Look at the letters after the names of many of Canada’s top business leaders.
MBA – Masters of Business Administration – is the tag many movers and shakers print on their business cards. It means they’ve graduated with an advanced degree in business administration.
They have studied marketing and human resources, how to draft a business plan and how to get the financing to put it into action.
And if MBAs are the cogs in the business machine that make the economy work, they should be found in agriculture just as they are in the petrochemical and banking industries.
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It is now easier to get an MBA in agriculture thanks to a distance education program offered through the University of Guelph in Ontario and Athabasca University in Athabasca, Alta.
The first class of 35 students is now about eight months into the home study course, expected to take about 30 months, said Tom Funk , program director from the U of G.
“We got over 700 inquiries (about the program) and out of that we had 100 applications and of those we accepted 35 students,” he said. “So what we learned from year one is that there is a demand for this program.”
The distance education program grew out of a dissatisfaction with Guelph’s MBA in agriculture program on campus, the first such program in the world.
“It never really has attracted the type of person we wanted to attract,” Funk said.
“We wanted people who had a lot of experience and who had current experience in management in agriculture. But where are these people? Maybe there are five or 10 around Guelph. Mostly they are hundreds and thousands of miles away.”
But with the distance education skills of Athabasca University, specialists in delivering programs through computer and electronic communications, it became possible to offer the Guelph program as a home study course.
“Distance education in the past has been described as lonely,” Funk said.
But now, through e-mail, students are able to communicate regularly with teaching staff and with other students.
Wade Adamack is a member of the first class. He has an undergraduate degree in animal science from the University of Saskatchewan, works at Masterfeeds in Saskatoon and farms with his father at Assiniboia, Sask.
“This is working out so great. I had the technology at home already and the convenience factor is unreal. If I’ve got two hours after supper, I go down to the computer and get what I need off it, start reading or do an assignment.”
You might study when it suits your schedule, but the commitment to the program is substantial. It costs $21,000 and will require 20-25 hours of work a week. In addition to regular assignments and exams, participants have to write a masters dissertation, probably developing a business plan regarding a real issue facing his or her operation.
But that’s a bargain, said Funk, when considering that the alternative is quitting a job and moving to Guelph, where students spend $56,000 for the 11-month executive MBA program.
Also, the distance education program has all required reading material on computer disc or CD ROM.
The distance program is structured to be familiar to members of the agricultural industry. The case studies used are based on agricultural business.
“Also, we have courses that you would never find in a general MBA program,” Funk said.
“A good example is we have a course in risk management that deals with futures markets and options, that sort of thing…. We have another course on the agriculture environment because to be an effective manager in agriculture today, you must know something about GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and what the government is doing to stabilize incomes.”
The first class in the program has exactly what the university was looking for: mature people who have worked in agriculture for several years. There are four farmers, two veterinarians, extension workers, employees of feed, seed equipment and chemical companies and a dairy manager. Their locations range from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island.
Prospective students do not need a degree to be admitted if they have extensive practical experience in agribusiness.
The deadline for applications for the next class, which begins in January 1998, is Nov. 15.
For more information on the program call toll-free 1-888-622-2474 (1-888-MBA-AGRI.)
