Darden’s New Refresh To Its MBA Program

Peter Rodriguez, senior associate dean for degree programs

Peter Rodriguez, senior associate dean for degree programs

DARDEN WILL ALSO ADD TO ITS FIRST-YEAR CALENDAR A WEEKLY SESSION TO TACKLE TOPICAL ISSUES

The school is also adding what it calls a Darden Academy, a once-a-week period on Tuesdays that starts at 11:45 a.m. to discuss contemporary issues and prep for the experiential project. Rodriguez says that last year students were eager to discuss the social and economic implications of the racial turmoil in Ferguson, Mo., but found it hard to find room to do so in an already packed schedule. Though not required, the course’s scheduling makes it likely to get strong attendance because it will fall in the heart of the weekly calendar for first years. In the first year, Darden students attend classes from 8 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. each day, with Fridays off. In the afternoons, they typical do their case reading, only to meet with their learning teams in the early evening to prep for the next day’s classes.

The Darden Academy will run through the entire first year. The school says that the session will offer “a changing, weekly suite of opportunities that will explore topics of interest to students, faculty and the broader Darden community, including meaningful discussions of such topics, analyses of global current events, reflections on our purpose as leaders, opportunities to build skills that enhance the ability of all students to engage meaningfully in class conversations, and events that explore the links between classroom learning and business practice.”

Under the new changes, Darden first years take 20 courses, five a quarter, with 17 of them required. The three electives, to help better prepare students for their summer internships, are taken in the fourth and final quarter, along with the new experiential project course.

SCHOOL ALSO ADDING AN EIGHT-DAY DARDEN-BEFORE-DARDEN CAMP FOR THIS YEAR’S INCOMING MBAS

Another significant alteration for incoming Darden MBAs this year will be the Darden-Before-Darden Camp, a voluntary eight-day experience that replaces what had been one or two days of orientation on everything from accounting basics to learning Excel. The school expects about a third of the incoming class of some 325 to sign up for it.

“This one is a little bit more of an acclimation to the case study environment and business fundamentals,” says Rodriguez. “We just have learned that people who don’t start well struggle through the first half of the year so this is one way to get everyone up to speed. Students wanted a one-week, cohort-based program to get some level-up skills. The ones who start cold on day one report that it is hard to get their footing. We want to make sure they know how to prepare for a case study class, how to ask questions and then debrief what was learned from the discussion.”

DON’T MISS: BUSINESS SCHOOLS WITH THE BEST MBA TEACHING FACULTY or PROFILE & RANKINGS OVERVIEW: VIRGINIA’S DARDEN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.