At the end of the English language dual-degree programme of Széchenyi István University and the American University of Rhode Island students will receive the degrees from both institutions. The members of the first year graduated last year but they are still in touch with each other. Moreover, they organised a joint programme with the current students in order to start a tradition, further build the community and help the participants of the programme by sharing their experience.

Széchenyi István University launched the English language, four-semester dual degree Executive MBA programme together with the American University of Rhode Island (URI) in September 2020, at the end of which students will receive the degrees from both institutions. The speciality of the MBA programme is that it welcomes the applications from people with a bachelor’s degree who have the ambition in business or institutional management and wish to accelerate their career path with this world-class education. The programme has been accredited by the AACSB, that is the longest running international professional accreditation organisation for bachelor, master and doctoral programmes in business schools worldwide. Only five percent of the business schools in an international context can say the same.

A group of graduate and current students of the English language dual degree programme of Széchenyi István University and the American University of Rhode Island (URI) (The sixth in the picture from the left is dr. Bukor Emese, programme coordinator, the second from the right is Németh Péter, a current student and the sixth from the right is Balogh Attila, a graduate student - photograph: Horváth Márton) 

‘The MBA programme is completely online, with lectures given by American lecturers. Yet the participants in the programme have excellent relations with each other, and they also demand personal meetings in addition to the virtual space. It is a proof of the strength of the university’s alumni community that graduated students invited the current students for a meeting in order to further widen the circle and help them by sharing their experience’, dr. Bukor Emese, a professor of Széchenyi István University said. She welcomed the participants during this event as the coordinator of the MBA programme. She added that the institution does not only encourage but it also supports community building, as it was done in this situation as well. ‘We hope that this extraordinary event will become a tradition’, she concluded.

Balogh Attila, an active, organising member of the graduate group, is now running his own company.

‘During the programme we carried out plenty of practice-oriented, interactive tasks in group work which forged us together. So much so that even though we have already graduated, we are still meeting each other, and if we are meeting, why not take these opportunities to involve the current MBA students’, he talked about the background of community building which brought the three year groups together for the first time.

He highlighted that this is not an ordinary event, but the programme itself is not ordinary either, as in the world of work it equips even professionals at management level with fresh knowledge, develops their skills and provides new perspectives on problem solving, by this giving them immediately transferable and applicable knowledge. ‘Progress in the field of humanities is rapid and continuous, thus it is essential to continuously improve ourselves throughout our careers. Széchenyi University and the University of Rhode Island offer an excellent opportunity for that, and not only one, but two very strong degrees’, he underlined.

Németh Péter graduated from Széchenyi István University with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, and now he is a colleague at the Department of Applied Sustainability of the institution. Besides his researches he is attending the doctoral school, and at the same time he is a graduate student of the MBA programme.

‘’Coming from an academic background, this programme also provides me with a lot to broaden my engineering competencies with leadership skills. The acquisition of the management approach is also essential in technical fields’, he formulated.

He added that, for the above reasons, it was not a question for him to complete the programme, which has the prestige of a double degree and a prestigious international accreditation.

Németh Péter explained that through project works their theoretical knowledge has been enriched with practical skills that can make their everyday work and decision making easier. Students can become more successful in their own professional fields by developing the appropriate competencies and skills.

The programme will start in September 2023 as well. Applications are open until 30 June. Further details can be found on the admission website of Széchenyi István University which is available here and here.