New Opportunities: A Concierge MBA

A growing, forward-thinking company wants its cadre of executives to continue their education and professional development, but … it’s a growing company with plenty for those executives to do. 

How, and when, to add that piece to the flow of work? 

It’s a sticky problem that confronts plenty of businesses, but as Francis Marion University and HopeHealth are demonstrating, there is a solution. 

The two institutions in Florence, S.C., are partnering on a concierge Master of Business Administration (MBA) program that enables HopeHealth staff to pursue graduate-level courses while remaining active in the workforce. The concierge program is hosted face-to-face at FMU’s downtown campus, just a few blocks from HopeHealth’s main campus. 

The first group of students from HopeHealth — there are eight in this cohort — will graduate in December. Students range from their mid-20s to late 50s. 

FMU leaders expect this partnership will serve as a model, and that other businesses and institutions in the area will follow. Indeed, as HopeHealth’s first cohort nears the end of its studies, a second partnership has already been launched at ACS Technologies. Twelve students are enrolled in that class. 

“I’m hoping, and expecting, more and more organizations to be interested in the program so we can potentially have a new cohort every two years,” says Dr. Hubert Setzler, director of FMU’s Master of Business Administration program. “It has a huge amount of value, it gets the reputation of Francis Marion out, and it allows our professors to go out and see how the curriculum they are teaching applies in the organization.” 

Andrea Chewning, Assistant Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at HopeHealth, believes the new program offers several advantages to HopeHealth’s staff, including personal growth and enhanced loyalty. 

“It has been phenomenal to watch the development of the staff here,” says Chewning. “Not only are they developing in their learning, making better business decisions, and learning about the company, but they now have loyalty to HopeHealth for investing in them. 

“Not only are students learning in class, but we also apply it to real life. HopeHealth benefits by receiving usable information, marketing plans, and more.” 

The concierge MBA program builds on a standing relationship between FMU and HopeHealth. The university has been providing HopeHealth with a steady stream of healthcare professionals for more than a decade now, and HopeHealth is one of the top locations for internships and required practicum placements for FMU’s nursing and advanced practice health students. 

This isn’t the first attempt at delivering FMU educational services to HopeHealth employees either. Prior to the start of this concierge MBA program, some HopeHealth employees were enrolled in Six Sigma certificate programs through FMU. Six Sigma is a business process methodology aimed at improving efficiency. 

“It is nice to have that ongoing relationship where FMU and HopeHealth are both benefiting and everyone is in the same community,” says Chewning. “It is a great way for employers to invest in their people.” 

HopeHealth leaders have also been part of the FMU School of Business’s advisory board, and it has “helped us out with research opportunities,” says Setzler. 

The HopeHealth MBA program resembles a traditional MBA with a modification that allows the student’s research work to focus on the business where they are employed. The first half of the program features tests, quizzes, and projects. In the second half, students collaborate on projects at HopeHealth. They’re able to use HopeHealth data, services, and locations. 

Setzler says the students received a well-structured course of study that is respectful of their time, and their status as full-time employees. It will not overwhelm them. At the same time, it maintains the quality and rigor that is a hallmark of FMU’s MBA program. 

“Curriculum is manageable, but top quality,” says Setzler. “We are accredited at the highest levels of Schools of Businesses at both the undergraduate and graduate level.” 

The specificity of the program, and the fact that the students all work together, creates a unique, and highly beneficial dynamic, too. 

“With this program, there is a certain level of accountability because the students do not want to perform poorly, as they are surrounded by their colleagues,” says Setzler. “Their performance increases. We are directing the content specifically to HopeHealth. If there is an accounting class, we are going to work on accounting projects based on what the students are learning with HopeHealth. A lot of the upper level managers are seeing that application of the MBA program into things they are actually doing.”