Sixteen students earned St. Francis College's first Master of Science in Management degrees this spring and summer, making the program the College's fourth to award graduate degrees.

With its inaugural student cohort enrolling in 2018, the MS in Management program provides a curriculum that equips working professionals with knowledge and skills to succeed in management roles in a variety of business and non-profit settings.

The eleven courses required in the program are taught either fully online or in a hybrid format – combining some in-person evening instruction with online learning – to accommodate students with full-time jobs. Courses focus on topics related to strategy, decision-making, leadership, and change management

Students also complete a capstone course in which they are part of a team that consults a non-profit organization to help it solve a real business problem.

"Because students can enroll either part-time or full-time, our MS in Management lets you keep working while you gain new skills that you can immediately take to the office," said Marie Segares, St. Francis College Management Professor and Director of the MS in Management program. "Our goal is to move people through the courses in a fast, efficient way that gives them the best opportunity to complete their master's and kick their career into a higher gear."

Among the first graduating class is David Loutfi, who works as St. Francis College's Assistant Director of Special

Events. According to Loutfi, the program prepared him to better meet the demands of his current position.

"The management program exposed me to ideas and strategies to successfully analyze business problems and effectively institute solutions," said Loutfi. "While I learned business theory, the program was also very rooted in practical, real-world situations. Every day, I apply what I now know to more efficiently tackle work challenges and identify and resolve potential stumbling blocks before they become insurmountable obstacles."

O'Neira Brown, another graduate, agrees that the program directly contributes to her professional success.

"The MS in Management program helped me understand what is like to be a great leader as well as a great project manager," said Brown, who works as a Business Associate at Con Ed. "The program helped me transition into a new role that was primarily applicable to my degree in project management. The program is phenomenal, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants develop leadership skills and move forward with their career."

Segares says that Loutfi's and Brown's experiences with the program reflects what other students are getting out of it.

"If our first graduates are any indication, our MS in Management program fulfills the intent we had when we created it: to make students better managers so they are well-positioned to compete for senior roles in their current organizations or with new employers, or even to launch their own businesses," said Segares. Research shows that a master's degree can lead to an 18 to 22 percent increase in average annual salary in careers in general management and business management.

Students in the MS in Management program all complete the same six foundational courses, and an additional four in their area of concentration: business management; digital marketing; health care management; project management; or social innovation and entrepreneurship. The final course is the capstone.

Full-time students complete the program in one year. Part-time students in two-and-one-half years.

St. Francis College currently offers four graduate degree programs: in addition to the MS in Management, students can earn Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degrees, and master's degrees in either Psychology or Accounting.

Anyone interested in enrolling in the MS in Management program can request information here.

Pictured top to bottom: Marie Segares; David Loutfi; O'Neira Brown