UBC Sauder PMBA program combines choice, flexibility and professional cohorts

UBC Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA) students Fortune Umeugo, Prem Girn and Felix Cheu at the UBC Sauder School of Business are taking a moment to reflect on how much they’ve learned in the first half of their 24-month program and how their lives have changed. While their course selection is tailored to their individual interests and goals, all three are experiencing a rich educational experience while still maintaining their full-time jobs thanks to the flexible nature of the program. 

Fortune Umeugo

Academic focus: Leadership, human resources, innovation

Fortune Umeugo is a certified Project Management Professional with an engineering degree and master’s degree. He was working at UBC in IT project management when he began thinking about going back to school to build more business and leadership skills. The UBC PMBA appealed to him because classes are scheduled on weekends. 

“I didn’t want to interrupt my career as I am working on a multi-year, university-wide software rollout for UBC. I also have responsibilities at home as my wife and I recently had our first child, so the PMBA schedule is perfect for me.”

Fortune and his cohort of about 55 students attend classes at UBC Sauder every two or three weekends. His classmates are professionals with five or more years of industry experience. While they come from all sectors of the economy, what they have in common is a desire to build in-demand business skills in a team-based learning environment. 

Fortune gravitated to courses focused on leadership development, human resources, and innovation. 

“As a project manager, there is a lot of communication, persuasion and relationship-building that you have to be good at in order to get your work done. My courses have really helped me with these aspects of my job. Other courses have opened my mind to different aspects of business. I came into the PMBA hoping to develop myself personally and I do see a difference from when I started the program and the professional that I am today.” 
 

Prem Girn

Academic focus: Business strategy, leadership 

Prem Girn is a senior director of human resources with Xenon Pharmaceuticals in Vancouver and the Mom of a busy six-year-old. She managed her first year of the UBC PMBA program by putting all her work, school and family responsibilities into one calendar. 

“The first year was very intensive, but you know your school schedule well in advance so you make arrangements, manage your time and master prioritization.”

In addition to courses such as business strategy, statistics and analytics, Prem is also taking advantage of the Global Network of Advanced Management (GNAM) program. UBC Sauder is one of 32 partner universities that offer international courses to students. Earlier this year, Prem attended a course at Yale University and this summer, she is heading to the University of Oxford. She has also enrolled in a leadership course in Cologne, Germany through UBC’s study abroad program.

“The UBC PMBA offers a nice balance of both IQ and EQ learning. I also appreciate the fact that my cohort has diverse and deep work experience, which elevates our discussions and the quality of our group assignments.” 

While some of her classmates intend on leveraging their UBC PMBA degrees for a job promotion or career pivot, for Prem, her education is more about continually growing as an HR leader. 
 
“You don’t always own your career. I’ve seen acquisitions, mergers, lay-offs and things like that happen, so this is really my opportunity to make sure I am the strongest possible candidate wherever my career takes me. Earning an MBA will supplement the skills and experience I already have.” 
 

Felix Cheu 

Academic focus: Entrepreneurship, human resources, leadership

Felix Cheu is a Chartered Professional Accountant who works as a Senior Performance Auditor for the City of Vancouver Office of the Auditor General. After devoting the first part of his career to quantitative and analytical work, Felix entered the UBC PMBA program to learn other aspects of business management. His graduate studies have been so rewarding, he’s delaying graduation in order to take more courses. 

“The program is very flexible, so you can take extra courses and graduate with extra credits. You can take courses that are part of UBC Sauder’s Full-time MBA and International MBA programs, as well as courses offered by global partner universities. I just finished an online course offered by IE University in Spain which gave me some new perspectives.”

Through his exploration of different business subjects, Felix is feeding his curiosity about entrepreneurship. In the near term, he envisions leveraging entrepreneurial thinking to help government departments think outside the box to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. But one day, Felix envisions launching a business of his own. 

“I think UBC is one of the best universities in the world when it comes to support for entrepreneurs. Through organizations like entrepreneurship@ubc and CDL-Vancouver, students spend time with mentors, venture capitalists, PhD students and others working on startups. I’m hoping to explore these opportunities as part of my education.” 
 

Enjoying international travel and new friendships 

While Fortune, Prem and Felix are pursuing different educational paths, they’ve each achieved success in their courses while still fulfilling their work responsibilities. They are already applying the business skills and strategies taught in the UBC PMBA program in their respective jobs, and they are also enjoying the friendships formed through learning together. This summer, all three will travel abroad for summer courses, earning credits at foreign universities while experiencing life in a different part of the world.