The aftermarket is offering a new educational opportunity — an industry-focused MBA program.

Twelve students — including those from manufacturing companies, retail parts stores, distribution centers and the heavy-duty arena, among others, but spanning all areas of company hierarchy from manager to vice president to chief operating officer — are currently enrolled in the two-year Aftermarket Executive MBA Program, part of the University of the Aftermarket at Northwood University’s campus.

“We are going to educate future industry leaders so they are better prepared to deal with change and better prepared to lead change in the aftermarket,” says Dr. Tim Nash, dean and vice president of graduate & specialty programs at Northwood. 

The curriculum requires those enrolled to visit the campus for two one-week sessions, one each in the winter and fall, with online coursework in between, says Matt Bennett, director of corporate & specialty programs at Northwood. The on-site classes and coursework are taught at the DeVos Graduate School building.

“We want an environment where they bond and have interaction, but we don’t want to burn them out,” Nash says of the two 6-day concentrated weeks, which are peppered with social activities and breaks to keep students motivated. The on-campus portion includes open classroom discussion, case studies, group work, industry exercises and take-home reading and assignments.

Students stay connected and maintain communication during the online program portions using discussion threads and chat rooms to review curriculum questions, thoughts and foster insight.

Primary curriculum pillars include communication, leadership, behavior, finance, valuation and business strategy, Nash says.

And the program's final project offers a concrete benefit to all enrolled. Students must apply what they have learned to their current companies and show at least a $75,000 savings or increase in efficiency, Bennett says.

When aiming to kick off the program, the university was working toward a goal class of 20 students. While numbers reached 28 students at one point, the economy forced many of those enrolled to have to renege on their commitment, pushing the class size down to 12, Nash says.

“We decided to go forward regardless. This is something we owned the industry,” he says.

The program’s second “cohort” of students will begin the program in January 2010, following the program’s initial kick-off last month. Nash says they are relying on word of mouth, continued marketing and the strong support of program backers to help recruit a larger class next year.

Active listening, engaging empathy and recognizing sincerity were the focus of a morning class session Tuesday, requiring students to call on personal experiences in both family and professional life to identify ways to better communicate and respond.