Varsity plans to offer 5-yr integrated MBA course

Class 12 students might have one more career option to choose from besides engineering and medical courses. The University of Mumbai plans to launch a five-year integrated MBA course from the academic year 2013-14.

Though the university already offers bachelors and masters in management studies, a five-year integrated management course would have an edge as admission in the latter would start after class 12.

The proposal for the five-year integrated course was discussed in the May 22 meeting of the ad-hoc board of studies in management courses at the university.

Pro vice-chancellor Naresh Chandra confirmed the development. “The plan is at nascent stage which awaits academic council nod. We need to get UGC recognition for the course before launching it.”

As per the AICTE rules, the five-year course would be called MAM (Master in Applied Management) which would provide a Bachelor of Management at the end of three years if one wishes to discontinue, a Bachelor of Applied Management after four years and an MAM degree after five years.

The number of seats, entrance exam, course fee and other details are yet to be decided. The syllabus, which is yet to be finalised, is supposed to educate and groom class 12 students into world-class managers in five years so that they can take up entrepreneurship or managerial positions in service and manufacturing sector including public sector units and multinational firms.

The university plans to rope in colleges that offer post-graduate courses. Though, it is yet to be decided whether specialised programmes such as BTech-MBA, Pharma-MBA or hotel-management MBA, which are available at a few private universities, would also be offered.