UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center MBA Program--A Differentiated Product

Public Record, The, Mar 20, 2007 by Brosky, Jay

A decade ago, local leadership began their pursuit of bringing upper-tier, higher education to the area. With the opening of the University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center in 2005, that endeavor is moving forward in earnest, with the foundation in place for a world-class graduate and professional academic institution.

The Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management one of the two graduate programs currently being offered at the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center - is differentiating itself from other MBA programs by providing a curriculum that goes beyond what is on the menu at traditional academic institutions. In addition to lectures from world-class faculty, there is the "crown jewel" of the MBA program: the Executive in Residence (EIR) Program.

Spearheading the MBA program is Dr. Donald Siegel, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean of the Anderson school. Dr. Siegel, moved to Palm Desert and joined the UCR faculty in August 2006. He received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Columbia University Since 1989, Dr. Siegel has held a variety of academic posts at the State University of New York - Stony Brook; Arizona State University; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Economics from 2002-2006.

According to Dr. Siegel, today's graduate students require a mix of both traditional academic instruction in addition to "real world" tutelage. Eponymous with the facility that houses the classrooms - the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management - the MBA degree at UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center focuses on entrepreneurship. However, students that prefer to focus on other business disciplines, such as accounting, marketing, management, or information systems, can complete most of their courses at the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center.

The MBA Program offered at the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center is structured and tailored to the working professional. Responding to changing times and lifestyle pressures, Dr. Siegel is committed to keeping the program flexible. A majority of the current MBA students are "fully employed" and have only evening time available for study. Adapting to today's students' personal life schedules is paramount to having a successful graduate program, according to Siegel. Traditional, full-time graduate programs at many universities are gradually ceding ground to flexible, hybrid class schedules.

Simultaneous with the UCR faculty providing the rigorous academic classroom teaching, the EIRs successful former CEOs, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs themselves, who have deep tendrils into both the corporate world and the local community mentor the MBA students with their industry experience and business acumen. These current and former executives have vast experience in both the public and the private sectors, covering almost every conceivable discipline, from theatrics to investments to hospitality to medicine. They have done it all.

One of the familiar faces among EIRs on campus is Steve Weiss, a former senior executive for major healthcare organizations who is also a founder and current CEO and Chairman of a venture capital group in Northern California known as the North Bay Angels. Recently Weiss started the Coachella Valley Angel Network along with a few other investors in an effort to provide venture capital and mentoring to growing local companies worthy of funding. Weiss says "The EIR program provides students access to experienced and successful executives that can provide invaluable assistance in helping them pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations." Mr. Weiss has been providing advice and counseling to MBA students about financing their companies through both angel and venture capital investments - real world experiences that a text book cannot provide. With the entrepreneurial-minded students, Mr. Weiss is a key component of the EIR group.

UCR Executive In Residence, Gary Silverman, who is a managing partner of GWS Partners, a firm specializing in senior management and board of director consulting, says "The primary purpose of the discussions focuses on real life experiences in organizational development and executive staffing. In short, the focus was how to translate theory into pragmatic problem solving." In other words, combining academic teaching (theory) with current issues.

Another unorthodox approach Dr. Siegel is taking is to work with the other two college campuses here in the desert, unlike the myopic, isolationist position taken by competing universities in other markets. He believes that "a rising tide raises all ships", and that by working harmoniously with the competition, the local students will opt to continue their education endeavors locally, versus beginning their degrees here and then transferring to another university. Obviously this benefits the community in myriad ways. Dr. Siegel is also working to expose the UCR Palm Desert campus to the international community.