NEWS OF NOTE

International Executive MBA Jamaica students expand their horizons during Miami visit.

From spouts to the oil industry, the 32 members of the class of 2006 in the College’s International Executive MBA (IEMBA) Jamaica program got firsthand industry knowledge while on a mandatory field trip to Miami this summer.

During the packed five-day schedule, they met with Lina Rodriguez, Exxon Mobil, International, and paid a site visit to LEASA Industries Co., Inc, a family-owned business that is Florida’s largest grower of bean and alfalfa sprouts and one of its largest tofu manufacturers. Andrew Yap, (BBA '91; MBA '97), who teaches marketing and management courses in the College, is LEASA’’s president and chief operating officer.

In addition, the IEMBA calss had a seminar on international business presented by José de la Torre, dean of the Chapman Graduate School, and took part of their international business course with Laurel Adams, adjunct, who teaches the rest of the course in her native Jamaica. The group also had time for a campus tour, meals, and meetings with faculty members and staff—including Flavia Iuspa, program manager, and Donald Roomes, academic director—as well as an IMBA-IEMBA Jamaica student mixer.

“It was great to see the University in which I am studying and to meet fellow MBA students,” said class member Jacqueline Williams. “Also, the trip added to my experience by giving me the opportunity to see how the theories we learn about have been put into practice by multinational companies.”

One hundred and sixteen working professional have earned their MBA through the IEMBA Jamaica program since it began in 1999. The College and the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) in Kingston collaborate to deliver the eighteen-month, lock-step program, which is taught by professors from the College who travel to the UCC campus, apart from the course work handled during the Miami visit.

For more information about the IEMBA Jamaica, visit the program’s web site or contact Iuspa at 305-348-1987 or iuspaf@fiu.edu.