Economics and Decision Sciences Division

Master of Business Administration Program Coordinator: Mandie Weinandt
Economics and Decision Sciences: Mike Allgrunn, Ph.D.

Beacom School of Business
Master of Business Administration Program
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: 605-677-5232 or 866-890-1MBA
mba@usd.edu
www.usd.edu/business/graduate

FACULTY

Professors:

Davies, Thomas, 1987, Chair, Division of Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Black Hills Corp. Distinguished Professor of Accounting, LL.M., University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1992.
Dykstra, De Vee, 1979, Business Law, Associate Dean, Division of Management, Marketing, and Law, J.D., University of South Dakota, 1984.
Ragothaman, Srinivasan, 1991, Accounting and Black Hills Corp. Distinguished Professor of Accounting, Ph.D., The University of Kansas, 1991.
Tracy, Daniel, 2007, Decision Science, Ph.D., Washington State University, 2001.

Associate Professors:

Allgrunn, Michael, 2006, Economics, Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2009.
Butler, Stephen, 2013, Accounting, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1982.
Carr, David, 2004, Economics and Division Chair of Economics, Decision Sciences & MIS, Ph.D., University of Colorado-Boulder, 1997.
Huckabee, Gregory, 2003, Business Law, LL.M., George Washington University-Washington, D.C., 1994.
Korte, Leon, 1992, Accounting, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, 1992.
Wergin, Rand, 2009 Marketing, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, 2009.
Yip, Yewmun, 2003, Finance, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1997.
Yockey, Mark, 2003, Management, Ph.D., Washington State University, 2006.

Assistant Professors:

Barney, Chet, 2013, Management-Organizational Behavior, Ph.D., New Mexico State University, 2013.
Birkeland, Kathryn, 2011, Economics, Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2007.
Dag, Ali, 2016, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Ph.D., Auburn University, 2016.
George, Benjamin, 2016, Management Science, Ph.D., University of North Texas, 2016.
Jeutang, Pavel, 2014, Finance, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2014.
Jones, William, 2012, Marketing: Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 2009.
Lonsdale, Damian, 2011, Management, Ph.D., University of Akron, 2010.
Stoddard, Brock, 2013, Economics: Ph.D., Indiana University, 2013.
South-Winter, Carole, 2014, Health Services Administration, Ed.D., St. Cloud State, 2012.
Tiahrt, Thomas, 2014, Decision Science and Statistics, Ph.D., University of South Dakota, 2011.
Vijayalakshmi, Akshaya, 2015, Marketing, Ph.D., Iowa State University, 2015.

DEGREE

Master of Business Administration

SPECIALIZATIONS

Business Administration-General
Business Analytics
Health Services Administration

Program Description

The Master of Business Administration is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). The purpose of the program is to develop current and future executive leadership for business, industry, and government. The program emphasizes decision making, problem solving, understanding the role of business in society, developing leadership ability and social responsibility, analytical and critical thinking skills, and preparing students for executive-level responsibility.

The program is offered as a twelve-month, full-time, face-to-face program on the Vermillion campus. Students may also complete the program on a part-time, hybrid basis face-to-face in Vermillion, Sioux Falls, and Online to meet the needs of working professionals. The hybrid program allows students to “mix and match” face-to-face Vermillion or Sioux Falls classes with online classes for added flexibility. The program is also offered entirely online to meet the needs of those unable to participate in face-to-face courses. Online courses are scheduled so students can complete the program in as little as two years (after completing foundation courses or their equivalents). The online program is enhanced by a rich, five-day residency experience which takes place each spring and summer in Sioux Falls, SD. Students may select the semester in which they complete the residency portion of the program. The full-time, hybrid, and online programs have identical admissions and graduation requirements. Courses in each modality are taught by the same graduate-level faculty.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Completed Graduate Application form found at: https://apps.usd.edu/academic/gradapp/login.cfm and a non-refundable application fee of $35.
One official transcript verifying receipt of an undergraduate degree and previous graduate credit (in English or with translation) must accompany an application. Official transcript of all academic work at the undergraduate and graduate levels are required for all students. The USD Graduate School and/or academic departments retain the right to require an Educational Credential Evaluators/World Education Services (ECE/WES) evaluation for a student if such an evaluation is deemed necessary.
Each applicant must have a baccalaureate degree or an equivalent degree from an institution with full regional accreditation for that degree (minimum GPA of 2.7). Each graduate program may admit students on provisional status per university policy.
Applicants with degrees from countries other than the United States who have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited American college or university are not required to submit an approved English proficiency exam score. For all other applicants, a minimum score of 79 on the Internet-Based TOEFL (iBT) or 550 on the Paper-Based TOEFL (PBT), a minimum IELTS score of 6.0, or a minimum PTE score of 53 is required for graduate admission. Applicants from or who have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from these English-speaking countries (UK, Australia, Canada [except Quebec], Ireland, or New Zealand) are not required to submit an approved English proficiency exam score if their academic records indicate that English was the classroom language for the majority of their schoolwork.
Applicants are required to submit a statement of purpose and resume.

Additional Program Admission Requirements:

A satisfactory score on the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is required.
Three (3) letters of recommendation are required. At least one (1) of these references must be professional in nature (i.e. a supervisor) and all references should be familiar with the applicant’s strengths, weaknesses, and work ethic.
The foundational curriculum is comprised of 18-21 hours of courses as indicated in the Foundation Courses section. All foundations courses are offered online. Challenge exams are also available. Students possessing an undergraduate degree in business may have fulfilled some or all of the foundations coursework requirements. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit transcripts to the Graduate School for review to determine if they have fulfilled the foundational requirements of the program. Applicants entering the program with the foundations courses (or their baccalaureate-level equivalent) completed, will be given “advanced standing” and will only need to complete the 33-39 hours of advanced courses.

Foundation Courses

The design of foundation courses for the Beacom School’s graduate degrees is based upon a changing market where an increasing number of students enter graduate school with years of business experience, baccalaureate degrees in many fields, and a stronger commitment to scholarly activity. Foundation courses differ from their undergraduate counterparts in several ways, including: 1) content is compressed into a smaller time frame; 2) different instructional strategies are used in order to better utilize the student resource base of experience; and 3) higher-order thinking skills are fostered, namely, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Business students may not use foundation courses to fulfill graduate elective requirements.

Students who do not have the prerequisite undergraduate courses may complete the following foundation courses or the undergraduate equivalent of these courses (Challenge Exams are also available):

ACCT 520 Foundations of Accounting (3 credit hours)
BADM 505 Foundations of Finance (3 credit hours)
BADM 520 Foundations of Calculus and Statistics for Business (3 credit hours)
BADM 523 Foundations of Information Systems (3 credit hours)
BADM 525 Production Operations Management (3 credit hours)
BADM 580 Foundations of Marketing and Organizational Behavior (3 credit hours)
ECON 580 Foundations of Economics (3 credit hours)

(NOTE: BADM 523 is only required for students pursing the Business Analytics Specialization.)

B.B.A. / M.B.A. Fast-Track Option

Beacom School of Business undergraduate majors meeting requirements for entry into the M.B.A. program may opt to complete both the B.B.A. and M.B.A. concurrently. Students who pursue this fast-track option will be awarded their undergraduate and graduate degrees simultaneously, upon completion of the two programs.

Students may apply for admission to the M.B.A. program using the standard graduate application process after completing 75 credit hours. Applicants for the B.B.A./M.B.A. program are required to submit only two letters of recommendation. Students applying to the B.B.A./M.B.A. program are not required to provide a GMAT exam score for application to the fast-track program if they meet all of the following criteria: cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and GPA within major of at least 3.25. Applicants who do not meet the above criteria are required to provide a GMAT exam score, which will be evaluated along with all application materials in a manner consistent with applications to the M.B.A. program.

The fast-track option will confer special student status to those admitted, who will then be eligible to take 700-level courses and apply for graduate assistantships. Students must complete the requirements of the B.B.A. program in accordance with the undergraduate catalog and the requirements for the M.B.A. program in accordance with the graduate catalog. All prerequisites for courses in the M.B.A. program will still apply to students in the B.B.A./M.B.A. program.

SCHOLARSHIPS

A limited number of graduate assistantships are awarded each year on a competitive basis to fully admitted, full-time, on-campus MBA students. Applications for graduate assistantships are due on April 1.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS (Graduate Certificates)

Completed Graduate Application form found at: https://apps.usd.edu/academic/gradapp/login.cfm and a non-refundable application fee of $35.
One official transcript verifying receipt of an undergraduate degree and previous graduate credit (in English or with translation) must accompany an application. Official transcript of all academic work at the undergraduate and graduate levels are required for international students. The USD Graduate School and/or academic departments retain the right to require an Educational Credential Evaluators/World Education Services (ECE/WES) evaluation for a student if such an evaluation is deemed necessary.
A minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 2.7 on conferred degree and/or graduate cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better, based on a 4.0 scale, on all graduate coursework is required for full admission. Each graduate program may admit students on provisional status per university policy.
Applicants with degrees from countries other than the United States who have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited American college or university are not required to submit an approved English proficiency exam score. For all other applicants, a minimum score of 79 on the Internet-Based TOEFL (iBT) or 550 on the Paper-Based TOEFL (PBT), a minimum IELTS score of 6.0, or a minimum PTE score of 53 is required for graduate admission. Applicants from or who have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from these English-speaking countries (UK, Australia, Canada [except Quebec], Ireland, or New Zealand) are not required to submit an approved English proficiency exam score if their academic records indicate that English was the classroom language for the majority of their schoolwork.
Applicants are required to submit a statement of purpose or goal statement.

Subject to faculty approval, those who do not meet all of the criteria above may be admitted on a provisional basis.