Kelley Executive Education Programs continuing a legacy of collaboration and innovation in curriculum design

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Kelley School of Business has merged three programs into a single unit — Kelley Executive Education Programs.

The Kelley School has long offered programs to help organizations enhance their talent development strategies, and Kelley Executive Education Programs (KEEP) provides maximum flexibility to corporations and professional associations.

Classes can be configured to provide graduate academic credit and/or professional certifications and digital badges, providing a “one-stop shop” for companies looking to build their human capital and improve employee retention.

Each component of Kelley Executive Education Programs has a history of collaboration and innovation in curriculum design.

Online Graduate Certificates and MS Degrees

The Master of Science 30-credit-hour degrees, presented by faculty who teach in Kelley’s other nationally ranked programs, are offered online, and can be completed within one to two years. These programs are open to individual students and those sponsored by partner organizations. With a cost of $25,500, they are a value in comparison to similar master’s degrees offered elsewhere.

KEEP’s 12-credit-hour graduate certificates provide a shorter-term credential. Graduate certificates are stackable, where all hours completed can be transferred to the online MS degree for those who choose to pursue that option. Non-degree programs, traditionally presented through Kelley’s Executive Education Programs, can be configured to provide graduate certificate credit.

“There are distinctly different audiences for an MBA and an MS degree. Some people want expertise in their functional area – the MS degree provides that specialization. In the MS, students focus on knowledge and skills that will help them immediately in their current role at their current employer” said Carolyn Goerner, faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs and clinical professor of management.

Alex Lopes, associate faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs and clinical professor of Operations, noted that some people coming back into the educational setting may not immediately appreciate that they want to pursue a degree.

“Our program is designed to allow students to ‘stack’ their graduate certificates and apply them toward an MS degree – if they choose to do so,” Lopes said.

The Kelley School also sees an increased demand from students who understand the value of certificates verifying acquisition of applicable tools they need now in their jobs — in Six Sigma, project management, leadership, analytics, cybersecurity, and other areas – and that can be completed in a relatively short period of time.

The reimagined Online MS in Business Analytics is designed for those who want to become a brand analytics manager, e-commerce project manager, web metrics analyst, or a consultant to senior decision makers. The Online MS in Finance provides the ideal background in financial expertise for future CFOs. And the Online MS in Strategic Management offers leadership acumen for front-line supervisors.

Custom Corporate MBA

While individuals can complete online graduate certificates and MS degrees, Kelley’s Corporate MBA is restricted to students employed by partner organizations. These entities – including companies such as General Motors, GE Haier, and Booz Allen Hamilton, along with professional groups such as the NFL Players’ Association and the WNBA Players’ Association – sign a Memorandum of Understanding that allows their employees to participate in a streamlined MBA program.

The Corporate MBA is an online program, without the career development and networking opportunities found in the traditional MBA. Partners who pledge a set number of students to the program per year have the opportunity to work with Kelley faculty to customize coursework to meet the needs of their organization.

“Our programs are designed to help people become more valuable to their companies,” Goerner said. “We offer a variety of custom options for companies and professional associations, which allow them to send their employees to Kelley for a shared experience – educational offerings that are designed specifically for the needs of those organizations.”

Customization can include onsite programs for a company’s cohort of students, co-selection of case studies for existing class activities, or even entirely customized courses.

In addition to the obvious benefit of developing firm-specific human capital, having a group of students from the same employer promotes teamwork across the organization. Leaders with shared learning experiences can make better decisions and communicate more efficiently.

Non-Credit Executive Education

Kelley has offered cutting-edge custom executive education programs for more than 40 years. These offerings, also created and taught by Kelley faculty, are co-designed with organizations to ensure their learning objectives are front and center.

“We’re now able to say to our client companies that we offer everything, from personal coaching to creating a university within your organization,” noted Ron Thomas, executive director of Kelley Executive Education.

Kelley’s custom programs can be designed as non-credit or for-credit experiences. Timing and location are flexible – from one-day onsite offerings to multi-week online courses. The addition of non-credit programs to the KEEP portfolio allows continued experimentation and exploration of new types of pedagogy.

Many of Kelley’s significant advances in online education were first created in partnership with companies.

“A huge part of our DNA is that we do what we teach. Many of our online education competitors offer programs under their name but partner with external, for-profit vendors who outsource aspects of their programs,” Goerner said.

“At Kelley, everything we provide students — including instruction — comes from within the school. All our classes are presented by Kelley faculty, who also design and teach them. We record our asynchronous video content in-house. This helps us be nimble in responding to the needs of the market. It adds value to our students’ education and their degrees, which is why so many top companies come to us for both open-enrollment and customized programs.”