Washington University in St. Louis is among five finalists for the MBA Roundtable Innovator Award Program, which is designed to recognize and promote educational initiatives that advance innovation in MBA education and acknowledge institutions that are driving change in the field.
WUSTL nominated Critical Thinking@Olin, which helps business students ask the right questions to comprehensively formulate problems and opportunities; gather, assess and interpret data; reach sound conclusions and solutions; and communicate persuasively and effectively.
The winning school will be announced at the MBA Roundtable 2011 Curricular Innovation Symposium Nov. 17 and 18 at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The MBA Roundtable received entries that highlighted a wide variety of programmatic initiatives. Entries were reviewed by a diverse team of judges with corporate, entrepreneurial and business school backgrounds and finalists were selected based on the criteria set forth.
Finalists, in addition to WUSTL, are:
- Babson College
- Dalhousie University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Pennsylvania
Critical Thinking@Olin, launched in 2007, developed a novel approach to teaching critical thinking and redesigning MBA orientation.
It introduced several curriculum changes — including two new courses — as well as peer and self-assessments; training of faculty and staff on critical thinking tools and techniques; and incorporating expectations of critical thinking into all courses throughout the curriculum.
Critical Thinking@Olin has impacted the employment success of students. Recruiter feedback offers many testimonials about Olin students’ improved ability to face today’s business challenges.
“Over the past three years, Olin MBA employment rates 90 days post-graduation have been in the top 5 nationally,” says Mark Brostoff, associate dean and director of the Weston Career Center. “Since we began to implement Critical Thinking @Olin, we have heard very positive feedback from recruiters about our candidates ability to tackle complex problems in an interview setting.”
For more information on Critical Thinking@Olin, email Jackson Nickerson, PhD, the Frahm Family Professor of Organization & Strategy, at nickerson@wustl.edu.
For more information on the Innovator Award Program, visit ennect.com/e1611/p11862.aspx.