The Residency Weekend Kickoff for Your Online MBA

For enterprising students with the drive and dedication to become a Silicon Valley Professional (SVP), the journey begins here: the residency weekend kickoff for your Online MBA. This dynamic four-day weekend is one of two residencies that bookend your Online MBA experience, and is structured to let you bond with cohort peers and align with program faculty while preparing you for the pace and magnitude of all that’s to come. From field trips and fireside chats to lectures and scavenger hunts, the kickoff residency weekend sets you up for success as you work to master the rigors of business leadership and innovation.

Think this is just another weekend residency? Think again. The Online MBA residency weekend is more than an introductory social gathering; it demands something of you. Business begins early in the Valley, and Santa Clara University wastes no time in getting you ready for it.

By 9 a.m. on day one, you’ll be making presentations to your peers and prepping for meetings with the latest pioneering startups. Before the day ends, you’ll enjoy your first foray into coursework, with introductions to courses like “Doing Business in the Silicon Valley.” But there’s no slowing down from there.

Throughout the remainder of the weekend, your time will be focused on participating in lectures and collaborative assignments related to the foundational concept of “Leading People and Organizations.” This vital theme supports much of the Online MBA curriculum and strengthens your grasp of critical leadership competencies, including:

• Assessing your own skills and those of others
• Understanding team dynamics such as interdependence, norms, and roles
• Analyzing performance and developing a corresponding plan for team improvement

There is no better way to understand the heart of Silicon Valley than to visit the places in which disruption and innovation are incubated and brought to life.

The first day of your residency will revolve in part around a field trip to one of the area’s leading businesses, networking spaces, or think tanks. While destinations vary, you may find yourself exploring an independent technology business, one founded by individuals who exemplify the qualities of an effective SVP, or an innovative development hub, where new startup concepts are funded, fostered, and accelerated. During this excursion, you will begin to see and understand the creativity, analytical skill, and thoughtful ingenuity that feed lasting change locally and globally.

While onsite, you’ll hear from individual leaders and representatives within the host company, and learn from their principals what it takes to strategize, launch, and support a new business concept in Silicon Valley.

The Online MBA program at SCU’s Leavey School of Business is driven largely by its forward-thinking faculty, whose proven business savvy is its own unique teaching tool. Throughout the weekend, you and your cohort peers will have the opportunity to engage with these leaders one on one and begin to learn from their diverse experiences.

Additionally, through hosted networking and executive speaker events, you will have the opportunity to engage with exemplary business leaders who are active in Silicon Valley today. Discover how these creative minds are approaching their work with new ideas and lofty expectations, and consider how you can act on their examples of leadership, team building, and entrepreneurship.

During the Online MBA Program and beyond it, your cohort will serve as a sounding board, support group, and new network of business colleagues. But to be effective in any such capacity, you must first connect with one another and develop an understanding of how each of your peers relates to and differs from yourself, and how they interact within the group. By participating in structured team-building activities and collaborative coursework during the residency weekend, you will not only bond with the members of your cohort but also strengthen your command of principled leadership and communication.

Explore the exquisite SCU campus, gain exposure to a new network of Silicon Valley executive leaders, and kickstart the co-curricular experiences that will enhance your SVP experience. The kickoff residency weekend is just the beginning.

Check out the upcoming application deadlines for the Online MBA program and plot your journey toward becoming a Silicon Valley Professional.