Southern Cross University Online MBA Review
Ranking, Courses, Electives, Duration, Review
History and ranking
Southern Cross is a relatively young Australian university with campuses in northern New South Wales and the southern Gold Coast. It is one of Australia’s pioneers when it comes to online education with more than 20 years of accredited experience in the field.
At any one time, we have more than 5,000 students enrolled in distance education. More than 55,000 have graduated from the Southern Cross University.
The purpose of Southern Cross University Online was to meet the requirements of working professionals seeking an online postgraduate qualification to help them advance their career.
List of Online and Distance Learning Courses
SCU offers undergraduate course which have the option of partial or complete online study. There are several post-graduate courses which are offered online.
Some of the courses offered include:
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Education
- Master of Mental Health
- Master of Mental Health Nursing
- Master of Project Management
- Master of Engineering Management
- Master of Healthcare Leadership
- Master of Information Technology Leadership
- Master of Business Law
- Graduate Diploma of Project Management
- Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Leadership
- Graduate Certificate in Business Law
Courses and the teaching methodology
Most of the courses are part-time, while some offer the option of either part-time or full-time completion.
The study methods would vary depending upon the course you choose. Using web-based technologies, you can attend virtual lectures and tutorials, interact with your lecturer and also join your peers to solve real-world problems online.
You have seven weeks study period to complete one unit. You can concentrate on one unit at a time and you can complete up to six units a year. You can plan and adjust your study timings depending upon your daily work schedule.
You can take these courses at your pace and according to your convenience, from the comfort of your home or while travelling, and complete the course requirements along with your other professional commitments.
There are six intakes throughout the year – January, March, April, July, August or October. You can choose the one that suits you.
In addition to flexible intakes, there are flexible exit points for many of the online courses. This means that if you were to take up a course like an online MBA and you were able to complete around eight units out of 12 units as per the course requirement, you’d still be able to earn a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration.
This ensures that the effort you put in does not get wasted and you still earn a qualification even though you don’t complete the entire course.
You’d have one-on-one guidance from a dedicated Student Success Advisor whom you can approach throughout your entire SCU journey who’d answer your questions – both course-related and career-related.
Ranking
- SCU ranked in the top 100 of 2018 Universities under 50 years old
- SCU ranked for stellar performance in the global Times Higher Education Young University Ranking and QS World Rankings
Course Curriculum
Here’s the list of the core courses, electives and specialisations that you can opt for in the online MBA program:
- Core units
- Management Communication
- Organisational Behaviour
- Economics and Quantitative Analysis
- Accounting for Managers
- Marketing
- Finance for Managers
- Corporate Governance for Managers
- The Positive Leader
- Project Management Principles
- Global Business
- Strategy and Case Analysis
- Managing Information Systems
- Industry Research Project (double weighted)
Electives (any two)
If not taking a specialisation, you can select two of the following units:
- Business Accounting for Managers
- Business and Corporation Law for Managers
- Healthcare Professional Portfolio A
- Leading Change in Healthcare
- Principles and Practice of Clinical Accountability
- Strategic Health Management
- Managing Digital Enterprise
- Strategic Knowledge Management
- Organisational Change and Development
- Human Resource Management
MBA Specialisations
- Accounting
- Business Accounting for Managers
- Business and Corporation Law for Managers
- Information and Knowledge Management
- Managing Digital Enterprise
- Strategic Knowledge Management
- Health Services Management (select two of the following)
- Healthcare Professional Portfolio A
- Leading Change in Healthcare
- Principles and Practice of Clinical Accountability
- Strategic Health Management
- Managing and Leading people
- Organisational Change and Development
- Human Resource Management
Program Duration
There are certain graduate certificate programs which can be completed within 8 months on a part-time basis while some courses can go on for upto three years full-time and six years on a part-time basis.
Faculty background
The same faculty who’re involved in the online courses teach full-time on campus programs as well and have a mix of academic qualifications. The course co-ordinators vary across the courses.
Reviews
Here’s what some recent graduates have to say while reviewing the SCU Online MBA program.
Completing the online MBA worked well with my busy work life. I remember having a holiday in the Philipines, and yet was able to complete my required submission even during a storm!
– Mary Bromley
Here’s a video review:
Course Coordinator
The course coordinator for Southern Cross University’s MBA program is Patrick Gillett.
Patrick completed Master of Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts (USA) after which he also pursued a PhD in Sport Tourism from SCU. Currently, his research involves Management Education and Online Learning.
He has been actively involved in ensuring that every student is able to progress academically and professionally during their SCU journey. He has earned great respect and appreciation for his efforts.
Since he has been through this entire process during his academic journey, he is aware of the various challenges students could face while taking these online courses. He has extensive experience in teaching and curriculum design in Management topics for both the undergraduate and graduate level studies.
He has also completed various professional commitments across cities like New York and Australia including working as a market researcher, sponsorship analyst and preparing feasibility reports for commercial and government projects.
Owing to his professional and academic experience over the years, he is able to provide a great support to online MBA students, especially if they’re back into academia after a very long period.
Image credit: www.scu.edu.au