The McDonough School of Business has created a task force composed of faculty and staff to implement the development of a part-time MBA program known as the Fully Employed Masters in Business Administration Program.

Catering to the growing demand for part-time programs among fully-employed graduate students, FEMBA, which is still in its planning stages, will further expand the graduate school focus of the MBA program at Georgetown, according to interim MSB dean Reena Aggarwal.

“We are in a very good position to start a part-time MBA program,” she said. “MBA education is changing, so we are aiming to be flexible to student needs and wants.”

Market research from consulting firms has shown that a large and growing market for part-time MBA programs exists in Washington.

“Our aim is to offer a top-quality monitored program that will be taught by full-time MSB faculty,” Aggarwal said, noting that the school will build into its financial planning the hiring of more full-time faculty, rather than adjuncts.

Further, Aggarwal attributed the need for a part-time program to the university’s location in Washington, D.C. “Because we are in a location that is the global center of power, we want to `own’ Washington in an international context,” she said.

Aggarwal stressed that the demand for these types of programs is increasing in the Washington, D.C. area, referring to the academic allure of the city’s prominent status in the international financial community. Aggarwal pointed to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as examples of the District’s standing as a leading center of international commerce.

“Our International Executive MBA program is very successful and well-known in an international context, but the university wants to deliver the MBA degree depending on what the student needs now,” she said.

FEMBA will also allow recent graduates who have employer education reimbursement programs to pay for them while attending school.

“Some students don’t want to give up their full-time jobs to come back to graduate school, so this gives them the opportunity to do both,” Aggarwal said.

The creation of programs such as FEMBA are possible because of the absence of a cap on the graduate student population at Georgetown, unlike the undergraduate student body, which is limited by a cap put in place by the Citizens Association of Georgetown.

Aggarwal added that the program will also positively influence undergraduate business students because it will further expand government internships, employment and volunteer opportunities for undergraduates.

He said that FEMBA will positively affect undergraduates, especially once the new Business School building is completed in early 2008.

“With all both undergraduate and graduate programs moving to the new building, this will allow for interaction between the different schools, in addition to more faculty, technological support, and classrooms,” Aggarwal said.

Students are expected to complete the part-time program in approximately three years depending on the student’s needs, according to the planning set in place by the task force.

“Our plan is to initiate the FEMBA program now so that it can establish itself and then fully develop once we move into the new building,” Aggarwal said. “I think it will be a really good program for us.”