2024-2025 Graduate Catalog
Helzberg School of Management
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Overview
Advancement to positions of major responsibility today depends increasingly on education beyond the bachelor’s degree. Whether working in public or private institutions, large or small, those seeking achievement of career goals and the long-term success of their organizations often look to graduate education in some area of business administration.
Rockhurst Graduate Business Programs meet this demand for competent, confident leaders with management skills necessary to lead successful organizations in dynamic, rapidly changing environments. Faculty use a wide variety of teaching approaches with emphasis on reality-based action learning case studies, projects, simulations and team-based activities. Courses blend theory and application to ensure both a broad-based understanding of contemporary business, and the capacity to appreciate how technology, globalization and social change are shaping the future business environment.
Rockhurst MBA, MA, and MS graduates possess the business management skills necessary to effectively manage people, processes and programs. They also possess the leader’s ability to discern, envision, empathize, communicate, and lead in an ethical, socially responsible manner.
Vision, Mission, and Core Values
The Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst exists to prepare leaders to make a positive difference in the world. Our mission is to be the driving force in the community to educate and develop leaders of competence and conscience, based upon the Jesuit tradition of learning, leadership and service.
We will teach, practice, and be guided by:
- Reverence for dignity of the human person;
- Respect for the intellectual and spiritual aspects of education;
- Commitment to the community and its progress;
- Honesty, integrity, and ethics in every aspect of the educational endeavor; and
- Commitment to engaged learning and applied business interactions.
History and Milestones
Since 1933, Rockhurst business education and leader development have been characterized by innovation and responsiveness to a changing environment. Significant “firsts” include Kansas City’s first co-educational business degree for working adults (1933), the city’s first part-time MBA program (1976), first executive MBA program (1978), and participation in Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ ground-breaking DO/MBA Dual Degree program featuring a Rockhurst MBA in Health Care Leadership (2001). In the Spring of 2014, the Helzberg School of Management became the first business school in the region to offer certificates in Data Science and Business Analytics as well as Business Intelligence. For more than 70 years, Rockhurst has met the demand for competent, confident leaders with management skills necessary to lead successful organizations in dynamic, rapidly changing environments.
The Helzberg School of Management offers an accelerated or part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA), with stackable certificates in Accounting - CPA pathway, Analytics and Insights, Business Administration, Change Management, Data Strategy and Leadership, Finance and Accounting, Health Care Management, Nonprofit Administration, and Organizational Leadership. Rockhurst BSBA students with a concentration in accounting may use the accelerated MBA to meet CPA exam requirements. The Helzberg School of Management offers a Master of Arts with concentrations in organizational leadership and development, health care management, and nonprofit leadership. The Master of Science is the newest graduate degree program offered in the Helzberg School of Management (previously offered as the MS-BIA degree). In collaboration with Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Helzberg School of Management offers a dual degree DO/MBA. Other dual degree programs include: MBA/MS, MBA/MA, DPT/MBA, DPT/MA, MOT/MBA, MOT/MA.
The Helzberg School of Management offers a unique focus on executive education within the greater Kansas City area through its executive program, the Executive MBA. As part of its commitment to lifelong learning within the Catholic, Jesuit tradition, the Helzberg School of Management also provides educational and developmental programs for managers within the metropolitan area and offers post-graduate certificates in areas that Master of Business Administration graduates may further pursue.
Graduate Business Program Admission Requirements
- Completed application
- Current resume or curriculum vitae
- Bachelor’s degree and:
- 3.0 GPA at the completion of the program, OR
- 3 years of professional work experience
- Official transcript(s) from all degree awarded institutions showing completion of baccalaureate degree(s)
Students in their final year of undergraduate study may apply and be granted conditional admission before their graduation; however, enrollment status will be dependent on the successful completion of their bachelor’s degree.
Applicants earning a GPA below 3.0 are encouraged to submit at least one item from the supplemental materials listed below to support their case for admission.
Supplemental Application Materials
Applicants are welcome to submit one or more of the following materials to further enhance their application.
- Letter of Recommendation
- Personal statement outlining the applicant’s interests and career objectives
- GMAT, GRE, or LSAT score
- Although test scores are not required for admission, the College of Business and Technology graduate admissions committee reserves the right to ask applicants to submit test scores should it be deemed important to the other required application materials. Notification of such a request will be made directly to the applicant via email.
- Relevant professional certifications
Graduate Business Programs Standards and Policies
In addition to compliance with Rockhurst University Academic Policies and Procedures , students must adhere to policies specific to the Helzberg School of Management.
Length of Program
Students must complete the requirements for all graduate business programs within six years of beginning their Prerequisite courses, or, if no prerequisites are required, from their 6000-level Managerial Perspectives courses. Students may complete the degree in as little as one calendar year by enrolling full-time or in as few as 8 terms by enrolling part-time. Classes are offered during 5 terms throughout the calendar year with entry points in January, March, June, August, and October. At one course per term, the student would still graduate within the allotted six years. Students taking more than 8 hours of graduate-level courses at the Helzberg School of Management in any one term, must have the Dean’s or Program Director’s approval.
Transfer Credit
A maximum of nine semester hours may be transferred from other accredited graduate business programs. Students enrolled in a Jesuit, AACSB-accredited business program are able to utilize the Jesuit Transfer Agreement. For more information, contact your Jesuit graduate business academic advisor. Rockhurst University credit is based on the semester hour. A grade of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is required on all transferred hours. Decisions on transfer credit are made at the time of admission as part of the initial credit evaluation.
When the student is already pursuing a graduate degree at Rockhurst, and wishes to take a graduate course at another institution and apply the credit toward their Rockhurst degree, the student must first request permission to transfer the credit. The student submits a Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit form for approval, course descriptions, and other supporting materials requested to the Helzberg School of Management Graduate Business Advisor for approval by the Dean or Program Director. In some cases coursework accepted may result in an extension of the six-year time limit. Once approved by the program, the student may take the course at the other institution. Approval for transfer will be forwarded to the Registrar’s Office. Once the coursework has been completed, the student must request that a sealed official transcript from the other institution be sent directly to the Registrar’s Office at Rockhurst University so that the pre-approved credit will be applied to their Rockhurst degree.
Registration
A priority system of enrollment is used for those students needing 3 terms or fewer hours to graduate to help ensure that those students are enrolled in the classes required to complete their degree requirements. Specific dates and times of enrollment are listed for each semester on-line on the Rockhurst University website, www.rockhurst.edu. Early registration is urged in order to avoid class closings, especially for those students who lack flexibility in class selection.
Students who register early will be billed by the Business Office. However, all students are responsible for payment in accordance with regulations published online, whether they receive a bill or not. Refer to the website for complete information.
Grade Requirements
A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in all 6000-7000 level courses is required in order to receive the MBA, EMBA, MA, MS degree or a graduate certificate. The cumulative GPA calculation will also include all prerequisite courses required for degree or certificate completion.
Academic Probation and Dismissal
All students are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.00 by term and cumulative. If a student’s GPA falls below 3.00 for either a term or cumulatively, they will be placed on academic probation and will have up to two semesters of enrollment in no more than six credit hours per semester to bring their cumulative GPA to 3.00. Failure to meet probation conditions generally will result in dismissal from the MBA, EMBA, MA, MS or certificate program.
A grade of “F” in any MBA, EMBA, MA, or MS prerequisite course or courses at the 5000-7000 levels will result in dismissal from the MBA, EMBA, MA, MS or certificate program. A student has the right to request readmission following a first dismissal by submitting a letter to the Helzberg School of Management Dean or Dean’s designee.
The dismissed student must retake the course in which he/ she received the “F” grade and successfully pass with a grade of “B” or better before earning credit in any other courses. A course may be retaken only once. If these requirements are not satisfied, termination of enrollment will become final. The grade of “F” will remain on the transcript, but only the newer grade will be factored into graduate GPA computation. To remain in step with their cohort, an EMBA student may retake a course where a “F” was received according to the terms of their probation. EMBA students who fail to meet the terms of their probation will be subject to permanent dismissal.
Course Repetition
If a student must repeat a course because the original course is over six years old, both grades will remain on the transcript but only the newer grade will be factored into graduate GPA computation. If a student is not required to repeat a course, but desires to do so, the original and newer grade will remain on the transcript but only the newer grade will be factored into graduate GPA computation.
Incompletes
Students are encouraged to complete courses during the assigned semester. A grade of “I” (Incomplete) may be assigned only for serious reasons by the course instructor. The time frame for the removal of an “Incomplete” shall be established by the faculty member in consultation with the appropriate dean and communicated to the student, but must be removed within six weeks or less or it automatically becomes an “F”. The initiative in arranging for the removal of the “I” rests with the student. (Refer to the grading policy in Graduate Academic Policies.)
Programs
Helzberg Certificates of Graduate Study
Helzberg Dual Degree Programs
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