Halliburton move expected to benefit OSU program
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sheikh Al Nahayan, president of Zayed University greets Dean Sara M. Freedman with
the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. Freedman served as keynote
speaker at the recent graduation of the latest Executive MBA class at Zayed.
“We anticipate that the close proximity of the company and Zayed University will prove fruitful, especially if Halliburton is interested in MBA grads who already have practical experience in industry,” said Sara M. Freedman, dean of the Spears School of Business at OSU.
Freedman recently returned from graduation ceremonies at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi where she was keynote speaker. The dean told the 14 EMBA graduates, “You are graduating from an institution that is becoming more important by the day. And because of that, your degree will continue to be more valuable every day.”
Freedman pointed to the vision of Zayed University’s President as reason for optimism. “His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan says that ‘Zayed University shall become the leading university in the region, embodying the same rigorous standards and intellectual elements found in major universities throughout the world.’”
Freedman challenged the graduates to begin their new careers by asking the right questions, including “What is most important to me, given who I am and what I value? How can I add value to what is already being done? And, what else must I do to become a successful leader?”
After offering an explanation for each question, Freedman concluded, “You have learned. You are ready to lead. Make the world a better place. We are all counting on you.”
The Executive MBA program began in September of 2000 when the Spears School and the School of International Studies at OSU signed an agreement with Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. OSU partnered with two other universities, the University of Kentucky and Clemson University, to provide the first cohort of the program. In the initial years of the program, four faculty from each of the three universities taught courses designed to prepare executives for business in the global marketplace. The program consisted of 12 courses over a 24-month period and included on-site classes held at Dubai’s Internet City as well as coursework via distance learning. Over the years about half of the program has been turned over to faculty members at Zayed University with the remaining upper level courses taught by the U.S. universities.
OSU Spears School through the Center for Executive and Professional Development was recently contacted to continue the partnership in its seventh year with three separate sections of the program running at the same time. Spears School of Business faculty from the economics and legal studies in business, management, and marketing departments have taught in this program. “The partnership works and we hope to expand our relations with Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. It is an exciting country with endless possibilities in graduate education and executive development,” concluded Dean Freedman.
Not only have OSU faculty been to the UAE, but students also come to Stillwater. The OSU School of International Studies administration has helped keep the partnership growing as well with a student from Zayed University in the UAE recently graduating from the master’s program in the OSU School of International Studies.