From Covert Missions To An Online MBA

Golata’s second office – the cockpit of the plane

Last-minute, covert missions prevented him from signing up for a bricks-and-mortar program or even a part-time one. “There’s no way I could do it, absolutely no way,” he points out. Hence, Golata began his search for online MBA programs. He considered MBA@UNC, the online offering by the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, but the hefty tuition deterred him from applying: an MBA@UNC  degree costs roughly $96,774.48, nearly $40,000 more than the Indiana University’s Kelley Direct $60,000 tuition.

For Golata, Indiana University’s Kelley Direct’s flexibility was key. The program allows students to take from two to five years to complete the 51-credit curriculum. He started in September 2012 taking one class at time to test the work-life balance and has scaled up to as many as two and half courses. He plans to complete his MBA in two and half years, graduating in February 2015. He’ll also tack on a master’s in finance by taking four additional courses, one at a time, to wrap up both degrees by February 2016. After that, he may just relax – for a bit, anyway.

So far, Golata has been pleased with the program – it was exactly as he expected, he says. Its hallmark versatility extends to the lectures themselves, which are broadcast live through Adobe Connect, a web-conferencing platform, and taped for students who miss the real-time sessions. For Golata, who has flown missions to Hawaii, Guam, Spain, and the Middle East, watching lectures on his own timetable is critical. It allows him to keep up with coursework during two-month deployments; he squeezes in a few hours of work during the mandatory 12-hour rest periods before flying.

Despite the perks of an online program, critics contend that the degree may not carry as much credibility as a campus-based program. But the stigma of virtual learning is diminishing as prestige schools like UNC and Carnegie Mellon jump on the online bandwagon. This is even more true with the advent of Massive Open Online Enrollment Courses (MOOCs), which are finding favor among elite institutions like the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, MIT’s Sloan, and Virginia’s Darden School.

Detractors also claim that classmate bonds are surely weaker in a virtual environment. Plus, programs such as Indiana University’s Kelley Direct don’t include a summer internship – a ticket to employment for many MBAs. Golata doesn’t seem particularly perturbed about the internship – he’s already working full-time, after all. As for the online format? “If anything, I think it allows us to communicate better with our classmates because you have to say what you’re saying effectively, especially if you’re going back and forth over email – otherwise you’ll have 500 emails in your inbox, and no one will know what’s going on,” he points out. It’s one of the few skills from the MBA curriculum that has translated readily to his current career as a pilot, where communication can mean the difference between a successful mission and a life-threatening situation.

Having completed his undergraduate studies at the Air Force Academy, which boasts a student-faculty ratio of 8:1, Golata was most concerned about faculty accessibility. He was pleasantly surprised by their responsiveness. “In the syllabus, they give their home phone, their cell phone, their email address,” he says. The school expects instructors to respond to email within 24 hours, though Golata says they typically reply much sooner.

Despite the top technology and quality faculty, pursuing a rigorous degree and holding down a full-time job simultaneously can be exhausting. Golata has six classes remaining for his MBA and four for his master’s in finance. He’s dropped a few hobbies and after-work activities to fit in his studies. “I’m starting to get to that point where it’s like, ‘I see the light; let’s get there,'” he says with a rueful smile. Come February, it’ll be one more mission completed for this pilot.

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