Taking care of business at Iona - Westfair Communications

Vincent Calluzzo, dean of Iona College”™s Hagan School of Business, and Charles Cante, Hagan”™s associate dean for business and MBA program director, have been taking care of business at the New Rochelle campus. And they”™ve only just begun.

Since 2004, Calluzzo and Cante have been making changes at the school and in the Master of Business Administration program by expanding offerings and opportunities for their students, which Cante says Iona is all about.

“We”™re student focused,” said Cante. “One of our programs we have is personally counseling every MBA student. Though not everyone has come, we have 350 (students) and I have spoken with 285. They get a personalized plan that meets their career goals, their money availability to take courses and when they think they would like to finish.”

Cante says when he speaks with students, he starts the discussion asking what they would like to accomplish for themselves and what part of an MBA will help them accomplish those goals. “In a way we”™re stimulating thoughts about their own life and career,” he added.

“Because it”™s about the whole person,” added Calluzzo. “And we”™re looking at a future leader in America. We”™re not here just to give you an MBA. We”™re here to help you get an MBA and establish a career for yourself.”

Hagan offers five MBA programs: in management, marketing, human resource management, information systems and finance. Recently, it added a new major in public accounting and the school is working on getting college and state approval to add an MBA in general accounting.

In addition to its MBA programs, the school also offers certificate programs that students can take either as part of their MBA studies or, for others who already have their MBAs, they can enter just the certification program. Students can take certification courses in international business, electronic commerce, business continuity and risk management, public accounting, and general accounting. The school is also in the process of getting approval for the advanced certificate in sports and entertainment business.

Hagan”™s business continuity and risk management certification program is one on which the school prides itself. “If you”™re in industry, you can see the need (for disaster relief management) with fires and earthquakes, Al-Quaida and other interruptions,” Cante said. “Companies appreciate if you have a manager that has a background in how to handle the situation.”

“We”™re on the forefront of this area,” Calluzzo said. “I don”™t think there are any other colleges in the New York metropolitan area that even come close to what we do in this area.”

MBA students are also beginning to take on internships, which they weren”™t able to do in the past. About a year and half ago several of Hagan”™s working students began rearranging their schedules and taking vacation time in order to get an internship, which Cante said can add value to one”™s employer or add value to a career change.

While the school offers a variety of programs, the “Fast Track MBA Program is our new hot item,” said Cante. “We”™re targeting not only business students, but nonbusiness students that might need their MBA as part of their career path.”

Cante said that science students, such as chemists and biologists, may find an MBA useful if they”™re thinking about working in technical sales or marketing. Cante also said medical and law students may find an MBA to their advantage as well, due to the business background the degree would give them before working in their residency or law clerkship.

A unique part of the Hagan experience is the international influence in the classroom. Currently, the school employs professors from Central and Eastern Europe and from Turkey. Talks are under way to recruit professors from Africa, Asia and South America.

In addition to Hagan”™s MBA students”™ eligibility to study abroad, Cante said the school also offers “reverse study abroad,” and has enrolled at least 14 students from Africa, Asia, including Pakistan, and Russia in the MBA program.

“There”™s a real need for international focus,” Calluzzo said. “This is an international and global economy and having students from outside the U.S. really helps our MBA students. They give the classroom a real flavor.”

No matter where you”™re from, Cante wants students to come in and meet any goals they have and feel good about the program. “They become our point of advertising,” he said. “And as they grow in management they can teach, give money or donate their time.”

Two Hagan School MBA graduates who have been donating much of their time are Vince Farrell of CNBC and commercial real estate developer Robert P Weisz, both Hagan teaching fellows for the MBA program.

“I constantly look from within to bring in executives who have had the same kind of beginnings as our students to show them you don”™t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to be a CEO or president,” said Cante.