PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Wharton Executive Education today announced the Wharton Learning Continuum. This unique executive education model spans nine to 12 months to support individuals-and their companies-before, during, and after leaving the classroom.
"Participants should not just ask 'What will I learn?' They also need to know how attending an executive education program will make them, and their team, more effective," said Jon Spector, vice dean of Executive Education at Wharton. "The Wharton Learning Continuum stands out by supporting executives from before class begins until well after they return to work. We start by assessing their needs. Then, we provide a challenging learning experience that focuses on real-world problems and solutions. After the program, we gauge the impact on the individuals and their organizations. It's simple, practical, and focused on impact."
"These activities are built around a classroom experience that executives tell us is first-in-class," said Peter Degnan, executive director of Wharton Executive Education. "Leveraging the world's largest and most-cited business faculty, we are able to provide participants with an extraordinary learning environment with a cohort of senior executives-an experience that will extend well beyond the time spent in the classroom." Wharton's program designers leverage multiple educational approaches when creating a curriculum, including case studies, interactive lectures, field learning, simulations, and peer-to-peer information sharing to optimize the learning experience.
The Wharton Learning Continuum is best viewed in the framework of a custom educational solution. However, customers will see elements of it in open-enrollment programs as well.
The Wharton Learning Continuum comprises:
-- Observable Outcomes Definition and Tracking-Outcomes can be
skills, tasks, or behaviors. What is critical is that they
are simply stated and observable in common-sense terms.
Executives determine three to five key observable outcomes
during the program-and Wharton facilitates the tracking of
results after the program through regular contact,
including online reminders and/or our Virtual Classroom.
-- Managers' Briefings-Managerial support makes it easier for
participants to implement what they learn at Wharton.
Managers' Briefings are intended to maximize results by
communicating to a participant's manager what he or she
will encounter during the program, what impact to expect
(or to look for), and what barriers he or she may face in
completing the tasks.
-- Reconvening the Cohort-When cohorts reconvene at periodic
intervals (typically every two to three months), participants
discuss progress against goals, and coach each other to
overcome challenges and barriers to implementation. Wharton
staff facilitate these post-program sessions with its
Virtual Classroom.
-- Impact Reports-Impact reports summarize the group's
successes and challenges or barriers in achieving
observable outcomes.
-- Individual Coaching-In certain situations, a business
coach can help extend learning into the workplace and
assist in improving your effectiveness as a manager. On
a case-by- case basis, Wharton brings together business
coaches and executive participants to design follow-up
activities.
The industry standard for an executive education program is three to five days in the classroom, where participants cover a range of topics. In most cases, once the program is complete, participants return to work and are left to their own devices.
Wharton Executive Education is introducing its new model with an extensive advertising campaign in print and online advertisements, featuring the tagline We're all business.(sm) Wharton Executive Education is also launching a redesigned website at http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/. The new model and campaign coincide with the School's celebration of its 125th anniversary.
About The Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school, the School is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2006. Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide.
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