History

The Graduate Business Education Project (GBEP) implemented by the University of Delaware (UD) in partnership with the School of Economics and Business at the University of Sarajevo (SEB) and the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) through the Sarajevo Graduate School of Business (SGSB) represents a way to provide the business community with individuals skilled in Western business practices and serves as a role model to other universities in BiH on modern graduate business education programs.

Since its inception in February 2004 SGSB has accomplished much. After a very short initial recruitment period the project succeeded in recruiting 29 qualified applicants and seating an initial class of 26 students – all paying two to three times the cost of the typical graduate degree in BiH. This initial class, with 22 students remaining, graduated in June 2006. Graduates received the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from UD and Masters in Sciences (MS) degree from SEB. Fifteen students graduated in June 2007 and 26 students graduated in June 2008. Most SGSB students come from BiH, but there are students from 6 other countries as well, including the US. All graduates are employed and many have reported a significant increase in opportunities and job responsibilities.

In addition to the MBA program, SGSB launched an executive education program in January 2005. The program offers courses lasting from one day to nine months in English and the local languages in topics such as Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, Human Resources Management, Business Planning, and Strategic Planning. SGSB executive education courses have been attended by over 1,400 individuals. SGSB also raised funds from the business community to fund an academic conference in June 2006.

SGSB faculty members have consistently earned high praise on course evaluations from MBA students and short course participants. SGSB faculty have presented papers and had articles published in internationally recognized journals. Three local Professors have taught classes at the University of Delaware.

While both the University of Delaware and Faculty of Economics opted out of continuing with SGSB, Henderson State University (HSU) and the International University of Sarajevo (IUS) recognized the success of SGSB and the opportunity to establish a long term presence in Bosnia. HSU, IUS, and FLAG International (FI) are deeply committed to the continuation of SGSB and are working hard to ensure the launch of an AACSB accredited graduate business program in the fall of 2008 and an undergraduate business in the fall of 2009.