UNIVERSITIES: Business schools offer a wide array of educational programs.

LATIN AMERICANS SEEKING TO BUILD THEIR CAREER skills or improve their understanding of international business can choose from a variety of educational options.

The first choice for most Latin students -- whether seasoned professionals or newcomers to the business world -- is a master of business administration (MBA) program. To earn this internationally recognized credential, many U.S. colleges and universities offer MBA students a choice of regular weekday courses or weekend programs designed to accommodate executives' busy schedules.

To keep pace with today's New Economy, U.S. business schools are offering new areas of specialization, such as e-commerce, and enhancing their international business offerings. For example, summer internships or mid-semester programs in Europe or the Americas may be offered to give students a taste of different business environments.

Distance learning is another option with some schools. Latin students can take most of their courses online, attending classes in special "chat rooms" and e-mailing homework assignments back to their professors.

With convenient air travel, instant communications and a renewed emphasis on global learning, U.S. business schools are closer than ever for Latin American students. Here are several schools with programs designed to meet the needs of today's business students.

EMORY UNIVERSITY 

A growing number of Latin American students are attending Emory University's Roberto C. Goizueta School of Business in Atlanta. Named for the Cuban-born former CEO of Coca-Cola, Emory's business school is one of the top 25 in the United States. Emory also benefits from its convenient location in Atlanta, a thriving business community with numerous direct flights to Latin America.

"Latin Americans choose us because they know they will get an excellent global education," says Meredith Curtin, assistant director of admissions and manager of Latin American recruitment. "We provide our MBA students with exposure to worldwide business practices."

Emory offers a 21-month MBA program with a three-month optional internship, as well as a 12-month accelerated full-time program for those with an undergraduate business degree. Emory also offers a 16-month weekend executive MBA program and a 36-month part-time program for working professionals.

"We have a rigorous academic program with a collaborative approach," Curtin says. "Our students work together in solving problems, discussing cases, and creating new business knowledge and opportunities for themselves."

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY 

The Global eMBA program at FlU's College of Business Administration gives experienced business professionals in Latin America or in the Latin American offices of multinational companies a convenient and intensive MBA experience in 13 months. Its focus on Latin America in both content and participant mix and its innovative use of web-based communication for course delivery and group interaction help set it apart from other programs.

Participants meet at the Biltmore's Conference Center of The Americas for five one-week residency sessions, which include a full schedule of classes during the day and team case preparations during the evenings.

In between these sessions, students will complete a series of online courses, team assignments, and work projects. Global eMBA also engages participants in an exclusive entrepreneurial strategy simulation that culminates in the presentation of business proposals to venture capitalists and provides a high level of personal service and leadership development. For more information, visit www.fiu.edu/[sim]webemba/.

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY 

For nearly three decades, The Huizenga School at Nova Southeastern University has reached out to graduate business students from Latin America, offering an array of internationally oriented programs.

"We're very good at building relationships with students from the Caribbean and Latin America," says Dr. Claudia Santin, associate dean, Wayne Huizenga School Graduate School of Business and Entrepreneurship. "We have a diversified student body, with a great many working professionals taking classes at our Fort Lauderdale area campus, in their home countries and through our corporate and field-based programs.

With 2,300 masters and doctoral students, The Huizenga School offers one of the largest MBA programs in the U.S. The Huizenga School offers a master of international business administration (MIBA) degree with a course of study in a foreign country, and also has a fast-growing online MBA program.

Customized executive education programs are available for Latin professionals who want to study subjects like international strategy, international contracts and international competitiveness. In addition to well-established MBA programs in Panama, Jamaica and the Bahamas, The Huizenga School has built relationships with universities in Colombia, Brazil and Argentina that allow those students to study in South Florida as a component of their academic program. For information, visit www.huizenga.nova.edu.

DUKE UNIVERSITY THE FUQUA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business is a global leader in the field of e-learning, having pioneered a unique learning model called "place and space." This new paradigm combines the best of face-to-face education at residential sessions around the world (physical "place") with distance-learning via innovative Internet-based technologies (virtual space").

The Duke MBA -- Global Executive program, launched in 1996, is targeted at mid- to senior-level executives of global corporations and blends traditional classroom sessions (place) with distance learning via the Internet (space). Over the 19-month program, students meet on four continents for two-week residencies at which they receive instruction from the world-class Fuqua faculty.

Outside these residencies, students learn wherever they are: at home, a corporate site, a customer or supplier site, or even on vacation, using Duke's proprietary Internet-mediated learning technology platform. Duke MBA -- Global Executive students can earn a top-tier MBA, living and working anywhere in the world.

In August 2000, Fuqua launched its newest MBA program to combine the "place and space" pedagogy, The Duke MBA -- Cross Continent. Cross Continent students choose a primary campus, either in Durham, N.C., or Frankfurt, Germany. Classes convene on both campuses for one out of every 10 weeks for 20 months, over eight terms. Typically, the one-week residential session is followed by six weeks of computer-mediated learning.

Both the Global Executive and Cross Continent programs hold classes at the Fuqua School of Business Europe campus in Frankfurt, which serves as headquarters during European residential learning sessions. In addition to its success in executive MBA degree programs, Duke is a world leader in customized executive education programs and plans to provide European companies with a complete schedule of open-enrollment executive education programs.

BARRY UNIVERSITY

In an era of rapid change, it's important to hold fast to some things like your values and your desire to make the world a better place. At Barry University, students are challenged to think, to question and to make their values and ethics count. Founded as Barry College in 1940 by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian Michigan, Barry has grown significantly, yet remains true to its mission of providing quality academics, a caring environment, a religious dimension, and community service. Barry, based in Miami, enrolls students from 49 states and territories and 80 countries. The subtropical environment, beautiful landscaped campus, and Spanish-style architecture are perfect for quiet reflection, study, or getting together with friends.

Barry University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; telephone number 404-679-4501) to award bachelor's, master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees.

Over 60 academic programs and 49 graduate degrees are offered through the Schools of Adult and Continuing Education, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Graduate Medical Sciences, Human Performance and Leisure Science, Natural and Health Sciences, Nursing, and Social Work.

University of Miami business students keep pace with fast-moving world

POSITIONED AT THE crossroads of latin America and the rest of the world, the University of Miami School of Business has long been drawing students to its innovative and always-current programs.

Need an example? UM boasts the only all-Spanish business degree program in the United States, especially geared to Latin Americans. "We don't know of any other university that is doing this," says Dr. Harold Berkman, vice dean of the university's graduate business programs. "It's very intense and very rigorous, yet flexible for a working professional."

Another case in point: This fall, UM launches its new e-commerce degree, which combines specialization in computer information systems and marketing.

About 40% of graduate students hail from other countries, with a majority from Latin America and the Caribbean, a testament to Miami's geographic location and the university's long history preparing business students for the global economy. In addition to a full MBA program, the school offers masters and doctoral degrees.

The MBA program is most popular. "With 28 specialization areas, MBA students have a phenomenal number of options," Berkman says. "If a student is careful, he or she can wind up with two specializations, such as finance and marketing."

UM is also home to one of the nation's oldest and largest executive degree programs, delivering MBA curricula on campus as well as off-campus programs to companies such as Motorola, IBM and Siemens.

The Spanish master's degree in professional management is geared to Latin executives who come to Miami for five two-week study sessions, then work with a faculty mentor to carry out a research project directly related to their employment.

For graduate students, five full time professionals at the Ziff Graduate Placement Center coach them and help find them jobs. Recruiters from Fortune 1000 companies routinely come to UM on recruiting trips.