(from left to right): Rohan Cordice, Kimon Drigo, Trevor Pennyfeather, Dr Karen Murdock, PhD (Senior Lecturer and Head of the School of Business and Management), Tammer Mitchell, Deondre Mayers, Drucella Jules-Jno Baptiste.
The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus marked a milestone on Saturday, when the School of Business and Management conferred its first Master of Business Administration degrees. Six graduates crossed the stage at the campus in Antigua, becoming the first cohort to complete a postgraduate degree in business at the Five Islands Campus.
For a programme that welcomed its first students in the 2023/24 academic year, the graduation is proof of concept: Antigua and Barbuda and the wider Eastern Caribbean can now develop senior business leaders at home, through a world-class regional institution.
Meet the Pioneers
The six members of the inaugural graduating class of the Master of Business Administration are:
Rohan Cordice
Kimon Wayne Drigo
Drucella Jules-Jno Baptiste
Deondre Mayers
Tammer Mitchell
Trevor Pennyfeather
Because the MBA is designed for working professionals, the class completed their studies part-time, balancing coursework with careers and family commitments over two demanding years. Their success sets the standard for every cohort that follows.
A Programme Built for Working Professionals
According to MBA Coordinator Dr. Edward Dixon, the programme aims to develop ethical, solutions-oriented professionals who can lead effectively at the local, regional and international levels. It is delivered part-time over 24 months, so students can advance their education without stepping away from their careers.
The degree comprises 45 credits: nine core courses, four electives and a final project. The core covers the essentials of modern management, including business analytics, transformational leadership, marketing, economics, accounting and finance, management, corporate governance, strategy and the global business environment.
Electives let students sharpen their focus in areas such as global supply chain management, digital marketing and social media strategy, strategic human resource management, corporate entrepreneurship, sustainable finance, international business management and risk management.
Beyond the credit-bearing courses, students complete a non-credit personal development component covering public speaking and presentation, career development and coaching, and research activities, building the soft skills that turn good managers into confident leaders.
Learning Applied to National Institutions
The programme’s emphasis on practical problem-solving is clearest in the final projects. Members of the first cohort took on real management challenges at key national institutions, including the General Post Office, the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda and the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force.
Those projects show that the skills developed in the MBA apply across the private, non-profit and public sectors, and that the programme’s graduates are ready to contribute to national development from day one.
Looking Ahead
The first graduation is only the beginning. Thirty-three students are currently registered in the MBA, and the School of Business and Management continues to grow its graduate offerings, which now include MBA and MSc programmes, an Executive MBA (EMBA), and MPhil and PhD studies.
As Dr. Dixon put it, the MBA continues to grow as a platform for developing confident, analytical and innovative business leaders, equipped to respond to the changing needs of the Caribbean and the global business environment.
For the six pioneers who graduated on Saturday, the message is clear: the next generation of Caribbean business leadership is being built right here at The UWI Five Islands.
Prospective students interested in the MBA or other graduate programmes can contact the School of Business and Management at The UWI Five Islands Campus to register.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: UWI Five Islands Celebrates First MBA Graduates.