DePaul University’s highly ranked part-time MBA program, which is offered in Hong Kong and Bahrain, is scheduled to extend its international reach to Europe in January through the opening of an MBA program in the Czech Republic. The program, a joint effort of DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and the Czech Management Center (CMC), will be offered at the CMC’s facility near Prague.

“Research indicates a great demand in this region for Western-style business education—especially an accredited MBA program with DePaul’s reputation for excellence and growing international presence,” said Petr Chadraba, DePaul professor of marketing and director of the new program. The CMC was founded in 1991 with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Its goal is to bring Western universities and Western-style education to Central European nations that are in the process of economic rebuilding.

The curriculum of the new, 18-month Czech MBA program, which will focus on marketing and finance, is in keeping with guidelines established by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-International. Its 16 courses are tailored to accommodate working professionals because the most likely enrollees will be experienced managers working for Western companies in the region, according to Chadraba.

Each course will be taught in an intensive, four-weekend format, with classes meeting on three consecutive Friday evenings and Saturdays. Final exams are administered on the fourth weekend. The program’s capstone course, Strategic Analysis for Competing Globally, will be taught in Chicago at the Kellstadt Graduate School over a two-week period that will include classroom meetings as well as site visits to local firms and business organizations for the students of the Czech MBA program.

“This program takes the DePaul mission of educational access to developing countries in Eastern Europe, and it represents opportunities for everyone involved,” Chadraba said. “Students will gain a cutting-edge, Western-style business education and learn how to help their companies become more competitive in the European Union.” Chadraba said that CMC’s central location should attract professionals within a six-hour driving radius—from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Poland. Advertising and marketing for the program began in Europe this summer, and its director expects the 25-30 spots for the initial class to fill quickly.

“DePaul definitely benefits from this exchange, as well,” Chadraba notes. “The 10 DePaul faculty members who will teach courses in the Czech Republic will be broadened by experiencing a variety of regional European business climates and practices firsthand—knowledge that they can bring back and use in our Chicago classrooms.” John Ahern, professor of accountancy and co-director of DePaul’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, is scheduled to be the first DePaul professor to teach in the Prague program. The program’s faculty also will include teachers from CMC, the London School of Business and IMD, a Swiss institution.

Editor’s Note: Petr Chadraba is the correct spelling.