Student Success: MBS

The overarching goal of the MBS program is to create broadly educated and ethical life science industry professionals. The MBS program follows a “T” education philosophy, in that all students are required to obtain a broad knowledge of the science, business, ethics, and regulatory processes across the life science industries, but are also expected to obtain deeper knowledge in a specific area of interest.

A primary learning outcome of the MBS program is provide students with the knowledge, values, and professional skills to operate effectively in managerial roles in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device and diagnostics industries. It also provides students with an understanding of the regulatory environment in which these industries operate. The program prides itself on the team-based projects that pervade the curriculum. A focus on communication and leadership skills, consistent with the learning outcomes for the program, is evident as the students are required to demonstrate both written and oral presentation skills throughout the program.

These aims have been formulated into seven distinct learning outcomes:

MBS Program Learning Outcomes

1. Students can communicate effectively in an industry environment composed of scientists, engineers, and business professionals.
2. Students can contribute productively on an interdisciplinary team tackling complex problems.
3. Students have the core business analysis and management knowledge needed for the bioscience industry.
4. Students understand the business, research, development, regulatory, production and marketing functions of the bioscience industry.
5. Students understand the translation of basic science and engineering discoveries into products and processes that benefit society.
6. Students are advocates for ethical principles in research, development and business in the biosciences.

The MBS Program: Graduation and Retention Rates

The MBS program aims to prepare and graduate students for careers in the bioscience industries. While our goal is to graduate every student that enters the program, over the last five years we have graduated 93% of entering students on an on-time basis, meaning two years after entering the program. Table 1 displays enrollment and on-time graduation rates for the MBS program over the last five years.

Table 1: MBS Program Enrollment and On-Time Graduation Rates

The MBS Program: Assessment

KGI uses a variety of direct and indirect evidence to assess the effectiveness of the MBS curriculum in meeting program learning outcomes. The following presents examples of student learning on the MBS program. Figure 1 presents student growth in presentation skills demonstrated with the average scores of students for their initial project at the start of the first year compared with the same students’ scores for their Team Master’s Project at the end of the second year.

Figure 1: Longitudinal Data on Student Learning in the MBS Program. Source: Faculty rubrics for all graduating class of 2019 MBS students that participated in the Orientation Week Initial Project or capstone Team Masters Project. Note: The number of students in Initial Project data set is 46 and number of students in TMP dataset is 37. Two TMP teams were not able to participate in the faculty reviews in Spring 2019 because they did not secure permission from company sponsors to discuss potentially confidential information in time for the presentation. Faculty reviewed these projects independently, but this information is not included in the faculty panel review data

Students are also assessed regularly throughout the program. Figure 2 presents student’s skills as they align with the learning outcomes following the core 1st year curriculum. Scores are aggregated from selected assignments and averaged.

Figure 2: Aggregate student scores upon completing the core 1st year curriculum aligned with program learning outcomes

Table 2: Summative Assessment of Learning Outcomes: Masters of Business and Science, Class of 2018

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Source: MBS Faculty Panel Reviews of TMP Teams, April and May 2018

In addition, KGI collects a variety of indirect evidence, ranging from student satisfaction surveys to surveys of alumni. Information from alumni is particularly important, as it helps KGI understand whether the MBS curriculum is meeting its goal of preparing students for jobs in a variety of roles within the bioscience industries. Figure 3 presents data from a 2017 alumni survey asking about the first job obtained after graduating. This chart indicates that MBS graduates obtain jobs in a wide variety of job functions, ranging from research and development, to operations, to consulting. This data is useful, in that it suggests that the degree is preparing students for careers in a variety of industry roles.

Figure 2: Alumni Survey Skill Gap Analysis. Source: KGI Spring 2019 Alumni Survey. Data is from 124 respondents across all Riggs School programs, with the majority or respondents holding the MBS degree.

Figure 3: Functional areas of students’ first jobs after MBS graduation based on the 2017 alumni survey

Figure 4 provides a second example of indirect evidence, this time focused on the assessment of KGI’s extensive co-curricular program for MBS program. Drawing again from the 2017 alumni survey, this chart provides information on how KGI students obtained their first job. This data suggests that over 70% of students find their first job as part of a KGI program or contact.

Chart 4: Source students’ first jobs after graduating with the MBS degree based on the 2017 alumni survey.