AUBURN UNIVERSITY TO DEVELOP CUSTOM MBA PROGRAM FOR PRATT & WHITNEY

AUBURN - The Auburn University College of Business has announced an agreement with Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company, to deliver a customized MBA program at the company’s Columbus, Ga. facility beginning in Fall 2006.

Pratt & Whitney employees will have the opportunity to earn a fully accredited MBA degree without career interruption. AU’s curriculum will combine the essential MBA core disciplines - accounting, finance, economics and management - with specialized projects designed around Pratt & Whitney’s business needs.

“The Pratt & Whitney program represents a logical extension of our continued efforts with our MBA programs,” said Paul Bobrowski, dean of the AU College of Business and Wachovia Professor. “This program will use a blended delivery - with sessions about once a month at their facility augmented with our distance learning technology and several sessions here on our campus.”

The instructional format, designed by an award-winning team of educators and filmmakers, allows the managers to learn from lectures, case studies and computer simulations as well as real time interaction with faculty and fellow professionals.

“A customized corporate distance education program provides an innovative way to bring resources into the university, help fund the operations of the MBA program and support faculty salaries,” explains Dan Gropper, executive director of AU’s MBA programs and associate dean of the AU College of Business. “I'm very excited about helping Pratt & Whitney educate its next generation of company leaders and equally pleased to have excellent faculty who are enthusiastic about participating in this new approach to distance learning.”

This is not the college’s first foray into a custom program tailored to satisfy corporate client needs. In 2002, the college developed a similar program for Jostens, the leading provider of yearbooks, class rings, and graduation products, at its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn.

According to Victor Morales, training and development coordinator for Pratt & Whitney’s Columbus facility, “We selected Auburn University because of their willingness to partner in developing a unique program that will contribute to the future success of our employees. Pratt & Whitney is excited about this program and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with the Auburn University College of Business.”

The Columbus Engine Center is part of Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners, the company’s engine services business. Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners has a global network of 24 overhaul and repair facilities capable of servicing all Pratt & Whitney engines, as well as the V2500 and CFM56 engines with more than 500 aviation customers worldwide.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines.

United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

The Auburn University College of Business is accredited at the undergraduate and graduate levels by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the highest standard of achievement for business schools. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review. Less than one-third of U.S. business schools and only 15% of business schools worldwide meet the rigorous standards of AACSB International accreditation.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama's largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

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june06:AU-P&Wmba