Finally - An Executive MBA for OHS Leaders

FREDERICTON, Sept. 16, 2013 /CNW/ - The Sandermoen School of Business at the University of Fredericton (UFred) today announces the launch of Canada's first Executive MBA (EMBA) in Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Leadership. Responding to a clear need for OHS leaders to have access to master's level education, the new fully online program has been developed with input from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), Canada's foremost professional health and safety professional association.

Evidence has shown that well-designed and managed OHS programs support healthy, resilient and productive workforces, contributing to financially sound organizations; and as a consequence, OHS programs and processes are winning more prominent visibility in the executive-level agenda. To address the need for an expanding OHS leadership voice, this program has been developed to significantly enhance management-related educational opportunities for advanced-career professionals and managers of OHS units who aspire to lead their businesses towards much higher performance.

Commencing on January 6, 2014, with subsequent entry points five times per year, the program will cover a spectrum of topics from management essentials such as accounting, finance and operations, to a detailed examination of leadership within a network of complex stakeholder relationships, finishing with a series of specialty track courses and an Integration Project focused on building OHS-related leadership competence. With a tuition fee of $24,500, there will be fourteen fully online courses, each completed in a seven-week, fixed-agenda format, with one "live" webinar a week. If courses are taken one at a time in sequence and without a break, the duration of the MBA program would be two years, five months.

"For CSSE's CHSC designation holders, the value of this program goes beyond its convenient fully online format and affordable tuition, as they will receive a one-course advanced standing by virtue of the successful completion of the CHSC educational program requirements," says CSSE Education Director Dylan Short. And according to David Large, Dean of the Sandermoen School of Business, "Delegates to CSSE's Professional Development Conference this week in Montreal can get details and ask questions about this exciting new program by visiting the University of Fredericton booth in the Exhibition Hall at Place Bonaventure ".

From the perspective of Shawna-Raye Endresen, UFred's OHS Program Manager, "The new Executive MBA in OHS Leadership will prove as a valuable extension to an OHS professional's lifelong learning path. I have had the pleasure of working with many OHS professionals over the past five years, many of whom are already in a management role; and the EMBA in OHS Leadership is clearly the next step in their educational evolution!" Full information on the program and application process is available at www.ufred.ca.

About the Sandermoen School of Business:

The Sandermoen School of Business at the University of Fredericton offers accredited and fully-online MBA and Executive MBA programs in Global Leadership, Innovation Leadership, Social Enterprise Leadership and now OHS Leadership. For more information, visit UFred.ca. Its mission is aligned with the university's mission to provide fully online lifelong learning paths for upwardly mobile professionals.

About the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering

The Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) is the leading health, safety and environmental organization for professionals in Canada. CSSE works with industry, government and other safety-related stakeholders to promote greater awareness of health, safety, and environmental issues in workplaces and communities in Canada and around the world. For more information, visit csse.org.

SOURCE: University of Fredericton

Media Contact: Sarah Chiasson 1-506-454-4664