Rutgers-Camden Awards First Professional Master’s Degrees

CAMDEN — Like many business professionals, David Lopez understands that one can never stop gaining knowledge and experience that can be used to advance and revitalize a career.

“If we do not continually challenge ourselves and educate ourselves, then our specializations become our ruts,” says Lopez, a Gloucester City resident and auditor for the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

Lopez is a member of the first graduating cohort of the professional master of accountancy (PMAc) program at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden. This month, 17 professionals will be the first to graduate from Rutgers–Camden with a PMAc and 30 others will be the first to earn a professional master of business administration (PMBA).

Rutgers–Camden’s PMBA and PMAc degree programs were launched in August 2011 to “make it convenient for the working professional to complete a rigorous graduate degree program while handling the demands of their job and personal life,” says Jaishankar Ganesh, dean of the Rutgers School of Business–Camden. 

The participants say these degree programs have been critical in helping them advance their education and their careers.

“I wanted to open opportunities for myself,” Lopez says. “At the time I enrolled, there was no requirement for an advanced degree for promotion. That can change any time.  Additionally, I have to think not of the next promotion, but of the one after that, and the one after that.  And even more, what if I want to leave government service?  I have to keep myself employable.”

The PMAc program is a 16-month accelerated degree offering that helps participants meet the 150-hour education requirement to sit for the CPA examination, an attractive benefit to someone like Jill Miscavage, a Somerdale resident who works as a senior auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

“Graduating from the PMAc program will allow me to apply for positions at my current job that were unavailable previously without a master’s degree,” Miscavage says. “This program provided me a background to begin studying for the CPA exam which will allow me to further advance in my career and to pursue other paths in the accounting industry.”

Graduates of Rutgers–Camden’s professional MBA program also say gaining an advanced degree is valuable in both short- and long-term professional development.

“It really exposed me to a lot of new concepts that have helped shape the way I think and approach various work and personal situations that have made me substantially more marketable,” says Saeed Goodman, a resident of Browns Mills who also is a Navy veteran and contract specialist for the U.S. Navy.

“I was able to get a clearer vision of how private businesses and organizations function and innovate to stay competitive through the class discussions and interactive group assignments,” Goodman says. “This program has allowed me to expand my career objectives and potentially reach for higher limits not likely available without it. I have become a greater professional because of it.”

The PMBA program is a 21-month accelerated degree track that includes a week-long international residency during which students experience international business cultures and visit various multinational companies.

Furthermore, graduating students from the PMBA and PMAc programs say they benefit from being part of an exceptional cohort of professionals and are able to expand their network and collaborate with individuals throughout different industries.

“The interaction and the camaraderie with the other students was wonderful and mind-expanding in that one seldom has the opportunity to match wits with others outside of one’s field once pursuing a professional career,” says Roger Lichtman, , a Langhorne, Pa. resident and the president of The Lichtman Associates, an architectural firm he founded 21 years ago.

Miscavage adds, “This was beneficial throughout the program because everyone was able to provide real-life scenarios that were helpful to understand the concepts more thoroughly,” she says.

The application deadline for the next PMBA cohort is July 15. Classes begin Aug. 24 and are held on Saturdays at the Crowne Plaza Princeton Hotel and Conference Center in the fall and the Enterprise Center at Burlington County College in Mount Laurel during spring 2014. Visit business.camden.rutgers.edu/pmba for more information.

The application deadline for the next PMAc cohort is July 30.  Classes begin Aug. 31 and are held on Saturdays at the Enterprise Center at Burlington County College in Mount Laurel. For information visit business.camden.rutgers.edu/pmac.