Jennifer Nutini

University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium

“Resilient problem-solver who believes growth comes from discomfort, curiosity, and embracing difficult challenges.”

Age: 42

Hometown: Ishpeming, Michigan

Fun fact about yourself: I was the first female finisher and second place overall in an ultramarathon in 2021. The race director advertises it as a 50-mile event but does not reveal his route changes and total distance until before race day for the surprise factor. The actual course length was about 60 miles, but I missed a turn which added three more, making 100k the longest distance I’ve run in a single day.

Undergraduate School and Degree:  Michigan Technological University, B.S. Geological Engineering

Where are you currently working? I am the Superintendent of Environment & Sustainability Reporting at Eagle Mine, an active underground nickel and copper mine.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The professional achievement I am most proud of is building a long-term career in the mining industry, while continually evolving through personal and organizational changes. Over the course of my career, I have navigated multiple leadership transitions, corporate divestitures, and three maternity leaves while steadily expanding my leadership presence, responsibilities, and professional expertise. During that time, I earned a professional engineering license and completed an MBA while working full time and raising a family.

I am proud of the stability, resilience and credibility I have built over time and contributed to the organization. I know these experiences have prepared me for future leadership opportunities and have shaped the perspective I bring to both technical and strategic business challenges.

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? When I first began exploring graduate programs, I initially sought out sustainability-focused degrees aligned with my career interest. However, after research and reflection, I realized I didn’t want such a specialized path. Rather, I needed a program that would broaden my career path while still allowing me to formally explore sustainability topics.

From there, I researched well-regarded MBA programs that offered strong academic credibility, asynchronous structure, and coursework that would strengthen business acumen and leadership skills. The UW MBA Consortium rose to the top of my list because it offered the breadth of a traditional MBA, while including a sustainability elective that would support my interest in integrating sustainability into organizational strategy.

On a personal level, as someone raised in Wisconsin who chose to attend undergraduate school in Michigan, the prospect of completing an MBA through a Wisconsin institution felt like a full-circle moment in my academic journey.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? My favorite part of being in an online MBA program was the flexibility to take school with me wherever life happened. Over two-and-a-half years, I wrote papers and discussion replies from the back seat of our minivan, hockey rinks and swimming pools throughout Michigan and Wisconsin, airports and hotels from Baltimore to the Grand Canyon, and AirBnbs in Florida and the Caribbean.

What always made me smile was considering what it might be like if we all had disclosed the ways we quietly adapted our routine to make this possible. If we all shared the unusual locations we submitted assignments from, we might discover we had crossed paths without ever knowing it. This shared experience, though unspoken, was meaningful to me.

How did your online MBA experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? The online experience differed in two major ways. First, as undergraduate students, we’re able to be fully immersed in student life. As an MBA student, I was simultaneously balancing the roles of employee, mother, wife, chauffeur, and student often within the span of a few hours. Learning became woven into the fabric of life, rather than how it is the day job of an undergrad, which required a different type of discipline and adaptability.

Secondly, diversity took on a different meaning. During undergrad, many classmates came from similar geographic regions, educational backgrounds, and academic interests. However, in the MBA program, classmates brought an array of professional experience, industries, leadership perspectives, and career stages into discussion. That diversity of real-world experience created entirely different interactions and challenged me to consider wider viewpoints.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? My advice is threefold: be intentional, create a structure that works for you, and create real relationships with your peers and instructors.

Intentional students will synthesize theory and immediately apply it to real-world situations rather than engaging with coursework either transactionally or as an academic exercise. Be of the mindset that you are after being an MBA, not having an MBA degree, and that will go a long way.

Online learning also requires high levels of accountability to structure life in weekly blocks over a prolonged period. It’s inevitable that you will lose steam at times; create a system that allows you to consistently show up despite competing priorities.

Build genuine relationships within the program. One of the most valuable parts of my online experience was developing a connection that moved beyond the virtual classroom to real life. We never met in person, but it felt like we did! Having at least one person who understood the demands of life and school made the experience sustainable and meaningful.

How has your online MBA education helped you in your current job? The MBA helped me better understand how strategy, finance, operations, and organizational priorities work together to sustain and grow a business. This broader business perspective improved how I align my work with the company’s goals rather than viewing challenges through a technical lens.

The program also strengthened my ability to communicate and collaborate across functions. This has helped me build credibility and influence decisions beyond my department. My supervisor has specifically noted growth in my ability to contribute and elevate performance not only in my department but across the organization.

Did you earn a promotion while in the program or immediately after graduation? Coincident with my graduation from the MBA program, my company was divested from a larger organization to a smaller company. As leadership and corporate responsibilities were reorganized, I expressed my interest in applying knowledge and skills I developed during my MBA to help shape the new organization. As a result, I was given the opportunity to develop the company’s sustainability framework, a function that did not yet exist. While still in my current role, this opportunity has expanded my responsibilities and may open the door to future leadership opportunities.

Why did you pursue an online MBA program instead of a full-time residential or executive MBA program? The rigor of a traditional MBA curriculum appealed to me, so I chose that path over the executive format. Maintaining full time employment and being present for my family were non-negotiable priorities, making an online option the best fit.

Early on, I explored programs that involved periodic in-person experiences because I was interested in having the best of both worlds. However, I quickly realized that the additional travel would make it difficult to balance the level of commitment I have for work, family, and studies. The flexibility of the online MBA allowed me to remain rooted at home while growing professionally and academically.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Throughout the program, I observed a shift in how AI was integrated into coursework from being fully restricted to being incorporated with clear guidelines. In later courses, AI was used to support idea generation and challenge assumptions. In some cases, use was permitted more openly provided we disclosed AI-generated content.

A key insight from using AI in both academic and professional settings is that it is a powerful but double-edged tool. While AI can accelerate idea generation and help synthesize complex material efficiently, it also can weaken independent thinking and diminish the satisfaction that comes from creative problem-solving, particularly in engineering disciplines. I use AI selectively, primarily as a thinking partner to surface blind spots, critique assumptions, and strengthen my reasoning and decision-making rather than replace it.

Number of Hours Per Week Spent on an Online MBA: This depended on the course and how naturally I integrated the concepts. Typically, I worked anywhere from six to 25 hours per week on coursework, spending considerable time refining and editing because of a personal emphasis on producing polished submissions.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My ultimate professional goal is to apply my engineering and MBA background in a strategic business leadership role focused on sustainability, risk management, and organizational improvement. I hope to continue growing into roles or functions that contribute more broadly to how an organization solves complex problems, navigates change, and creates long-term value responsibly. Ultimately, it’s important for me to build a career defined by meaningful impact, continuous growth, and alignment with my values and strengths.

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