmund Headshot

Osmond appreciates the experiential learning which he states “went a long way in building skills that other candidates don’t usually have.” He shares how “learning outside of the classroom gave (him) many skills that there’s no real way to exactly simulate in the classroom” such as “meetings, golf, and other social outings” and other opportunities to build “business-client relationships when there is a lot of money at stake.”

He shares how the MBA program at UNK has taught him skills not taught through “tests or rote learning.” He appreciates the classes with semester-long projects, case studies, assignments that build off each other, and in-class participation which he shares allows students like him to “practice communicating business ideas, to put theory into real-world application, and to practice the act of work gradually building into a final product that students can be proud of.”

For Dustin Favinger and the rest of the MBA faculty, the focus is always on helping students obtain their career goals. Kiley Bamesberger cannot speak highly enough about the education she received at UNK. She believes she was “truly prepared” for her current role as an executive director. Aaron Osmond shares that he especially appreciates the way “battling through situations” where he was the “expert in the area” instead of his professors gave him both a sense of responsibility and gratification as well as preparing him for his career. As a result of the MBA program’s approach to experiential learning, both Bamesberger and Osmond were uniquely positioned to launch their career in a way that they could not have imagined before becoming an MBA student at UNK.

MBA at Career Fair

No one offers an MBA degree quite like the University of Nebraska at Kearney. For students like Bamesburger and Osmond, the type of learning they have been privileged to receive makes all the difference. Their futures are bright because they have been prepared for their profession by those who have already been there. It’s the way things are done when you’re a Loper.

By: Sandy Brannan

Category: General, Business and Technology

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