Spotlight: Baker Online: Doctor of Business Administration
The Baker College
DBA Advantage
- Gain a deeper understanding of business
- Improve your performance and business decisions
- Help solve critical problems
- Foster an environment of performance excellence
- Make a difference in the life of others
“The DBA program has provided me with the ability to make quality business decisions through reflective practice." ”- Dave Gomez
Advance Your Business Career with Quality Education at Baker College
If you're looking for a high-caliber graduate degree in business, consider Baker College's Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA). Baker College's DBA program can give you the edge you need to excel in the business world. The program includes doctoral-level core and specialized courses and topic-specific seminars, professional residencies, research papers, and a dissertation.
Designed specifically for working adults who have to balance school with full-time careers, the DBA program allows you to complete courses from home while maintaining your professional obligations. Encompassing 90 quarter credits, the DBA program is designed to be completed in three years while you continue to work full-time.
What's more, you can immediately apply your newly honed critical problem solving and managerial skills in the workplace, boosting overall performance. "The DBA program has provided me with the ability to make quality business decisions through reflective practice," says Dave Gomez, Baker College DBA student and senior manager of the Hub Control Center at US Airways. "[It] has provided me with the ability to identify when knowledge is needed, and then the skills needed to develop that knowledge to its fullest potential."
What Makes Baker College's DBA Program Unique?
True to its mission, Baker College's Center for Graduate Studies "strives to provide quality education that leads to advanced academic achievement through excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service." As students and professors can attest, Baker College's reputation for excellence in education extends to its DBA program. The following are just a few of the benefits you can expect.
Student-Focused Business Education
Students enrolled in Baker College's DBA program benefit from a practical, student-centric approach to learning. Class size is intentionally limited to provide a low student-to-professor ratio, which allows more faculty-student interaction, an essential component in a student-focused educational experience.
Students are also encouraged to provide constructive input on the efficacy of their educational experience. According to current DBA student, David Tenenbaum, Baker College professors look for "input from the students and are willing to make changes based on that input."
Engaging, Practical Lessons with Immediate Professional Application
One of the benefits of enrolling in a DBA program designed for working professionals is that you can take knowledge from the classroom and apply it in the boardroom the very next day. The theory-to-practice approach at Baker College also "offers students the ability to apply real world expertise to enhance the learning from a scholarly perspective," according to Professor Danielle Babb, PhD.
Professors with Real World Business Experience
At Baker College, classes are taught by experienced professors committed to helping their students succeed. "Faculty members have served as senior executives in major corporations, as distinguished scholars who collectively have supervised over 400 dissertations, as professor emeriti from major research universities, as commentators on the current economic crisis, and as small business owners and business consultants," says Dr. James Vinton, Dean of Doctoral Studies.
In 2008, Baker College welcomed Dr. James A. Stahley to teach and direct student research and help in the overall planning and direction of Baker College's online DBA program. "He is the perfect candidate to move our new DBA program forward, and we are very pleased that he has joined the Baker College family," says Michael Heberling, PhD, president of the Baker College Center for Graduate Studies.
Dr. Stahley brings more than 40 years of educational and managerial experience to this position. When asked to comment on Baker College's faculty, Dr. Stahley replied, "[They] have extensive research backgrounds (in finance, knowledge management, and leadership), solid experiences in successfully guiding doctoral research, and direct experiences in profit, public, and nonprofit organizations."
Baker College's advisory boards also include employers to ensure that its career programs continue to reflect the demands of the marketplace.
How Baker College's DBA Program Works
Baker College's DBA program is intensive enough that you can complete your courses in about three years, but flexible enough that you can concurrently work full-time. In addition to traditional classes that are completed online, students can complete the residency requirement by attending professional conferences.
DBA programs include both scholarly and professional portfolios in the following specializations*:
- Finance
- Marketing
- Management Information
- Human Resource Management
- Leadership
- Student-designed field of study
Students follow a progression from specific core content to supervised activities to focused independent research to help them understand how to work independently and fully comprehend the challenges they are likely to face in today's business environment.
Professors are committed to providing students with every opportunity to succeed in the classroom, and, in turn, in the workplace, making Baker College's DBA program a graduate-level degree program that demands dedication and commitment. Admission requirements include an MBA or related master's degree, a minimum GPA of 3.25 on a 4.0 in their master's coursework, and a minimum of five years of professional experience in business, administration, or management. Special provisions apply to international students or degree holders from non-U.S. institutions.
The challenge of advanced coursework has its benefits. According to Professor Peggy Houghton, PhD, "From my perspective, students seem to be far more engaged at this level. They are able to provide their personal and professional experiences and apply them to the topics under study. This provides a very realistic view of the material."
Accreditation Information
Baker College's DBA Program is accredited through The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
About Baker College
Founded in 1911, Baker College has helped hundreds of thousands of students succeed professionally through quality on campus or online education. As the largest independent college in the state of Michigan, Baker College offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs with a distinct career focus. It serves more than 36,000 students on 12 campuses and in four satellite locations.
*Courses are subject to change; contact Baker College for the most current course listings.
