Columbia University SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES’ Sports Management program and the Guanghua School of Management PARTNER TO LAUNCH a Companion Degree Program
The program will combine Columbia's unique curriculum, focused on globalization, digital media and technology, and sports analytics, with one of China's leading MBA programs
NEW YORK, NY (November 17, 2016) – Columbia University's School of Professional Studies (SPS) today announced a companion degree program with the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing, China. SPS’s Master’s in Sports Management program, currently ranked second in the world, and Guanghua's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program will offer companion degrees for students who qualify for both programs.
“The sports management companion degree program was developed to prepare students for the current global business and sports environment,” said Dr. Jason Wingard, Dean of Columbia University School of Professional Studies. “We are proud of our partnership with Guanghua and expect to leverage our cross-school faculty and market-driven curricula to create leaders in the international sports world.”
As China embarks on a major initiative to invest in their sports industry, the need for sports management education continues to grow. The SPS and Guanghua School of Management companion degree program is one step in addressing this issue through developing talent to fuel the sports industry's growth in China.
“Business management education must serve the purpose of social economic needs, stay on top of the trends, and guide the new and innovative ideas as much as possible,” added Professor Hongbin Cai, Dean of Guanghua School of Management. “Guanghua has the responsibility to train and nurture talents who understand both sports and management.”
Vince Gennaro, Director of Columbia University's Master’s in Sports Management program, will oversee the companion degree program at SPS. In a recent keynote speech at the China Sport Development Outlook Conference at the Guanghua School of Management in Beijing, Mr. Gennaro noted, “digital technology, globalization, and the explosion of data and information are changing sports management worldwide. We look forward to bringing state-of-art sports business practices to this partnership and contributing to China’s sports development.”
The companion degree program will be available to students as of Fall 2017.
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