Raymond A. Mason School of Business Online MBA

William & Mary intends to train its OMBA students to be “renaissance thinkers and revolutionary leaders.” And the OMBA curriculum at William & Mary is designed to instill effective models of thinking to solve complex issues.

“The Wicked Problem” is a central idea to the OMBA program at William & Mary. It’s a mantra that’s seeded into the fabric of how students at William & Mary learn and, ultimately, apply their education to real-world challenges, or “wicked problems,” in business. Students in the program identify a serious challenge that impacts their personal or professional lives and use that issue to guide them through their studies throughout their MBA education.

“The William & Mary Online MBA program requires students to apply classroom learning in real-time to real-world challenges in business,” Pam Suzadail, Associate Dean and Executive Director of online learning says.

Students begin the program in a course called “Renaissance Manager,” where they’re introduced to design thinking as a core mindset to approach complex problems.

“Design thinking is a method of tackling problems that does not presume a solution,” Suzadail says. “It replaces a linear mindset that prioritizes completion over innovation with an iterative approach aimed at constant refinement and open to unexpected discoveries.”

Residencies Are A Highlight

William & Mary’s OMBA program is designed to be completed in 24 months. Required courses include 12 core online classes including Renaissance Manager, Revolutionary Leaders, and 10 core MBA classes; Leadership in the 21^st Century, Finance, Accounting, Operations, Business Analytics, Integrated Technology, Global Managerial Economics and Organizational Behavior.

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William & Mary intends to train its OMBA students to be “renaissance thinkers and revolutionary leaders.” And the OMBA curriculum at William & Mary is designed to instill effective models of thinking to solve complex issues.

“The Wicked Problem” is a central idea to the OMBA program at William & Mary. It’s a mantra that’s seeded into the fabric of how students at William & Mary learn and, ultimately, apply their education to real-world challenges, or “wicked problems,” in business. Students in the program identify a serious challenge that impacts their personal or professional lives and use that issue to guide them through their studies throughout their MBA education.

“The William & Mary Online MBA program requires students to apply classroom learning in real-time to real-world challenges in business,” Pam Suzadail, Associate Dean and Executive Director of online learning says.

Students begin the program in a course called “Renaissance Manager,” where they’re introduced to design thinking as a core mindset to approach complex problems.

“Design thinking is a method of tackling problems that does not presume a solution,” Suzadail says. “It replaces a linear mindset that prioritizes completion over innovation with an iterative approach aimed at constant refinement and open to unexpected discoveries.”

Residencies Are A Highlight

William & Mary’s OMBA program is designed to be completed in 24 months. Required courses include 12 core online classes including Renaissance Manager, Revolutionary Leaders, and 10 core MBA classes; Leadership in the 21^st Century, Finance, Accounting, Operations, Business Analytics, Integrated Technology, Global Managerial Economics and Organizational Behavior.

Additionally, students are required to attend one on-campus residency weekend that best fits their schedule or interests.

“Residencies are a highlight of the online MBA student experience,” Suzadail says.

Residency weekends focus on three areas: connecting students to each other and their faculty, immersing them in the W&M campus experience, and a course on current business problems. Past residencies have explored, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace, Mergers & Acquisitions, Ethics, Entrepreneurial Thinking, and Crisis Management.

Ultimate Flexibility  

A key benefit to the OMBA program at William & Mary is the flexibility that it offers. OMBA courses are asynchronous and are shorter than your typical semester, allowing students to take one class at a time – allowing students to balance both work and personal life.

“When we designed the program, we wanted to make the mechanics of the program work for busy professionals and also provide a curriculum that would help students apply the core MBA classes to something that they are personally or professionally interested in,” Suzadail says.

In many ways, the OMBA program offers the same quality education as the traditional MBA, but with more convenience and flexibility.

“Emphasizing breadth of knowledge, communications, critical thinking and creative problem-solving, our program delivers a world-class business education unlike any other by focusing on an innovative theme: ‘Renaissance Thinker, Revolutionary Leader,’” Suzadail says. “This unique program enables students to think in terms of the big picture and learn how to execute the details that help make the businesses they work with thrive and, in a broader sense, help make the world a better place.”