Bringing Graduate Education to the Workplace
Paying for books and little else, company employees benefit from Webster University’s Corporate Cohort program.
By Peter Galuszka
Just after work at 5:30 p.m. most Wednesdays, Sheri Graham hops in her car, tosses her textbooks and notepads on the passenger seat, and settles in for a 90-minute drive to St. Louis from Farmington, Mo. There, at her employer’s headquarters, Graham and 64 other employees are enrolled in a 2.5 hour-long graduate business class. She usually arrives home around 11:30 p.m.
Graham, human resources director for Parkland Health Center in Farmington, says the strenuous Wednesdays don’t bother her.
The health center is owned by the medical care firm BJC HealthCare Corp., which is paying most of Graham’s tuition for the course. Next May, Graham will receive an MBA that will significantly enhance her value as a company employee.
“This program is excellent,” she says. “A traditional program would not work for me.”
“Traditional” is one word that does not describe Webster University’s four-year-old Corporate Cohort Program.
The St. Louis-based university partners with businesses, bringing classes directly to the work place.
“The importance of the course is that you deal with the flexibility issue right up front,” says Dr. Benjamin Akande, dean of Webster’s Graduate School of Business and Technology.
Between 250-300 students participate in Webster’s corporate cohort program, which to date partners with companies in Arkansas, Colorado, California, Florida, Missouri and South Carolina.
Webster has been a pioneer in higher education outreach. Years ago, for example, it opened small campuses on military posts throughout the country and overseas to give military personnel the chance to earn college degrees.
Webster’s cohort concept was the product of a collaboration with mass-retail giant Wal-Mart. Headquartered in rural Bentonville, Ark., Wal-Mart had been exploring on-site graduate studies that would be cost-effective yet convenient for employees. Webster operated a campus in nearby Fayetteville, and in 2003 the two began discussing ways to work together.
