Naveen Jindal School of Management: Inside The QS Online MBA Rankings 2021 Programme

The QS Online MBA Rankings 2021 have been released, revealing the business schools setting the standard for online MBA offerings across the globe.

Now in its 10th year, the rankings analysed the offerings from 57 schools based on several indicators, including employability, class profile, class experience, and faculty and teaching.

One of the best-performing programmes this year was the GLEMBA Online from Naveen Jindal School of Management, which ranked fifth in North America and 16th worldwide.

TopMBA caught up with Professor Monica Powell, Senior Associate Dean at Naveen Jindal School of Management, to discuss the school’s performance in the rankings, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online MBA admissions, and future plans for digital learning.

TM: Given local and global restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the past year has been particularly challenging for business schools across the world, as many had to pivot towards remote learning even for in-person programmes. Have you seen a difference – whether positive or negative – in candidate interest for your online MBA offering? And did you implement any changes to the delivery of your programme to adapt to the ongoing pandemic?

MP: Interest in Online MBA programmes has grown as the result of the pandemic for several reasons.  Working from home gave prospects more time to evaluate their jobs and their careers; working from home demonstrated to prospects that they can be very productive in a virtual environment and that they can deliver at a high level; and the pandemic had a unique way of validating the Online MBA experience because all other MBA programmes (full-time, part-time, and executive) were not being delivered the same way as online MBA programmes. The pandemic gave our programme the opportunity to build on more virtual engagement opportunities. Suddenly, engagement outside the classroom became very important to our students and they were asking for more co-curricular opportunities. We were creative in designing networking events that students would value and participate in. The GLEMBA programme also engaged students from other degree programmes during the pandemic because many of our courses were relevant in their degrees. This blending of programmes resulted in a very diverse environment, enriching the overall experience for all students.  

TM: What makes your online MBA programme unique and a top provider of online learning? 

MP: Our GLEMBA Online MBA programme is located in our executive education division, and this has resulted in obtaining high-level senior managers, vice presidents and executives to join our faculty.  Their clinical experience complements the courses in a value-added manner. At UT Dallas, we have been in the online environment since 1999 and by being an early-entry school, we have had the experience and the opportunity to refine our delivery and our technology to match the unique needs of our students. Another distinguishing feature of our programme is our course-length where each course is eight weeks long. Our student feedback indicates that this is the ideal amount of time to take a deep dive into a particular course without long-term semester commitment.

TM: Your programme scored particularly high for the class experience and faculty & teaching indicator. Why do you think that is?

MP: After over 20 years in online programmes, we have nuanced the student experience, creating a nice blend between the technologies used to deliver the courses and the engagement formats between faculty and students. We have also figured out the formula to engage students in co-curricular opportunities, helping them balance their busy jobs, their personal lives, and the MBA at the same time.   In our programme, we blend both the synchronous and asynchronous learning environments to maximise student engagement and learning. We are finding that students prefer a blend as opposed to all synchronous or asynchronous.