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FROM STAFF REPORTS

MONTEVALLO – The University of Montevallo recently moved its Master of Business Administration program to a new location at the Shelby-Hoover Campus of Jefferson State Community College on Valleydale Road, making the program convenient for Birmingham-metro residents who prefer an in-person learning environment rather than an online-only option.

UM currently provides several flexible options, with JSCC’s Shelby-Hoover campus offering a location for in-person learning. 

“We’ve always wanted our offsite location to be convenient to commuters, and the partnership with Jeff State felt natural given our undergraduate partnership with them,” said Dr. Amiee Mellon, dean of the Stephens College of Business.   

The University’s AACSB-accredited MBA program features online, blended and in-person modalities for students. The program has also been recognized among the best MBA programs in the state recently.  

“Our MBA is a 30-credit hour program that can be completed in as little as one year,” Mellon said. “It fits your time frame. You can do it online, in person, or a mix. You’re getting real feedback, one-on-one, from the faculty,” Mellon said.   

Mellon said UM is looking to build the MBA program around leadership and decision-making concepts, whether someone is coming in right out of undergraduate wanting to be an entrepreneur, for example, or they are coming back to school after many years out wanting to prepare themselves for a promotion.   

“The skills we instill in you are ones that are for the next level you’re trying to get to,” Mellon said. “Business is not about individual departments; it is about cross-collaboration. You might be taking a marketing course but still learning about financial and management aspects.”   

UM Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Jennifer Alexiou-Ray described Montevallo’s MBA program as “a very good value,” considering the knowledge level of its professors and the flexibility with online, in-person and blended course options.   

“Some folks in our area who have come here and compared us to experiences they’ve had at other places have been very impressed with what we had to offer,” Ray said.