Pamplin's executive MBA program partners with L-3 Communications

Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business and L-3 Communications Titan Group, of Reston, Va., have established an educational partnership under which the firm's employees will receive a tuition discount for the college’s executive master of business administration (MBA) program.

“In exchange, the college will be accorded ‘preferred provider’ status for executive MBA programs by L3, which provides financial support for its employees seeking advanced business degrees,” said Charles Jacobina, executive director of Pamplin's executive MBA program.

Under the agreement, effective from the 2008 spring semester, L-3 Communications Titan employees will receive a 7 percent tuition discount and a waiver of the application fee. The company provides comprehensive information and communications products and services for national security. Its clients include the United States Department of Defense and intelligence agencies.

The executive MBA program, based at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in metropolitan Washington, D.C., secured its first corporate partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton last year. Launched in 2003, the executive MBA program currently enrolls 65 students in cohorts or classes of about two dozen students each. Students are recruited for cohorts that begin each September and February. Classes are held at the Northern Virginia Center every other weekend over an 18-month period.

The 25 executives in its newest, eighth cohort (beginning February 2008) include 11 students with a master’s degree, professional certification, or graduate course completion, and four students from outside the Washington metro area (Roanoke, Va.; Virginia Beach; Maryland; and St. Augustine, Fla.). Employers represented in the cohort include AOL, the Department of Defense, Freddie Mac, Marriott, ePlus, and Case Remodeling.

“The program is designed for busy, experienced professionals with or without business degrees,” said Jacobina. Its broad curriculum, he said, seeks to provide an understanding of the major elements of business, examines the ethical and global implications of management, and prepares managers for making decisions in a rapidly changing world. “Our program is designed to enhance the executive skills and personal confidence required for career advancement and to promote networking opportunities.”

Read more about the program.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, business diversity, electronic commerce, organizational performance, and services innovation. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of alumnus Robert B. Pamplin, the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and businessman, philanthropist, and alumnus Robert B. Pamplin Jr.