MBA/MST Dual Degree (Archive 2018-2019)

The MBA/MST allows students to develop a deep expertise in taxation and a sound grasp of general management. The dual degree program prepares students for high-level careers in tax consulting and advising, particularly in corporations or leadership positions in public accounting. Students who possess a CPA or CMA will find this degree to be an especially useful option.

Two master’s degrees will be awarded when all degree requirements for both programs are fulfilled.

MBA/Master of Science in Taxation Archive 2018-2019

 

MBA/MST Curriculum

18-25 courses
48-66 credits

Program Length
Full-time in as few as 16 months
Part time in as few as 33 months

Contextualize: From Boston to the World (5 credits)

Must be taken in first semester.

Credits:

1.00

Description:

SBS 700 is the first required course in Suffolk's graduate programs. The course is based on the precepts of experiential learning. Based on the idea that people learn best by participating in meaningful activities, this course provides students with the opportunity to learn about and experience first-hand the many complexities of business and the role of top managers. To accomplish this, students will work in small groups as they take on the roles of top managers in a hands-on behavioral simulation.

Prerequisites:

MBA students only

Credits:

1.00

Description:

This course teaches students ethical frameworks to lead and manage organizations that go beyond the standard legal compliance and risk management approaches, and that embrace the more inclusive principles of sustainability and corporate responsibility. This course will set forth the fundamentals of managerial ethics and will prepare students for the complex, multilevel managerial and leadership integrity challenges that corporations face today.

Prerequisites:

MBA students only

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This first-semester MBA course introduces students to the topic of world-class clusters as a multi-level phenomenon. Beginning from the macro level of analysis and proceeding to the micro level, the course covers a panoply of concepts and frameworks for understanding why world-class clusters emerge at specific locations in the first place and then regularly succeed in transforming themselves to keep up with and even lead the pace of change in their respective industries. In the group projects that they conduct for this course, students are expected to emulate the characteristics of high-powered teams found in world-class clusters: the course thus begins with conceptual understanding of world-class clusters and then proceeds to have students emulate the behavior that can be observed in world-class clusters.

Core Courses (12 credits)

May be waived.

Credits:

1.50

Description:

This course introduces the basic tools and concepts of microeconomics (2 classes) for supply and demand analysis; for consumer market behavior; and for production, cost, and pricing decisions in different market structures. Greater emphasis (4 to 5 classes) in the course is on the macroeconomic topics of national economic performance, the economic role of government and fiscal and monetary policy, and the banking and financial system in the current economic environment. The course is intended for MBA students who have no recent academic background in economics.

Credits:

1.50

Description:

This course emphasizes the importance of basic concepts in probability and statistics for managerial decision making with a strong emphasis on practical application. Students will learn basic data analysis, random variables and probability distributions, sampling distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing and regression. MS Excel will be used throughout the course. Numerous examples are chosen from quality control applications, finance, marketing and Management to illustrate the managerial value of applying sound statistical techniques to the analysis of operational data.

Prerequisites:

MBA-625 or SBS-604 (may be taken concurrently)

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This course provides students with Operations Management concepts, techniques, and tools to design, analyze, and improve operational capabilities in any organization. Students will understand and analyze common OM decisions on managing inputs (materials, information, finances, and human resources) and processes to deliver desirable outcomes to customers. Topics covered include operations strategy, process analysis, quality management and lean operations, capacity analysis, inventory management, product development, supply chain management, project management, revenue management and pricing, decision analysis, and forecasting. Software tools used may include MS Excel, Visio, and Project Management. This course will contain experiential learning components related to Boston's world-class industries, which may include guest lectures, simulation exercises, or visits to local organizations.

Prerequisites:

1 course from each of the following groups: MBA-615 or SBS-603; MBA-625 or SBS-604; MBA-640 or ACCT-800; These courses may be taken prior to or concurrently with MBA-650.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This course introduces the basic principles of corporate finance. The main focus is on fundamental principles such as time value of money, asset valuation, and risk and return tradeoff. Topics to be covered also include cost of capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

At its core, marketing is about providing consumer value. The practice of doing this is changing constantly-driven by rapid and far-reaching changes in technology; globalization; and the evolution of consumer values, practices, and lifestyles. This course will present themes, theories, and trends that are critical for: 1. understanding the business of creating, capturing and sustaining value; 2. introducing students to the global, consumer, and technological realities of marketing in the 21st Century; and 3. providing students with a sound foundation to explore marketing in further depth in upper-level elective courses. This course also contains an experiential component. .

Understanding Business Fundamentals (9 credits)

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This course teaches students critical thinking and problem solving skills in the context of two essential ingredients of collaboration: leading people and teams, and managing projects. Students will learn concepts and processes that support building and launching high performing teams that can manage complex projects efficiently and effectively. Students will collaborate experientially to solve problems facing Boston's world-class industry clusters.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This course introduces students to three essential ingredients of innovation: Entrepreneurial Thinking, Information Technology in an Age of Disruption, and Law as Framework. Entrepreneurial thinking is a critical element in the creation, growth, and sustainability of an organization. In new ventures, entrepreneurs drive innovation with limited resources and within a flat organization. Information technology, strategically selected and implemented, can provide a significant, competitive advantage. Students will survey the increasingly complex, evolving, and highly competitive business environment in which ethical, legal, economic, and regulatory forces are continuously reshaping the global marketplace both to create and limit competitive opportunities. This course will contain experiential components, relating to Boston's world-class industries.

Prerequisites:

Please email Hillary Sabbagh at [email protected] to register for a travel seminar.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

The Immersion course provides an opportunity for students to link their program work to hands-on experience and visits to real-life global companies. The highly experiential, intensive course combines classroom learning with a direct business and cultural experience. Students will work in teams directly for a client or several clients, solving real challenges, using their analytical skills, knowledge, and experience to develop feasible solutions. Required for all MBA students, the course will be offered globally or nationally to accommodate a variety of student needs.

MST Preparation Courses (6 credits)

May be waived.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This introductory-level accounting course provides students with a solid base in accounting fundamentals, including U.S. GAAP, the conceptual framework, nature of accounts, journal entries, and ultimately, financial statements. Provides in-depth coverage of the process by which accountants analyze, journalize, post, and summarize transactions. Reviews and analyzes multiple examples of current "real life" financial statements. The students would practice data analytics through the analysis of companies' financial ratios. The course includes a discussion of ethical issues facing accounting professionals and time value of money techniques. For MSA, GCA, & MST students, this is the first course in the financial accounting sequence. For MBA students, this potential elective course builds upon concepts learned in MBA 640.

Prerequisites:

ACCT-800 or MSA Program Director permission

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This is the first of two intermediate-level accounting courses that build on students' learning in ACCT 800, going in-depth into measurement and reporting of asset, liability, and stockholders' equity accounts for external financial reporting purposes. Discusses pronouncements of authoritative sources such as the SEC, AICPA, and the FASB. Introduces students to IFRS and their similarities to and differences from U.S. GAAP. Develops strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

MST Core Courses (15 credits)

If "must substitute" work with the MST Program Director to select an elective.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Focuses on the federal income taxation of individuals with some discussion of business taxation. Explores the basic structure of individual income taxation, including the individual tax formula, income, deductions, and credits, and provides an introduction to property transactions. Emphasizes how tax laws affect everyday personal and business decisions.

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Covers tax research methods, including identifying and defining tax questions, locating appropriate authority, and interpreting statutes, cases, and rulings. Emphasizes effective communication of research findings and recommendations, and proper administration, ethics and responsibilities of tax practice.

Prerequisites:

TAX-801 or approval of the MST Director

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Introduces concepts, principles and practices of taxation of corporations and their shareholders. Covers the effects of taxation on corporate formation, capital structures, distribution and liquidation.

Prerequisites:

TAX-801 or approval of the MST Director

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Presents concepts, principles, and practices of taxation of partnerships and S-corporations, including the use of pass-through entities for tax planning.

Prerequisites:

TAX-801 or approval of the MST Director

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Explores strategies of tax practice before the Internal Revenue Service. Covers tax deficiencies, assessments, claims for refunds, rulings, statutes of limitation, penalties, interest assessed, and appeals.

Electives (6 credits)

At least one of your electives must be TAX. Your other elective may be TAX but it can also be any 800-level or higher course offered in the Sawyer Business School, or MBA 740. If you received any “must substitute” under the MST Core Courses section of this document, your additional electives must be TAX.

Construct the Big Picture (7 credits)

Prerequisites:

Take MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-721, MBA-730, and SBS-700

Credits:

1.00

Description:

This course involves synthesizing and applying the content from Values Based Decision Making through two deliverables, both of which require reflection on the MBA experience. Students will consider the external clients they have worked with in their client oriented classes and the MBA curriculum through an ethical lens. They will focus on identifying organization-based ethical issues and values, applying ethical frameworks to analyze them, and making an argument as leaders or managers for an ethical solution. This course will offer application and synthesis, taught towards the end, allowing students to creatively apply ethical perspectives to what they learned in the MBA.

Prerequisites:

MBA students only. SBS-700, MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-615(or SBS 603), MBA-625(or SBS 604), MBA-635, MBA-640(or ACCT 800,) MBA-650, MBA-660, MBA-720(or MBA-721), MBA-730, and MBA-745(may be taken concurrently)

Credits:

3.00

Description:

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of the global business environment in a way specifically relevant to innovation in world-class clusters. The course has a three-part format: 1. global business fundamentals; 2. opportunity recognition, validation and planning; and 3. experiential term group project in the elaboration of a proposed innovation. Global business fundamentals include the complexities of operating in the international economic environment, the theory and practice of trade, the global integration and local responsiveness of the multinational firm, the internationalization decision of firms, as well as the different modes of entry.

Prerequisites:

SBS-700, MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-615(or SBS 603), MBA-625(or SBS 604), MBA-635, MBA-640(or ACCT 800,) MBA-650, MBA-660, MBA-720(or MBA-721), MBA-730, and MBA-745(may be taken concurrently)

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Students engage in a variety of learning activities, such as case studies, computer simulations, examinations, project reports, and most especially, experiential exercises involving competition. Students will develop a multi-functional general management perspective. The course is designed to help students integrate and apply their knowledge and techniques learned in the core courses of the MBA program into an overall view of the firm, evaluate the environment, and speculate on the future direction of the organization. Students will also learn about the principal concepts, frameworks, and techniques of strategic management, they will develop the capacity for strategic thinking, and they will examine the organizational and environmental contexts in which strategic management unfolds. This course will make extensive use of experiential activities and projects designed to get students to experience the dynamics of competition right in the classroom.

Lead and Implement Change and Capstone Course (6 credits)

Must be taken as late in program as possible.

Prerequisites:

MBA students only. SBS-700 MBA-701 MBA-710 MBA-615 MBA-625 MBA-635 MBA-640 MBA-650 MBA-660 MBA-720(or MBA-721) MBA-730 MBA-745 MBA-750 MBA-760 (MBA 745, MBA-750 and MBA-760 may be taken concurrently with MBA 770)

Credits:

3.00

Description:

The final course in the MBA curriculum ties together the integral components of the four industry clusters, strategy and business fundamentals to the experience of leading change. Students experience the change process personally through a simulation. Students then apply their learning to an applied project based in one of the four clusters that is team-based, client-focused, grounded in research, and integrates MBA concepts as required with a final presentation to a live client. As part of understanding change, students will also evaluate the wider societal impacts of the business change. Finally, students reflect on their MBA program in total, revisiting their career plan and vision. This course uses multiple approaches, defining, understanding and experiencing the strategic value of change at the organizational, team, and individual levels.

Prerequisites:

TAX-801, TAX-861, and 1 additional TAX course or approval of the MST Director

Credits:

3.00

Description:

Examines the history and evolution of the tax policy and budget process in the United States and the players in that process. Considers the issues of fairness, simplicity and efficiency in the context of the current tax system and evaluating past and current tax policy to make recommendations to craft new policy. Emphasizes the ethical dimensions involved in the tax policymaking process.

Advising

The Graduate Programs Office and academic departments provide academic advising to both full-time and part-time students. All students are encouraged to discuss their goals and concerns with their Graduate Programs advisor.

Students are also encouraged to discuss their academic interests and career goals with faculty especially when choosing elective courses.

Suffolk MBA students have the flexibility to combine taking core or elective courses in Boston or online.

Students enrolling in an online course for the first time are strongly advised to also enroll in the New Student Orientation (NSO)-(SBS 002 W1). It is a no-fee, zero-credit session, designed for students who have never taken an online course before. It is hosted the week prior to the start of the semester.

Waiver Policy

MBA core courses and MST preparation courses may be waived. MST core courses may need to be substituted. Required MBA Courses (SBS 700, MBA 701, MBA 710, MBA 721, MBA 730, MBA 740, MBA 745,  MBA 750, MBA 760, and MBA 770) cannot be waived.

To waive an MBA core or MST preparation course, a student must successfully complete equivalent academic coursework at the undergraduate/graduate level in the seven (7) years prior to MBA/MST matriculation, with a grade of “B” or better, and provide official transcripts (with English translations, if applicable).

All waiver requests are evaluated upon a student’s acceptance into the MBA/MST Program and are waived during a student's first semester. Student may also elect to take a proficiency exam, for a fee, to gain a waiver. Proficiency exams must be taken in the first semester and are administered on the Boston Campus. 

All MBA/MST student must complete a minimum of 48 credits in the Sawyer Business School.

Transfer Credit Policy

Any candidate seeking transfer credits, taken at the graduate level from an AACSB-accredited graduate program in business, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. These credits may be considered for transfer if the credits do not apply to a previously completed degree.

Transfer credits must have an earned grade of "B" or better and be taken within five (5) years prior to entering the Suffolk MBA/MST program. However, at the discretion of the MST program director, tax required courses may not be transferred if the subject material has changed significantly since completion. A maximum of six (6) credits may be considered for transfer.

Students Who Leave Boston Before Their Degree is Complete

Occasionally, Suffolk MBA/MST students must leave the Boston area having not yet completed their degree. The Business School has several options available to insure completion of the Suffolk MBA/MST. You may be able to transfer in six (6) credits of elective courses from an AACSB-accredited MBA or MST Program close to your new place of residence. Courses must be pre-approved by Suffolk's Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs and have a grade of B or better.

Students may also complete the MBA portion of the MBA/MST online.