James Madison University’s Information Security Online MBA

James Madison University’s online information security MBA is based in McLean, Virginia, for one very good reason: It’s a town full of defense contractors. Not surprisingly, defense contractor employees make up the majority of those in the program.

“Our Information Security MBA has been around since 1999, with our first cohort graduating in 2002,” says Tisha A. McCoy-Ntiamoah, professional director of MBA programs at the JMU College of Business. “Information security is longest-running program in terms of online, and from that we launched other programs like our Executive Leadership MBA and Innovation MBA.

“We have students that work for banks, we have students that work for insurance companies, but by and large a good number of our students work for defense contractors. And we settled in McLean because of the proximity to a lot of defense contractors.”

COHORTS MEET REGULARLY IN PERSON
JMU’s Information Security MBA is a one-intake, cohort-style online program. (Some exceptions in start dates are made for members of the military.) GMAT waivers are offered to individuals who can demonstrate seven or more years of professional work experience beyond completion of their undergraduate degree and have maintained a 3.0 in undergrad; those who have taken the GMAT and been accepted scored an average of 550. GRE scores all are accepted.
The program currently has 47 students, a quarter of whom are minorities and two-thirds of whom are male. The program takes 28 months to finish, though students are allowed a maximum of six years.

A cohort of 25 or fewer students meets for 28 consecutive months to complete 14 courses for a total of 42 credit hours. The program includes 10 core courses covering basic business…

James Madison University’s online information security MBA is based in McLean, Virginia, for one very good reason: It’s a town full of defense contractors. Not surprisingly, defense contractor employees make up the majority of those in the program.

“Our Information Security MBA has been around since 1999, with our first cohort graduating in 2002,” says Tisha A. McCoy-Ntiamoah, professional director of MBA programs at the JMU College of Business. “Information security is longest-running program in terms of online, and from that we launched other programs like our Executive Leadership MBA and Innovation MBA.

“We have students that work for banks, we have students that work for insurance companies, but by and large a good number of our students work for defense contractors. And we settled in McLean because of the proximity to a lot of defense contractors.”

COHORTS MEET REGULARLY IN PERSON
JMU’s Information Security MBA is a one-intake, cohort-style online program. (Some exceptions in start dates are made for members of the military.) GMAT waivers are offered to individuals who can demonstrate seven or more years of professional work experience beyond completion of their undergraduate degree and have maintained a 3.0 in undergrad; those who have taken the GMAT and been accepted scored an average of 550. GRE scores all are accepted.
The program currently has 47 students, a quarter of whom are minorities and two-thirds of whom are male. The program takes 28 months to finish, though students are allowed a maximum of six years.

A cohort of 25 or fewer students meets for 28 consecutive months to complete 14 courses for a total of 42 credit hours. The program includes 10 core courses covering basic business topics —accounting, finance, marketing, management, strategy — each of which addresses some issues of information security as it relates to the specific discipline. Additionally, four courses focus specifically on information security topics “that managers in today’s business environment need to know,” according to the school’s website.

Cohorts meet face-to-face in McLean once every eight weeks on a Saturday at the beginning and end of every course. Instruction between face-to-face sessions is online, using synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods. Available concentrations include Accounting, E-commerce, Finance, General Management, and Quantitative Analysis/Statistics and Operations Research. The program, ranked 28th in the nation and eighth in student engagement by U.S. News & World Report, costs $37,800, which doesn’t include books or the cost of the mandatory annual “international experience trip.”

JMU MBA HAS ‘GIVEN ME NEW PERSPECTIVE’
Jen Lieberman will graduate from the JMU Information Security online MBA in December 2017. She remembers her personal criteria for choosing a school when conducting research into online MBA programs. Firstly, “It had to be a good school,” she tells Poets&Quants. “JMU’s competitiors included Penn State World Campus, where I started my undergrad, and Virginia Tech. JMU was on my short list as a possibility because I knew about the school from co-workers, and I drive by it every year on my way to Massanutten (Virginia) for vacation.”

Also, she adds, “It had to not take away from my family vacation time,” and “It had to be cost-effective — almost completely paid for by my employer.” JMU fit the bill, with a bonus: Its information security focus was right in Lieberman’s wheelhouse, since she then worked for an info security company as a software manager.

Lieberman cited the program’s blended format as helpful in networking and establishing relationships within her cohort. “All of the InfoSec MBA classes are considered blended format, which means we meet once a week via online conferencing tools, collaborate with Google Docs and Canvas, and meet in person at a hotel local at the beginning and end of each class. It’s been a valuable networking aspect of the program, and I’ve established new relationships with everyone in my cohort.

“When I started the program, I was hoping that the MBA would also help me understand the business side of the technical world, so I could have upward mobility,” adds Lieberman, who also has an MS in computer science. “I have since changed jobs after my previous company’s reduction-in-force, and having the MBA on my resume resulted in my receiving more phone calls when I was actively looking, and I was able to land a new position within a month. I think the MBA program has given me a new perspective on what’s important to upper-level managers and has helped me frame my conversations with them in a way they can understand and take action. I’m also currently being considered for a promotion — I just need to nail the interview next week!”

A PROGRAM FOR THE BUSY AND WELL-TRAVELED
Besides the on-campus requirement, JMU online MBA cohorts take a yearly “international experience trip.” The destination changes annually depending on conditions and political climate, says Tisha McCoy-Ntiamoah. The last two years, the class went to China; this year, in part because of political tensions, they’ll be going to Denmark and Estonia.

The Information Systems MBA is a “management degree at heart,” McCoy-Ntiamoah says, led by a faculty that understands the demands under which students already are performing in their personal and professional lives.

“We have a program specifically designed for individuals working full-time who want to maintain momentum in their career but also earn an MBA,” says McCoy-Ntiamoah, who has been at JMU for 14 years, though it is only her third year with online program. “Our faculty understands that students in our program have very demanding careers and they travel a lot, so our hybrid instruction format makes this a unique program.

“It’s a management degree at heart. We are creating graduates who go on to become managers in organizations that are responsible for overseeing everyone from cybersecurity people to senior management.”