"Some days I feel like my brain is full," said Corum, part of the first group in CSU-Monterey Bay's online executive MBA program, which began in 2007.
Corum, of Aptos, has been chief financial officer at several small companies and is now at Elyxir Distributing in Watsonville.
Corum said she could have gone to an MBA program in a traditional setting, "but it would damn near kill me."
She considered a program that would have meant some weekends in San Francisco, but settled on CSUMB, a place she had visited once.
"The flexibility is a big asset," said Corum, who averages about two hours a day on her MBA studies.
Corum said she was about to turn 40 when she decided to seek an MBA. "With me, there's a love of education," said Corum.
She would also like to teach at some point. "It's been a long-standing goal of mine to teach at the university level," where an MBA is usually required, Corum said. She said it's something she could do part-time in addition to her regular job.
Scandals in the accounting industry in the past few years have been "heartbreaking," Corum said.
"I hope I can bring back some credibility to the profession. Accountants are not just bean counters. We're leaders."
It's called an executive MBA program because the program is for people with job experience.
"We're looking for individuals with at least seven years of work experience," said Murray Millson, the business faculty member who heads the program. Students entering the program should have at least three years in a leadership position.
The students "are usually 30-plus, up into their 50s," said Millson. Enrollment is about 40 now, and is expected to grow. There are four times a year that students can enroll.
As they enter the program, students become part of a "cohort," sort of electronic classmates, and have online discussions about what they've learned. The cohorts range from five to 13, but will get bigger.
The curriculum includes organization and leadership, accounting and finance, micro-macro economics, innovation and technology management, marketing and entrepreneurship, global business and business strategy.
The 24-month program costs $38,800, which Millson said is a lot less than some other programs. MBA students often get money from their employers to defray costs, Millson said.
He doesn't know how many online MBA programs are in the country, but said the number is growing.
Bill Ballas, 54, director of communications for Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, joined the CSUMB program in April. He's had a long career in health care, usually in larger companies with a narrower job focus.
What he has gleaned from his studies "have already meant a lot to my job performance," said Ballas.
He said Marylou Shockley, head of CSUMB's business department, emphasizes "think and link" for students to apply what they've learned to their jobs. He spends about 15 hours a week on his studies.
Ballas said he gets "a real nugget" of information about every other week. He enjoys communicating online with the others in his cohort, although he's never met them in person. "There's a lot of very intelligent people," he said.The EMBA students aren't necessarily looking for another job but want to increase their skills or move up in the company, Millson said. Ballas and Corum said they're happy where they are.Ballas, who has taken online classes before, likes the convenience. "You can just cut to the chase when it's online."
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