USAID Helps To Establish Top Business School in Former Soviet Union
American taxpayers’ money used to establish one of the top business schools in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
Georgia’s economic transition from a centrally planned economy to one that is market oriented has been a painful process. After an initial collapse the economy has been slow to rebuild. With an eye on facilitating this economic transition, Georgia State University in Atlanta, USA (GSU) and a consortium of Georgian state universities founded the Caucasus School of Business (CSB) located in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. The school offers degrees in Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA).
USAID through Eurasia Foundation provided $375 000 for the creation and development of the CSB. In 1996 Bijan Fazlollahi, a professor of international business at GSU’s Robinson College of Business, visited Tbilisi in and investigated the possibility of establishing an MBA program in Georgia. The need for an MBA program in Georgia was clear to the professor, “In the late 90s, there were no MBA programs in Georgia and there was a real need to train a new generation of managers to assist Georgia’s transition from a planned to a free market economy.”
The USAID grant was provided to develop the administrative and faculty capabilities necessary to provide a high-quality program. Using the base funding from USAID, GSU secured additional funding from U.S. State Department to set up its Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) program.
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| Graduation Day at the Caucasus Business School. |
The school faced a number of challenges in getting started. The first was becoming self-sustainable. Without government funding the program had to be tuition based, which is a challenge in a country where paying for education is not the norm. For the program to break even financially, Prof. Fazlollahi estimated that the school needed 80 tuition-paying MBA students. Prospects looked grim the first year when only a handful of students joined the program. But by the end of 2001 CSB had surpassed this number and was well on the road to becoming a self-sustaining institution.
CSB also needed to develop a strong cadre of lecturers to deliver its business courses. To achieve this, the school used part of its grant from Eurasia Foundation to establish a faculty exchange program, bringing in lecturers from the partner Georgian schools as well as visiting professors and administrators from Atlanta. The visiting staff taught students, worked with local faculty and administrators and helped develop CSB’s programs. Many of the CSB staff has had the opportunity to spend a semester in Atlanta auditing courses and being mentored by GSU professors.
Part of grant was used for improving CBS library resources through the purchase of textbooks, subscribing to an online business library, and joining the Central and East European Management Development Association (CEEMAN), an organization that helps schools like CSB to improve the quality of their programs and ultimately to obtain international accreditation. The school is also using the grant to fund the research activities of its faculty.
From modest beginnings, CSB has become a highly regarded and financially self-sustaining institution with strong academic programs. “During this short period the School has proven to be one of the most successful and popular higher education institutions in Georgia with international teaching standards,” said Richard Miles, US Ambassador to Georgia.
The CSB graduate program offers degrees in Finance and Accounting, Management, Marketing, and International Business. Courses, all taught in English, are offered in the evening and on Saturdays, to allow working students the flexibility to attend the program.
Employers find MBA graduates highly desirable. CSB’s MBA graduates are starting to fill the management ranks of Georgia’s successful businesses.
Levan Gogoladze, a ProCredit Bank branch manager and CSB graduate says, “The diploma is of great value in Georgia, where employers need qualified staff. To get a good position in business, you need education that is relevant to the job and you can’t get this at state universities.” Mr. Gogoladze himself has hired four CSB graduates.
Says Prof. Fazlollahi, “ We believe that if it stays on its current path, CSB will grow to become one of the top business schools in the territory of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.”
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