Flower Dance

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By Technology Review

01/01/2001

Executive Programs Merge

Starting in June, the Sloan school will combine its two executive degree programs, the Sloan Fellows Program and the Management of Technology Program, into one entity, to be called the MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership. Students in the Sloan Fellows Program, who traditionally have hailed from larger companies, need to better understand the entrepreneurial spirit and technological finesse of the smaller ones, says Marie Eiter, Sloan's executive director of executive education. On the flip side, students in the Management of Technology Program who came from smaller, technology-driven companies need to understand corporate culture, networking, and how to work with the corporate giants. "There's no reason why we should be separating these two groups anymore," Eiter says.

Sloan hopes to enroll about 100 students in the new program, which will have a flexible-scheduling option. After three months of intensive summer courses on campus, students can remain in residence full time for another nine months or finish part time in two years, taking early-morning and late-afternoon classes. Eiter says this policy acknowledges the realities of the high-tech world within the I-495 radius, whose denizens Sloan hopes to attract. "When you're in a company where the nature of the invention changes from month to month, you cannot take a year out of your career."