Babson College and Cenquest Selected by Intel to Develop Custom MBA Program for Employees.

Business/High-Tech Editors

WELLESLEY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2000

Deal Redefines Corporate Role in Curriculum Development

with Program that Combines Online and Onsite Instruction

Babson College and Cenquest, a leader in delivering school-branded educational programs over the Internet, today announced an agreement with Intel Corporation, the world's largest chip maker, to deliver a custom MBA program designed primarily for Intel employees.

The Babson curriculum will be developed around real Intel work projects, for an advanced degree program that is both academically rigorous and immediately relevant to company specific objectives. Cenquest will work with Babson to adapt the curriculum to include media rich online components to the Intel classes.

The collaboration between Intel, Babson, and Cenquest to develop company-specific curriculum marks a radical change in the way academia and corporations work together. The Intel program, which is expected to initially instruct 25-30 students, will begin in mid-2001. Cenquest will also market the Babson onsite/online hybrid MBA program to other corporations.

The unique corporation/academia alliance is designed to be a win/win situation for companies and employees. Since much of the course content is related to real work projects, employees gain advanced degrees while increasing their immediate and long-term value to the employer. Companies are able to offer an attractive education program critical to attracting and retaining key employees while limiting the risk of losing the employee once course work is completed.

The Role of E-learning in a Hybrid Program

Babson faculty will hold classes once a month at Intel locations in Portland, Ore. and Santa Clara, Calif. Other instruction will use e-learning techniques, which include Internet-based professor/student collaboration and interactive multimedia course content. Babson faculty will work with Cenquest personnel, who are experts in developing content-rich advanced e-learning curriculum, to develop the online portions of the program, which include Web hosting for online student interaction.

E-learning is viewed by Babson and Intel as being a critical factor in making this type of program successful. The Internet-based portion of the classroom experience will allow participation of students/employees from multiple locations with minimum impact on their day-to-day productivity. It will also permit the participation of guest lecturers from corporations and universities around the world. Professors and students will also use the Internet to turn in assignments and to interact in a virtual classroom via message boards, chats and instant messaging.

"We identified early on that developing an integrated curriculum was essential to maximize the benefits of an on-site MBA program," said Alan Fisher, extended education program manager at Intel. "We looked to work with a provider that could offer a degree based on real work, not just homework. Babson offered the flexibility we needed through their customization and their willingness to teach at Intel locations. Cenquest provided the expertise we needed to ensure that the online component of the class was both engaging and effective."

"Cenquest was founded on the vision that the Internet enables employers to partner with top-tier universities to educate and develop employees on their terms," said LaVonne Reimer Young, CEO of Cenquest. "The Cenquest business model is designed to integrate the university campus into the corporate setting."

Program Expansion

Babson College plans to work with Cenquest to market and expand its executive MBA hybrid program to other leading companies around the world.

"Working with Intel on this program is an important first step in launching this new corporate learning model," said Tom Moore, CEO of Babson Interactive LLC and dean of the Babson School of Executive Education. "Other corporations will be quick to recognize the immediate value of offering their employees a Babson-branded MBA customized to meet their company-specific needs."

Babson is committed to innovative use of technology in learning. Its faculty members are skilled in developing specialized curriculum for technology clients. Participants in Babson's Executive Education program have included Sony, Lucent, EMC and Compaq. Babson, internationally known for its entrepreneurship program, bases its curriculum on the theme of entrepreneurial leadership in a changing global environment. Rather than just offering traditional functional courses, the program is divided into modules. Unlike conventional business schools, all the requisite skills, techniques, tools, and competencies delivered in traditional courses are introduced as needed in the modules. This just-in-time learning is the organizing principle of Babson's curriculum, allowing Babson to incorporate current and new business ideas into its courses.

Information on the program is available at: www.babson.edu/mba/intel

About Babson

Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education, was founded in 1919 by entrepreneur and financier Roger W. Babson. It grants BS, MBA and custom MS degrees through its Undergraduate Program and the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, and offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide through the Babson School of Executive Education. The College's newly launched for-profit venture, Babson Interactive LLC, develops distance learning programs and business simulations for executives and graduate students. More information about Babson is available at www.babson.edu.

About Cenquest

Cenquest is a leader in creating and delivering high-quality school-branded programs over the Internet. With unique instructional design expertise, Cenquest transforms traditional classroom-based content to its proven Internet-based learning model. Cenquest specializes in adapting accredited education and professional development content into an e-learning format that is highly interactive, instructor-mediated, event-driven and utilizes the multimedia capabilities of the Internet. Cenquest also offers the full range of necessary support and delivery services required to enable e-learning events, including faculty support and training, student registration and tracking, event management and hosting as well as online chat and collaboration between students and faculty. Cenquest's academic partners include: Babson College, University of Texas at Austin's IC2 Institute, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Adelaide University (Australia) and Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico). For more information on Cenquest visit www.cenquest.com or call 503/276-7900.