In the business world—as in life in general—the only constant is change.
For this reason, the Goizueta Full-Time MBA program has revitalized its curriculum to equip students for a brave new world defined by functional integration, evolving technology and the unparalleled potential of artificial intelligence—all while preserving the qualities that make Goizueta special.
Key highlights of the updated curriculum focus on cross-functional problem solving and day one career readiness.
- Individual and Team Performance Coaching: Delivered during onboarding. Enhance team performance, decision-making, and leadership skills
- Quantitative and AI Foundations Bootcamp: Prepare for the curriculum with high-demand analytics skills and gain exposure to the latest AI tools and methods
- Year One Spring Electives: Continue giving students early access to electives that align with their career goals before summer internships
- Flexible Fridays: Fewer in-class commitments on Fridays, giving students the time required to focus on networking and career opportunities
- Shared Case Studies: Allowing students to analyze challenges from multiple business perspectives
- Technology Trends and Transformations: Preparing students for career environments that will demand fluency in AI and emerging technologies
- Growth Week Capstone Project: Experiential and intensive. Students will synthesize and apply learnings across core courses
A Strategic Reimagining
The Curriculum Committee was chaired by Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management Eve Rosenzweig. Other members included Associate Professor of Marketing Ryan Hamilton, Associate Professor of Organization and Management Erika Hall, Associate Professor of Accounting Suhas Sridharan, Associate Professor in the Practice of Finance Kevin Crowley, Director of Registrar Services Brandi Baker, and Associate Dean for Full-Time MBA Programs and Goizueta Global Strategy & Initiatives Brian Mitchell.
Starting with internal stakeholders and working outward, the committee pulled data in the form of surveys, focus groups, interviews, faculty research and reports from every available angle to make sure the updates positioned future students for success. They considered industry trends, employer feedback, and alumni input to understand what today’s business world demands. Accreditation standards from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AASCB) and peer benchmarking helped ensure the program stays aligned with best practices.
The team also explored how new technologies are being used in business education and paid close attention to what students are looking for—flexibility, hands-on learning, and real-world skills. Competitive positioning was another key factor, with insights drawn from rankings and peer institutions. Finally, trending topics in faculty research, as well as global and local prospective student considerations, helped round out a curriculum that addresses the complexity of today’s business environment.
In addition to streamlining academic pathways that would land students their desired roles in the real world, the committee sought to address other priorities. The revised curriculum creates consistency between the One-Year MBA and Two-Year MBA programs, empowers students with fewer elective constraints, and maintains career advancement and networking experiences.
The result is a blueprint not only grounded in data, but in the lived experiences and future aspirations of the Goizueta community. Ultimately, the committee decided their priorities for the new curriculum fell into four core pillars: integration, preparation, simplification, and engagement.
The MBA: New and Improved for Today’s Work Environment
Integration: Equip Students to Take a Cross-functional View of Problem-solving & Leadership
“Student academic needs continue to evolve, and we increasingly recognize that today’s business challenges are often complex and cross functional boundaries,” says Rosenzweig. “Moreover, the interconnected nature of the modern business environment means that decisions in one area often have significant implications for others.”
That recognition motivated faculty to build more integrated academic work into the new curriculum. This includes co-teaching courses by faculty paired from different disciplines, shared case studies across the core, and a new capstone project. Of all the improvements made to the curriculum, the core capstone integration experience—delivered during Growth Week—is the one Mitchell is particularly excited about.
“It’s going to be a game changer for us, and unique to our program in what it demands: cooperation across every business discipline,” says Mitchell.
This capstone experience is designed to challenge MBA students to approach complex business problems through a cross-functional lens, reflecting the realities of modern organizational decision-making. The implementation of the concept is led by two faculty leaders, Professor in the Practice of Marketing and Academic Director of Education Omar Rodriguez Vila and Associate Professor in the Practice of Organization & Management Renee Dye. The capstone is evaluated collaboratively by each core faculty member, as students ultimately tackle integrative assignments such as developing new business plans, solving real-world company challenges, or analyzing multifaceted simulations. Assessments may include a team report and presentation scored by all core faculty using a jointly developed rubric, along with peer evaluations to ensure accountability.
Preparation: Address Evolving Academic Needs in the Market and Sequence Core Courses to Prepare Students for Electives, Job Interviews, Internships and Career Success
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
One element that was crucial to keep was the exceptional employment performance the program has realized year after year.
“Our aim is career readiness from day one on the job,” says Mitchell. “That priority is made clear by our career outcomes, which are an enormous point of pride for Goizueta.”
This required addressing the demands of the workplace of today and tomorrow. Of the many trends in the modern economy, the demand for artificial intelligence fluency was universal from all stakeholders. Universities everywhere are racing to catch up to ChatGPT and other Large Language Models and find ways to effectively utilize these tools in academia. To address those demands, Goizueta made two programmatic enhancements: a brief, but high-intensity Quantitative and AI Foundations Bootcamp during onboarding and a Tech Trends & Transformations course as a spring semester requirement.
“We heard from a range of stakeholders about the growing importance of equipping our students with a strong understanding of emerging technologies and their role in driving business value,” says Rosenzweig. “The newly developed Tech Trends & Transformations course addresses this need through an integrated, cross-functional format. Taught by a team of faculty from multiple disciplines, the course emphasizes experiential learning, with each area contributing insights on key technology trends and their applications in practice.”
The one-week, in-person Quantitative & AI Foundations Bootcamp aims to strengthen AI and quantitative skills and prepare students for the program’s rigorous core curriculum.
“Everyone knows this is where the business world is right now—and yet, no one knows where it’s going,” says Mitchell about AI. “There’s a lot of excitement, curiosity, and uncertainty. That wasn’t the case even three years ago.”
Innovative and Traditional Career Prep
Additional adjustments focused on further aiding students’ career readiness.
One new development is fewer course commitments on Fridays during the fall to create more time for networking, interviewing for jobs, and other job preparation necessities.
Goizueta also adjusted the sequencing of courses in such a way that topics (like interviewing skills or making the most of internships) correspond with students’ recruiting timelines. Professional development touchpoints now begin earlier and become more frequent so that they are integrated across the entire semester.
These changes also preserved “Career Week”—an important Goizueta feature that allows deep career exploration. Students use this opportunity to travel to companies within their chosen fields—those interested in investment banking might visit firms on Wall Street, for example—and get a real sense of their profession. Faculty, students, and the Career Management Center all prioritized preserving an entire week for this incredibly valuable experience.
Another exciting development is a new, highly-interactive communications course, Communication and Storytelling taught by Assistant Professor in the Practice of Organization & Management, Steve Savage. The course covers public speaking, audience analysis, message construction, communicator credibility, delivery technique, storytelling using data, and organizing and constructing effective presentations.
“There was wide agreement across stakeholders that MBA students in general need more of these skills inside the curriculum,” says Mitchell. “Over decades, business schools traded off these kinds of skills in favor of quantitative skills that are also necessary, but we need to reintroduce more of this into this curriculum in a formal way. We have excellent faculty who specialize in these topics. Students are showing up having spent more and more time communicating over screens and less in long form, or in presentations, and oral presentations. But these are skills that are still critical in effective leaders.”
Simplification: Streamline Block Structure and Degree Requirements
The imperative to streamline the structure of the semester and degree requirements—while introducing innovative course content—demanded incredible ingenuity.
“It was challenging to fit all of these new innovations inside an academic calendar that’s fairly fixed,” says Mitchell. “It required a lot of creativity and tradeoffs; it’s a bandwidth challenge that we recommended addressing by introducing a few half-semester courses into the program. Courses like Tech Tools & Transformation and other half-semester courses took a lot of work and compromise. Ultimately, most agreed that a half course on certain topics would be more useful than no coursework at all.”
The revised format gives students greater clarity in managing their academic and recruiting responsibilities, ultimately allowing students to allocate their workload more effectively.
Engagement: Cultivating Community and Social Connectedness
Any business school student or alumni will tell you that what happens outside the classroom is also a crucial part of their experience. This is particularly true for Goizueta students, for whom the program’s intimate and transformative nature are unique and valuable features.
“We pride ourselves on delivering transformative growth, and for our students that means intellectually, professionally, and personally.” says Mitchell. “Of course, the academic program is the highest priority, but we must also continue innovating the co-curricular experience—for the sake of our students valuing their time at Goizueta, and also because this aspect of their development is important in their careers. We must continue cultivating students who are both highly capable and highly relatable leaders.”
That philosophy sparked several new initiatives designed to increase meaningful connections across the MBA program.
After student leaders reported a desire for more interaction between first- and second-year MBA cohorts, the school launched the “Goizueta Champions League” last year. Reminiscent of Harry Potter’s yearly House Cup competition, the points-based initiative brought students together through friendly competition in sports like soccer, basketball, and table tennis. The competition also allows students to rack up points in less physical feats, such as showing up for events or attending guest speaker programs. The campaign was highly successful, with over 100 participants and strong engagement from exchange students. Organizers now aim to expand the event to include more graduate programs and improve data tracking for future iterations.
On top of the plethora of social engagements already available, including KEGS (Keeping Everyone at Goizueta Social), student clubs, and the student formal, Goizueta implemented a “faculty dinner series,” another wildly successful initiative. Faculty and students can now sign up for a small group dinner at restaurants around Atlanta. Each dinner session has two faculty members, usually in disparate fields, and up to ten students. The event is small by design, giving students and faculty an environment where they can engage in authentic conversation about anything—not just jobs.
“We’re trying to connect on a personal level, and the pilot was a huge hit— every dinner was filled to capacity,” Mitchell reports. “Dean Gareth James participated in one as well!”
A Curriculum Reimagined for the Future of Business Leadership
The result of this comprehensive effort is more than just a curriculum refresh; it’s a renewed commitment to preparing principled leaders who can navigate complexity with confidence, creativity, and connection. Rooted in Goizueta’s strong sense of community and guided by data from every angle, the updated Full-Time MBA curriculum ensures that graduates are ready not only for today’s business challenges but for those yet to come.
Interested in learning more? Find out how the Goizueta MBA takes students beyond business as usual.
