NEW HAVEN, CONN. — The University of New Haven College of Business will begin offering a completely restructured Executive MBA

(EMBA) program in spring 2012 in a new downtown location.

The innovative program, based on six integrative business themes rather than on individual courses, will be offered in downtown New Haven beginning in spring 2012.

The New Haven program will be offered on the 10th floor of 900 Chapel Street with views not only of the New Haven Green but also of Long Island Sound.

“Offering the program in New Haven puts us close to both the medical and information technology industries so important to the city,” said Lawrence Flanagan, executive dean of the UNH College of Business. “The content of our new program will reflect the many changes businesses have gone through in the last decade — globalization, increased competition and the need for sustainability – and will provide business leaders with what they need to manage their companies now and in the future.”

The UNH EMBA program is the second oldest in New England. Founded 35 years ago, it has produced more than 1,500 graduates, including many highly successful alumni who have become senior executives of leading corporations around the globe.

This year, it was ranked as one of the best EMBA values in the nation by the website poetsandquants.com, which evaluates graduate business school programs. Still, it became clear, after three decades, that the program needed to be refreshed, Flanagan said.

The new program reflects input from alumni, businesses and prospective students.

“We looked carefully at the feedback we’ve received from students and alumni and we talked with companies that have sponsored students in the EMBA program in the past,” said Flanagan, a veteran marketing executive who, as the former chief marketing officer of MasterCard Worldwide, spearheaded the famous “Priceless” ad campaign. “Over the last 20 years it’s become increasingly clear that organizations are made of many interactive components. An effective EMBA curriculum needs to examine business organizations in that interactive context.”

In the past, the program encompassed 19 courses. Each covered a business topic thoroughly, but there was no coordinated effort to integrate knowledge.

The revamped EMBA program will have a new approach.

“The new program is strategically structured,” says Flanagan. “It is designed to develop synergy across content that is organized around several themes: viability; cultural transformation; marketing management; ethics, environmental sustainability and social responsibility; measurement; and leading and execution.”

Additionally, students will work on “real world” research projects, often in their own companies, to apply what they are learning. And the program will involve a week-long international session in Asia affording students opportunities to explore businesses through the prism of what’s learned in the program.

“Our overall strategy for the college is about education that helps our students define and effectively manage their personal ‘brand,’” says Flanagan. “The repackaged EMBA program fits perfectly. It’s about real issues facing successful corporate leaders in America today. We’re very optimistic about its success.”

The program schedule will include one Friday afternoon and one Saturday every three weeks with students completing the program in less than two years. Highlighting the innovative nature of the program each student will be given an iPad loaded with all the course materials.

Prospective students in the highly competitive, 56-credit program must have significant experience in business in order to be considered for acceptance.  A personal interview is required. Applications are being accepted now for both the spring and the fall programs.

For more information about the new EMBA program, visit: www.newhaven.edu/emba.