That Theatre Guy
MFAs are the New MBAs
Cory Sandrock
Issue date: 4/1/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
CHICAGO RESPONDS
Although heavily tradition-bound business schools, like Harvard, have been hit hard by this shift away from MBAs, scrappy change agents like Chicago GSB have rolled effortlessly with the punches. Thanks to the resolve of Dean Snyder, a secret Anglophile with a PhD in Shakespearean Performance, the GSB has retooled its entire business program to award MFAs instead of MBAs. "We feel it is important to be adaptable and responsive to changes in the broader business environment," explained Snyder, "The demand for MFAs was heard and the GSB has thus adapted to this new world. We plan to offer even more MFA courses as we move forward." The GSB has embraced change much faster than its competitors, and new classes for the 2005-2006 school year already include: "Studies in Southern Stock Performance Techniques: Tennessee Williams and Empirical Assets," "Statistical Shakespeare: 14 Bodies and Counting; The Bloodlust of Titus Andronicus," and "Welding 101: Build Your Own Scrooge McDuck Wall Safe." As the GSB adds more exciting classes with no economic or financial content, a move to the top of future BusinessWeek rankings seems all but ordained.
THEATRICAL FALLOUT
Although the increased hiring of MFAs stands to boost Wall Street valuations, regional theatres are already suffering. The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, for example, has already lost five of its top actors. "One had a baby," explains the ACT artistic director, "but the other four took jobs at Merrill Lynch. I swear the world has gone nuts...who would have thought those damn bankers were interested in Shakespeare?" Who would have thought indeed, but the numbers cannot be debated - more than 47% of actors have stopped auditioning and at least 38% have accepted offers from the top banks. Many more are engaged in banking job searches and most traditional MFA programs have seen an increase in the number of campus recruiters. The storied Yale School of Drama, for example, has gone from a recruiting pool of only two companies in 2002, to an all-time high of 408 last year. Until more business schools follow the GSB and add MFA content, art schools will hold all the capital in this equation. The epilogue of this trend is yet to be written, but the increasing focus on MFAs is already shaking up business education and forcing banks to cry "Out, out damn MBA! Get thee to a nunnery!"
Although heavily tradition-bound business schools, like Harvard, have been hit hard by this shift away from MBAs, scrappy change agents like Chicago GSB have rolled effortlessly with the punches. Thanks to the resolve of Dean Snyder, a secret Anglophile with a PhD in Shakespearean Performance, the GSB has retooled its entire business program to award MFAs instead of MBAs. "We feel it is important to be adaptable and responsive to changes in the broader business environment," explained Snyder, "The demand for MFAs was heard and the GSB has thus adapted to this new world. We plan to offer even more MFA courses as we move forward." The GSB has embraced change much faster than its competitors, and new classes for the 2005-2006 school year already include: "Studies in Southern Stock Performance Techniques: Tennessee Williams and Empirical Assets," "Statistical Shakespeare: 14 Bodies and Counting; The Bloodlust of Titus Andronicus," and "Welding 101: Build Your Own Scrooge McDuck Wall Safe." As the GSB adds more exciting classes with no economic or financial content, a move to the top of future BusinessWeek rankings seems all but ordained.
THEATRICAL FALLOUT
Although the increased hiring of MFAs stands to boost Wall Street valuations, regional theatres are already suffering. The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, for example, has already lost five of its top actors. "One had a baby," explains the ACT artistic director, "but the other four took jobs at Merrill Lynch. I swear the world has gone nuts...who would have thought those damn bankers were interested in Shakespeare?" Who would have thought indeed, but the numbers cannot be debated - more than 47% of actors have stopped auditioning and at least 38% have accepted offers from the top banks. Many more are engaged in banking job searches and most traditional MFA programs have seen an increase in the number of campus recruiters. The storied Yale School of Drama, for example, has gone from a recruiting pool of only two companies in 2002, to an all-time high of 408 last year. Until more business schools follow the GSB and add MFA content, art schools will hold all the capital in this equation. The epilogue of this trend is yet to be written, but the increasing focus on MFAs is already shaking up business education and forcing banks to cry "Out, out damn MBA! Get thee to a nunnery!"