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Augsburg to Offer Graduate Business Certificates Starting in Fall 2023

This fall, Augsburg University’s MBA program will begin offering graduate business certificates in data analytics, entrepreneurship, finance, and strategic management.

Certificate programs are ideal for busy professionals who want to deepen or develop their skills in a specific area without committing to a full degree program. Each program consists of four core courses from the MBA curriculum. The courses prepare students for professional success using Harvard Business Review journal articles, case studies, simulations, and experiential learning.

Core courses in each program include:

  • Business analytics: quantitative methods, data analytics, data programming, predictive analytics
  • Entrepreneurship: marketing management, strategic management, entrepreneurship, innovation and design
  • Strategic management: financial management, business ethics, marketing management, strategic management
  • Finance: accounting for managers, managerial finance, investment theory and portfolio management, international finance

Each course will meet one night per week for eight weeks at the Hagfors Center on Augsburg’s Minneapolis campus. A certificate can be completed in as little as eight months.

Participants will take courses alongside MBA students and will be eligible to join Augsburg’s innovation speaker series. As part of the MBA curriculum, courses taken in a certificate program can also be applied toward degree completion for the program.

An undergraduate business degree is not required to enroll, but there may be prerequisite work for statistics and Excel. Visit the Augsburg MBA website for more information or to apply.

Dave Conrad writes on leadership and respect

PostBulletinIn his latest column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin, Dave Conrad, associate professor of business, counsels a reader who feels overwhelmed with conflicting advice by summarizing great leadership into one directive: treat employees with respect.

Conrad argues that, “Showing respect enhances a leader’s influence and performance,” but warns against insincerity. “I think employees are sensitive to phony displays of praise and recognition from their managers and perceive these acts as a form of manipulation,” he writes.

Read: Dave Conrad: Good leaders show employees respect on the Post-Bulletin site.

Tommy Redae ’09 MBA shines in Star Tribune article

Minneapolis Star TribuneAugsburg College alumnus Tommy Redae ’09 MBA was featured in a recent Star Tribune story on Wells Fargo’s successful practices in the area of diversity in hiring. Redae described how mentors and networking meetings with business leaders have influenced his career positively.

Visit the Star Tribune website to read, “Wells Fargo clicks when it comes to diversity in hiring.”

Dave Conrad shares workplace advice in national publication

Screen Shot 2015-05-05 at 10.51.05 AMU.S. News & World Report recently published an article detailing common missteps among top employees, and one of the issues was identified by Augsburg’s own Dave Conrad, assistant director of the Augsburg College Master of Business Administration program at Rochester and associate professor in Rochester and Minneapolis.

Conrad noted that it can be detrimental for an employee to be overly negative, which potentially could signal that the employee isn’t right for the company.

Dave Conrad discusses when to let an employee go

PostBulletinDave Conrad, assistant director of the Rochester MBA program, wrote in his latest column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin about the ins and outs of firing an employee.

Conrad suggests a checklist, of sorts, to weigh the options when deciding whether or not to dismiss an employee.

“Because terminating someone is such a big decision, it helps to have an unemotional and objective way to measure the impact of the decision,” Conrad said.

To read the article, visit the Post-Bulletin news site.

Dave Conrad: The most important leadership skills

PostBulletinA number of leadership skills are important, but which one is truly key? That’s hard to say, according to a new column by Dave Conrad in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Conrad, Augsburg College’s assistant director of the Rochester MBA program, notes that leadership skills vary in relevance depending on individuals’ roles within the workforce. To learn why conceptual, relationship-building, and technical skills each play an important role, read “The most important leadership skills” on the Post-Bulletin website.

Dave Conrad: Learn what stress is trying to tell you

PostBulletinStress has been called the “health epidemic of the 21st century” by the World Health Organization, and Dave Conrad offers suggestions for dealing with stress in his latest column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Conrad, Augsburg College’s assistant director of the Rochester MBA program, notes that finding ways to alleviate stress can be as beneficial for employers as it is for employees. Read, “Learn what stress is trying to tell you” on the Post-Bulletin website.

Dave Conrad: Embrace constructive conflict

PostBulletinAugsburg College’s Dave Conrad, assistant director of the Rochester MBA program, wrote in his most recent column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin about finding the right balance between the need to deal with conflict and the instinct to avoid it. Read “Embrace constructive conflict” for details on how effective debate can spur innovation in the workplace.

Dave Conrad: Good leaders focus on results

PostBulletinAugsburg College’s Dave Conrad, director of the Rochester MBA program, wrote in his most recent column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin about how good leaders should focus on results. Read “https://www.postbulletin.com/news/business/dave-conrad-good-leaders-focus-on-results-and-people/article_c9877a58-313f-527e-92ef-6d014a71da1d.html” href=”http://www.postbulletin.com/business/dave-conrad-good-leaders-focus-on-results-and-people/article_c9877a58-313f-527e-92ef-6d014a71da1d.html” target=”_blank”>Good Leaders Focus on Results” for insight into how good leaders can produce engaged employees.

Dave Conrad talks about shared purpose in Post-Bulletin

PostBulletinDave Conrad, assistant director of the Augsburg College MBA program in Rochester, talked in his most recent Rochester Post-Bulletin column a response to a question about fostering shared purpose and collaboration in the workplace. Conrad outlined steps toward building cohesion, including the need to identify with employees the goals, path, roles, and rewards of a project. Read “Dave Conrad: Shared purpose drives collaboration” on the Post-Bulletin website.