Currently, first-year MBA candidates have no room for electives. To change that, the plan also suggests a consolidation of the 11 semester-long courses required of first-years into four comprehensive, year-long courses taught by groups of faculty.

Implementation

Announced in the spring of 1992, implementation of Leadership and Learning to date will take place in three stages, officials say.

Phase I involved data gathering and a clear definition of the case for change in the MBA program. Headed by a Core Design Team and Faculty Development Committee, eight task forces began an extensive research and review process last spring.

Phase II consisted of designing proposals and recommendations based on the research.

Leadership and Learning entered into the third phase on February 10, Schlesinger says.

The Business School faculty approved a group of "desired characteristics and capabilities," which includes three general categories--"Values and Qualities," "Skills" and "Knowledge." They serve as a set of specifications and criteria to administer the direction of the restructuring.

Most of this year has been spent on the design of Leadership and Learning and faculty review of the proposals, Sloane says.

"It won't all happen on a single day," he says. "There will be some changes and experiments in this and next academic years."

Though faculty involvement has been "nothing short of extraordinary," Schlesinger says, most of the actual implementation has yet to begin.

The "Foundations" curriculum will be put in place by the summer of 1995 while a formal proposal concerning values and ethical issues will be presented next fall. Second-year reforms will take place in the 1995-96 academic year, Schlesinger says.

"We're happy with where we are," Schlesinger says. "But we haven't done any big implementations yet. The faculty will see significant orientations this fall."

Robison Professor of Business Administration James I. Cash Jr., chair of he MBA program, emphasizes the continual nature of Leadership and Learning's implementation process.

"We are attempting to reduce fragmentation that exists in our core curriculum and we're setting up an organizational structure that will facilitate higher degrees of experimentation and innovation," he says.

Sloane agrees. "It's perceived to be an ongoing process of change," he says. "We're adapting [to] tomorrow's leadership challenges."

Compared to other schools' experiences, Cash says current progress has exceeded his expectations.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic," he says. "The kind of commitment my colleagues have shown has been great."