Distance Learning | News

Video Platform Allows Students To Earn MBA Degrees at a Distance

• By Sharleen Nelson
• 07/17/13

A distance learning network program is providing busy professionals the opportunity to earn dual executive MBAs from Cornell University's Johnson School of Business in Ithaca, NY and Queen's University's School of Business in Kingston, Ontario.

The Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA  (CQEMBA) program, which launched in 2005 with 67 students enrolled in the United States and Canada, has grown to 160 participating students in 23 cities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Colombia.  

The CQEMBA program operates on Polycom's RealPresence open standards-based video infrastructure. The platform allows students and teachers to access HD-quality video from anywhere using any type of device or system. Professors and students can also engage in face-to-face interaction remotely via the platform's video collaboration function. Media manager software also allows professors to record classes for their students to review material at their leisure.

During the 16-month CQEMBA students receive one to two weeks of team-based distance learning from faculty members, who teach the classes using Polycom's HDX room video collaboration systems from studios located in both Ithaca and Kingston. Students also have opportunities to interact and collaborate with student teams made up of five to nine participants in different locations.

"There are a lot of professionals who would love to get an MBA from Cornell or Queen's but can't because they live in Seattle or Atlanta," said Stephen Demmings, video conferencing manager for CQEMBA, in a prepared statement. "This program offers that opportunity, without having to move or suspend their careers to go to school full time."

Cornell University is a private Ivy League research institution situated on 2,300 acres in Ithaca, NY. For more information, visit cornell.edu.

Queen's University at Kingston  is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Visit queensu.ca to learn more.

For further information about CQEMBA, visit johnson.cornell.edu.