News

New Collaborative MBA gets underway at Bluffton

A new Collaborative MBA program, offered by Bluffton (Ohio) University, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., and Goshen (Ind.) College, got underway with a week of residency at Bluffton in late summer.

Thirteen adult students from as far away as Iowa, Washington, D.C., and Ontario participated in an orientation to the program, interacted with professors through video conferencing, and took a class on “Leadership for the Common Good” led by Bluffton business professor George Lehman.

The one-week residency was the beginning of a two-year journey. Most of the program will now be taught via interactive videoconferencing.

The curriculum is based on the concept of “leadership for the common good,” emphasizing six values — spirituality, community, leading as service, justice, sustainability and global citizenship.

Students will jointly take nine of the 12 courses in the program.

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Bluffton University business professor George Lehman (right) addresses members of the fi rst cohort in the new Collaborative MBA program that teams Bluffton with Eastern Mennonite University and Goshen College.

Faculty from Bluffton, EMU and Gos- said Bluffton business professor hen will each teach three of the nine George Lehman. courses via videoconference. Stu- Initial comments were positive. dents will take the remaining three “I think I’ll have more courage to courses, in their respective concen- speak about my values,” said Freetrations, from the institution where man Edwards of North Ridgeville, they are offered. Program concen- Ohio, who had considered other trations are leadership; health care MBA programs but thought this one management; accounting and fi nan- seemed “the most ethical.” cial management; leading nonprofi ts; Marsha King, Goshen, Ind., saw confl ict transformation; sustainabil- the Collaborative MBA as “a bridge” ity; intercultural leadership; and a between her Mennonite background self-designed concentration. and her corporate work in medical Students came from diverse device sales. She said the residency backgrounds and ages (28-69). Mark provided a community experience as Leinbach, for example, is executive a group with “connected values.” ◆ director of SpringHaven Counseling Center, Dundee, Ohio. Doug Zehr is a Foosland, Illinois, farmer who will soon start a job with Orrville, Ohiobased Venture Products Inc. Dominique Burgunder-Johnson directs Comments? online campaigns for the National Would you like to comment on Wildlife Federation in Washington, anything in this magazine, or on any D.C. other matters relating to business The event was planned to aland faith? Send your thoughts to low group members plenty of time wkroeker@meda.org outside class to “bounce signifi cant day-to-day issues off each other,”

Churches urged to curb short-term mission trips

Millions of people participate in short-term mission trips (STMs) each year, to the tune of $1.6 billion.

And while STMs provide an opportunity to infl uence how Christians think about poverty, missions and the poor, the methods they use may end up harming poor communities and the ministries that work in them.

So say Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, co-authors of the new book Helping Without Hurting in ShortTerm Missions (Moody). People who count the full cost of short-term trips

Top-10 list of “happy jobs” for this year’s crop of grads

You’ve heard of David Letterman’s top-10 list; here’s a list that claims to show the 10 “happiest jobs” for the graduating class of 2014.

It comes from CareerBliss, a job search and review website. Its data analysts pored over 25,000 independent, anonymous employee reviews sent in over a three-year period and ranked jobs in which young professionals claimed to be the happiest. These were: 1. Java developer 2. Embedded software engineer 3. .NET developer 4. Medical technologist 5. Quality assurance engineer 6. Credit analyst 7. Management consultant 8. Network engineer 9. Data analyst 10. Web developer

The reviews focused on job elements that tend to affect “work happiness,” including managers and coworkers, encouragement and rewards received, opportunities for professional growth, company environment and culture, workfl ow and day-to-day responsibilities.

Older readers may not recognize some positions. The top-ranked job, for example, is Java developer, which has to do with programmers who use the specifi c language of client-server web applications. It’s a fi eld that has been projected to grow 22 percent between now and 2022. “Technology is constantly morphing, leaving great opportunities for new and rising talent,” says Heidi Golledge, co-founder and Chief Happiness Offi cer of CareerBliss. ◆ might fi nd themselves thinking they could better advance the gospel by staying home, the authors say. “We should consider trimming our spending and scale of trips, and instead giving that money to proven, trusted organizations that are engaged in effective, asset-based development work via local churches and workers,” they write.

The authors caution that mission jaunts can devolve into power trips as western visitors see all the things the poor lack and think they can meet those needs. “We forget that God created them with gifts and abilities that they can use to improve their own lives,” say Corbett and Fikkert.

“Trips need to be reformed, not destroyed. The key to making trips worth the investment is situating the trip as merely one piece in a longer learning experience, moving participants forward in long-term engagement with missions and effective poverty alleviation.” ◆

Management Faculty Vacancy

Eastern Mennonite University announces a

full-time assistant or associate professor in tenure-track faculty position in Management beginning mid-August 2015. Ph.D. or D.B.A. in management, marketing, or related fi eld of business; university teaching experience; managerial experience in business or other organizational setting. Teaching responsibilities (typically four courses per semester) include all levels of undergraduate courses and possibility of teaching at the graduate level. Preference will be given to those with teaching expertise or experience in Management Information Systems and/or Quantitative Decision-Making and Research Methods. In addition, other courses will be determined based on need and candidate preference. Applicants must have a strong commitment to high quality undergraduate teaching and be enthusiastic about mentoring and advising undergraduates. Engagement in ongoing scholarly activity and departmental and university service is expected. Nine-month contract, salary determined by education and experience. EMU uses a tenure-with-review contract system. Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, transcripts (unoffi cial acceptable), and three letters of reference to Dr. Deirdre Smeltzer, Vice President & Undergraduate Academic Dean, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. http://www.emu.edu. ugdean@emu.edu Applicants will be acknowledged by letter or email. Review begins immediately. Applicants will be asked to respond to questions specifi c to EMU’s mission after the initial inquiry. EMU reserves the right to fi ll the position at any time or keep the position open. AAEO employer.