University Overview Essay
University of San Diego was started in the year 1949 and the first class students graduating in the year 1952 when it was still known as the San Diego Women College. In the year 1954, a new college for men was started and it was named; San Diego Men College and the law school. The two colleges were later merged to form the current San Diego University. Since this merger, the educational facility has been able to grow at a high rate therefore increasing academic courses offered within the institution as well as increasing the volume of its asserts. This positive increase in asserts and academic programs is directly attributed to the students body, alumni of the school, the local community that surrounds the school, the patrons and the various institutions that chip in to help the school. The University of San Diego is located in California, United States. The institution lies on the Mission Bay and part of the San Diego, because its founder believed when students studied on a beautiful environment it boosts their educational experience hence improving their performance. It is a private Roman Catholic university which offers research based programs. San Diego University offers close to 60 degree programs and various doctorate programs (“Academic programs”). Because of the number of programs and influx of students studying at the university, the institution is further sub divided into 7 academic colleges.
Even though the school is a catholic university, it is not being governed by the Diocese of San Diego but a lay board of trustees. Nevertheless, the Bishop of Diocese of San Diego serves as a permanent member of the trustee to ensure that it still retains its Catholic culture. The institution is sub divided into various schools and colleges, the schools of Law and the college of Arts and Sciences still stands out to be among the oldest while the Joan Kroc School of Peace Studies stands to be the latest school, and it has started admitting nearly 300 students yearly.
The undergraduate programs being offered in the University of San Diego are recognized by many publications for an instance, U.S News and World Report, Forbes among others.
MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
In 2016, the MBA program in the school of business was ranked at position 28 in the whole country (USA), while the year before, 2015, it was ranked 66th in the best 100 MBA rankings by the Financial Times. Masters in Business Administration can both be undertaken in full-time or professional part-time basis depending on the flexibility of the student. The curriculum integrates business as a driving force for the rapidly growing global economy. The institution also allows for concentrations and specializations in different fields as to the need of the student. Students are allowed to focus on the electives in the curriculum after meeting the conditions in the course descriptions.
The school admits students for the MBA program at the graduate business open house each year for those who have met the qualification. The MBA program is a little bit different with other MBA programs in other grad schools as in University of San Diego they offer both full-time and professional MBA programs which other schools does not(“Admissions-University of San Diego”). There is also the option of concentration and specialization where the institution allows the student to major in the area of interest. All the MBA programs offered in San Diego also allow the students to get involved in student groups, career events organized with the school and also networking activities.
The full-time MBA program takes a period of 17months-22months and it starts during the fall. During the first year the classes are scheduled from Monday-Thursday while on Friday is for professional development events. The professional part-time MBA program takes a period of 24months -36months and it is designed for the working professionals. It also admits students during the fall and basically the classes are allocated only two evenings per week in the school according to KIPJ et al., This program is designed in such a way that during the first week of admission the students attend classes a whole week and then are oriented on different activities that take place within the school before resuming to evening classes. Masters in Business Administration in University of San Diego is competitive in nature as only students who meet the requirements are allowed to enroll.
COSTS AND BENEFITS
University of San Diego is one of the best universities in the country which allows students to study irrespective of their financial backgrounds. The University provides financial assistance to unprivileged students who are not able to pay full tuition fees. At the University of San Diego, School of Business standard program charges tuition fee of $49305 per unit and additional fees of approximately $1370 per semester. For admission of any student, a deposit of $1000 is required. University of San Diego finance office also assists the students in getting scholarships and financial aids from different organizations.
The schools also offer on –campus accommodation facilities for students who wish to reside within the University compound at a cheaper cost. The students rooms offered are spacious and well-furnished for the convenience of the student. The meal plans offered at the University of San Diego is a well-balanced outlay with varying prices depending on the choice of the student. The meal plans and catering services offered by the facility is also an added advantage to the students as it is convenient for them in pricing and the distance to the cafeterias. The school also offer parking permits to the students who own vehicles within the school parking lot. This assures the students of the safety of their cars.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SCHOOL
The school professors are among those who have shown competency and hard work in maintaining the standards of the school both in research and in scholarly achievements which go hand in hand with the school vision, goals and mission (Richards-Wilson, 2002). The school has also won different awards based on teaching excellence, impact on the student’s real life situations, commitment to achieving the set aims and goals of the school and the students’ intellectual ability. Some of these awards include Davies Award, Drinian Award and the Class of 1975 Endowed Professorship which was awarded to the school of Law.
University of San Diego is ranked among the best universities both in the United States and in the entire globe. For example, in 2018, school of Business was ranked 1st in San Diego, 50th in the US and 97th globally (“Business School Rankings | University Of San Diego School Of Business – School Of Business – University Of San Diego”). This makes the school to stand out and is admired by many people across the world. The university also has various teaching, faculty and research resources which make it an ideal environment for learning purposes. University of San Diego has also received world recognitions from different institutions because of its exemplary performances in the field of MBA in Business administrations and other faculties like law. Well known institutions like Forbes have awarded the school of Law and the College of Arts and Science.
LAWSUITS, EMBARASSMENT AND NEGATIVE PRESS.
McGarry had once sued the University seeking compensation for damages of employment contract. The complainant filed a lawsuit demanding a breach of contract by the university. In 2015, a woman who was a student alleged that she had been raped by two men from the school when they attended an off campus night party. The University failed to provide an equitable action to the sexual assault complain which prompted the US Department to Education to start investigating the school for failing to take the matter with a lot of seriousness. The woman also filed a lawsuit for the two suspects and the school administration for the University claiming that they blackmailed her and threatened her not to take action for the two men who raped her or else they would expose her to the public domain. According to Morrissey, In 2014, another student also sued the school that she was drugged and raped within the school accommodation area and the school did not do a constructive investigation. This allegation is one of the many sexual assaults that have been reported to have been mishandled by the school administration.
REFERENCES
“Admissions – University Of San Diego”. Sandiego.Edu, 2018, https://www.sandiego.edu/admissions/. Accessed 9 Oct 2018.
“Business School Rankings | University Of San Diego School Of Business – School Of Business – University Of San Diego”. Sandiego.Edu, 2018, https://www.sandiego.edu/business/about/rankings.php. Accessed 9 Oct 2018.
“Academic Programs.” Study of Human Trafficking in San Diego – Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies – University of San Diego, www.sandiego.edu/academics/academic-programs/.
KIPJ, Room KIPJ AB et al. “MBA Degrees — Masters Of Business Administration Programs – School Of Business – University Of San Diego”. Sandiego.Edu, 2018, https://www.sandiego.edu/business/graduate/mba/. Accessed 9 Oct 2018.
Morrissey, Kate. 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usd-lawsuit-20160902-snap-story.html. Accessed 9 Oct 2018.
Richards-Wilson, S. (2002). Changing the way MBA programs do business—Lead or languish. Journal of Education for Business, 77(5), 296-300.
