ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business today announced an extended list of its online offerings for the fall semester to meet the changing needs and interests of students as society becomes increasingly digital and driven by technology. Through Coursera, the education platform delivering the courses, and Ross faculty, some of the world's leading minds in finance, leadership, and negotiation are making the learnings offered at one of the country's leading business schools available to anyone in the world, both within the University of Michigan network and beyond.
As one of the top-ranked business programs in the nation, Michigan Ross is leading the transformation in how business education is delivered through a variety of on demand online offerings. Current students, alumni, and the general public scattered across the world will benefit from on demand and guided learning that challenges students to consider the fundamental role of business in society and encourages a lifelong love of learning. Available in multiple languages, students can access materials at anytime from anywhere. Gautam Kaul, professor of finance at Michigan Ross, has been one of the faculty leaders in the digital education movement at the University of Michigan, demonstrated through the immense popularity of his Introduction to Finance massive open online course (MOOC), which had more than 130,000 enrollees last fall, making it one of the most popular offerings across the entire Coursera network. To date, Kaul’s classes have achieved over 850,000 enrollees since he began teaching online courses 2012.
As interest in online education has steadily risen, the University of Michigan has expanded its online offerings and has reached more than 3.4 million lifelong learners over the past three years with plans to offer more than 50 MOOCs by Winter 2016. Michigan Ross faculty, many of whom have been at the forefront of the digitalization of higher education, have reached learners in more than 200 countries through MOOCs.
“The proliferation of new channels for acquiring knowledge and skills is seriously challenging the distributed manual model of education that we have known for the past 1,000 years. A new centralized digital model is emerging that breaks down old barriers of time and space. In line with this evolution in the practice and distribution of education, we are expanding our online course offerings to offer additional opportunities for students to cultivate a global perspective on business in an on demand, digital format,” said Wally Hopp, senior associate dean for faculty and research at Michigan Ross. “These new offerings are designed to serve the learning styles and aspirations of a new generation of students, while also giving us the opportunity to continue shaping professionals and business leaders within our network and beyond."
Online Specializations and courses led by Michigan Ross faculty launching this fall include:
- Introduction to Finance: Valuation and Investing, Gautam Kaul – This Specialization builds on the success of the Introduction to Finance course and provides a rigorous introduction to core topics in financial valuation, including time value of money, cash flow analysis, asset pricing, and risk and return. Enrollment is open with the course beginning on September 15, 2015.
- Leading People and Teams, Scott DeRue, Maxim Sytch, and Cheri Alexander – In this Specialization, students will develop their ability to influence people and teams toward the accomplishment of a shared vision. Teachings will include how to motivate individual employees by setting goals, giving structured feedback, and rewarding progress; to develop influential relationships within and across teams; and to foster trust, collaboration, and vision alignment among team members. Students will also be able to learn directly from top leaders including Jeff Brodsky, Global Head of HR for Morgan Stanley, and John Beilein, Head Coach of the University of Michigan Men’s Basketball Team. Enrollment is open with the course beginning on September 15, 2015.
- Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills, George Siedel – This course will help students to improve their negotiating skills on both a personal level and in the business realm. Students will learn about and practice the four steps to a successful negotiation, with one module for each step. Enrollment is open with the course available on demand.
There are currently 11 Michigan Ross-led courses open for enrollment, including Leading People and Teams and Introduction to Finance: Valuation and Investing, both 5-course Specialization series, along with the one main frame course, Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills. Each of the specialization series has five successive courses, concluding with a capstone. All of the University of Michigan’s online offerings are available to current students, alumni, and the general public free of charge unless taken as part of a certificate program. These online offerings are expanding the reach of Ross’ business education to a realm of students and lifelong learners outside of the Michigan Ross network and enhancing their business acumen.
To learn more about the University’s complete offering of online courses, visit www.coursera.org/umich.
About Michigan Ross
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a vibrant and distinctive learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today's dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business mission is to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society.
Ross is consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the BBA, MBA, Part-time MBA (Evening and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Supply Chain Management, Master of Management, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers open-enrollment and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management.
