Defense Comptrollership Program (MBA/EMPA)

Curriculum

The program of study provides future comptrollers/resource managers with the conceptual perspective, practical and analytical tools, and management skills required in the increasingly complex, volatile, uncertain, and ambiguous resource management environment. Certain variations from the traditional MBA/EMPA curriculum exist due to the 14-month on-campus study and the unique orientation of this program.

Rather than having the option of pursuing expertise in an area of concentration, the DCP student is required to take a series of broad management courses that represent those areas most relevant in preparing for subsequent utilization in the field of resource management. On a selected basis, individual students currently possessing graduate-level competency in professional core courses may have the opportunity to pursue a more advanced course in that field, or in certain instances, be allowed to select an elective course in a relevant academic area. Limited areas of concentration are currently available or being developed in health care management, cost analysis, and auditing and accounting. The assistant dean of defense programs and the associate dean for MBA & MS programs must approve any substitution for master's programs.

There is also a requirement for a 24-hour class community service project. This requirement serves to instill in students a commitment to lifetime service to considerations of others.

The Defense Comptrollership Program normally begins in early June and is completed 14 months later, in mid-August. Students are expected to arrive in late May. The majority of the classes are conducted in the Whitman School building at 721 University Avenue. The DCP student participates in an orientation prior to commencing graduate studies in the Augmented Summer Session. The orientation will include a rather full spectrum of non-credit modules, which are intended to acclimate the DCP student to the SU academic environment. Such subjects as team building, advanced writing skills, oral presentations, and time management/study aids are completed.

Students often start with an 8 a.m. class and end the day with a 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. class. Time between classes is consumed with group projects and individual study. Many nights and weekends are spent on individual study and research papers. Time management is critical. Time with family, friends, and relaxation is essential. To gain some appreciation of the stress of the MBA program, potential students should read Peter Robinson's book "Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA" (1994, Warner Books, ISBN 0-466-67117-7). Although the book is about Robinson's experience at Stanford University, it provides a realistic picture of the stresses of the MBA experience.

(latest curriculum available by request: Ms Wendy Frye)

First Quarter--Summer  (12 credits)
MBC 601--Economic Foundation of Business (1½)
MBC 602--Economics of International Business (1½)
MBC 603--Creating Customer Value (1½)
MBC 604--Managing the Marketing Mix (1½)
MBC 638--Data Analysis (3)
PPA 730--Dispute Resolution for Public Managers (3)
 

Second Quarter--Fall (15 credits)
PPA 897--Policy Analysis (3)
MIS 606--IT for Decision Making (1½)
MBC 607--Understanding Financial Statements (1½)
MBC 608--Creating Finanacial Statements (1½)
MBC 610--Ideation (1½)
SMC 656--Project Management (3)
PPA 895--Mid-Career Seminar: Managerial Leadership (3) -OR- PPA ELECTIVE CHOICE
 

Third Quarter--Winter & Spring (18 credits)
PPA XXX--Winter Intercession Elective (3) (Winter)
FIN 600--Bank Management (1½)
MBC 609--Accounting for Managerial Decisions (1½)
MBC 616--Operations Management (1½)
MBC 617--Supply Chain Management (1½)
MBC 618--Competitive Strategy (1½)
MBC 619--Corporate Strategy (1½)
MBC 627--Financial Markets & Institutions (1½)
MBC 628--Fundamentals of Financial Management (1½)
PPA 895--Mid-Career Seminar: Managerial Leadership (3) -OR- PPA ELECTIVE CHOICE
 

Fourth Quarter--Summer (15 credits)
One week visit to Washington, DC
ACC 760--Fraud Examination (3)
MBC 647--Global Entrepreneurial Management (3)
BUA 786--Seminar in Comptrollership & CDFM (6)
PPA 996--Master’s Project (3)


* 24 Hours of Community Service & passing the CDFM examinations is Required

The Academic Community
The quality of an academic program depends on its faculty. The faculty is a talented and accomplished group of scholars who represent a broad range of academic and practical experience. Complementing the members of the faculty who treat the traditional management fields of accounting, finance, marketing, public administration and quantitative methods, are lawyers, economists, and individual/organizational behaviorists. Faculty is both impressive and dedicated to teaching the development of their students' potential. This provides for a beneficial pedagogical environment in which to share ideas and experience.

The graduate student at SU is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and a participant in the academic life of an educational institution. When speaking, writing, or acting as a citizen, he or she should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but this special position imposes special obligations. As a man or woman of learning and a graduate student at the University, the student should remember that his or her conduct and utterances might judge the profession and institution. Hence, the student should try at all times to be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should indicate that he or she is not an institutional representative or spokesperson.

Academic Policies
The University uses an A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, and F grading system for the MBA/EMPA program.

All MBA/EMPA candidate students must maintain a B grade average (3.0). If the average falls below a B, students will be placed on academic probation and granted one semester to return to good standing. Students who fail to return to good standing after one semester are subject to dismissal from the program.

Syracuse University
SU is a private, coeducational, and residential university. Its main campus enrollment of 12,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students represents the 50 states, almost 90 foreign countries, and varied economic and social backgrounds. The University's mission is to promote learning through teaching, research, scholarship, creative accomplishment, and service.

A leader in quality graduate education, SU offers an excellent faculty, numerous resources for study and research, and opportunities for involvement in an active intellectual, cultural, and social community. SU is proud of its reputation as a leading student-centered research university, offering programs in many professional areas as well as in the traditional liberal arts fields. Opportunities for interdisciplinary study are especially good at SU, and the University welcomes students with diverse educational goals. Of the students engaged in graduate study, three-quarters are studying for master's degrees and one-quarter are pursuing doctorates.

Defense Comptrollership  Programs Office
The Office of Defense Comptrollership Programs is composed of a director, Ms Irma P. Finocchiaro; an associate director, Tom Willson; and a full-time and part-time administrative staff. The office is responsible for the administration of the Defense Comptrollership Program, the Executive Comptroller Course (ECC)--a month-long professional development course for mid-level resource managers, the Army Comptroller Course (ACC)--a month-long professional development course for military personnel newly assigned to the comptroller field and civilian personnel seeking to become multi-disciplined, the Senior Resource Managers Course (SRMC)--a one week seminar for senior Defense resource managers, and the Financial Management 101 course (FM 101)--a new course specifically designed for personnel in the technical financial management series to increase their skills and knowledge in financial and resource management and their basic analytical capabilities.