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For the attention of: news and business editors

Friday, November 18 2005 [PR5094]

MBA students in eastern Europe join prestigious alumni group

The fast-growing group of international alumni of the Open University Business School has expanded again – with the graduation of the latest of the School’s MBA students in Bucharest.

The 17 students were awarded their Master of Business Administration yesterday (Thursday, November 17) at a degree ceremony in the city, at which special guests included His Excellency Quinton Quayle, British ambassador in Romania.

The graduates all studied for their MBA in English through CODECS (the Centre for Open Distance Education for a Civic Society), the Open University Business School’s partner in Romania. Their graduation brings to 107 the number of OU Business School MBA graduates in the country.

The Bucharest ceremony followed a similar event earlier this month in Moscow. There, 42 students were presented with their MBA awards. They studied through the School’s partner in Russia – the International Institute of Management LINK. Their graduation brings to more than 200 the number of OU Business School graduates in Russia. More than 20 ceremonies for Open University graduates are held in the UK and internationally each year.

CODECS is a major provider of management education in Romania and offers the OU Business School MBA and the School’s Professional Certificate in Management and Professional Diploma in Management through 11 study centres.

Professor James Fleck, Dean of the OU Business School, said the Bucharest ceremony was a first-rate example of the international reach that the School enjoyed.

“The School and its collaborative partners, such as CODECS, offer courses in 31 countries, where we are providing quality business and management education,” he added. “We’re proud of this export success story that sees more and more students take advantage of the School’s supported open learning approach.”

Editor’s Notes

The Open University Business School is one of Europe’s leading business schools and the major provider of management development programmes delivered by supported open learning. It is one of an elite group of UK and European business schools to hold the prestigious triple of:
l accreditation from the US-based AACSB International;
l the EQUIS quality kitemark from the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd);
l and accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) for its MBA.

The OU Business School has 30,000 students in the UK and more than 40 countries. Since its inception in 1983, more than 150,000 managers have studied an OU Business School course at Certificate, Diploma or MBA level; of those, 15,000 have successfully completed their MBA and joined one of the three largest alumni associations for MBA graduates outside the United States.

CODECS, which operates in association with the University of Bucharest, functions as a private organisation to offer OU Business School programmes to fulfil the requirements of the evolving Romanian economy for skilled managerial staff.

Resources

Web

OU Business School website: http://www.open.ac.uk/oubs

Media contact

Neil Coaten OU Media Relations +44 (0)1908 652580

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