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HBX Business Blog

CORe Student Spotlight: Sheneka Balogun

Posted by Sheneka Balogun on July 28, 2016 at 2:42 PM

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Sheneka Balogun is a Program Manager at Western Governors University who enrolled in the April 2015 cohort of HBX CORe in order to advance her career. She will be beginning an Ed.D. in Entrepreneurial Leadership at Johns Hopkins University School of Education this fall.

What do you do for work?

I am Program Manager in the College of Business at Western Governors University, one of the largest non-profit universities in the country that has been featured in Money Magazine, MSNBC, U.S. News, TIME, and even CNN for low-cost education that measures learning rather than seat time.

I performed consistently in the top 20% in the Mentoring Department and was promoted within a month of receiving my passing scores at HBX CORe.

Why did you decide to sign up for CORe?

I took CORe for several reasons. I wanted to advance in my career in higher education, and in order to do that I needed to better understand the core principles of business that would match my work ethic and high performance. I was eager to enroll in an MBA program and later pursue a terminal degree. Completing CORe, I thought, would position me to be a more competitive applicant during the admissions process.

What was your favorite part of the program?

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Because there were so many facets of HBX CORe that I enjoyed and that were beneficial in me grasping an intricate understanding of the content, it's hard to single out just one part.

If I had to choose, I would say the interactive text throughout each module was my favorite part. Learning came to life! The videos from the professors, the interactive cold quizzes where you were randomly selected to participate (those gave me chills by the way!), the case studies that enhanced and often captured the essence of objectives and learning goals were all embedded in each module. This made learning fun, engaging, and student-friendly.

I think it's important to mention that the amount of support I felt during the CORe program was incredible! HBX CORe was much more than a tripod of rigorous courses. The sense of community that developed from all the various social platforms that were unique to HBX that provided me the platform to interact with other students from all over the world in various industries were instrumental in my application and understanding of the concepts.

See! I told ya it was hard to name just one favorite part!

How are you applying what you've learned in CORe?

At Western Governors University, measuring learning as opposed to seat time is at the core of what we do to improve student outcomes. As a Program Manager, I am constantly evaluating the current practices the College of Business, and even my individual team of graduate faculty have in place and seeking out innovative strategies that will reduce attrition, increase the number of graduates, and improve learning outcomes for our students.

"HBX CORe has provided me a dynamic understanding of how to measure and understand those outcomes. I can now confidently translate statistical data into a graphical presentation or employ different statistical techniques to help me better understand the pulse of student progress."

HBX CORe has prepared me so well that I was able to quickly matriculate through a number of courses in my MBA program because I understood the basic tenets of both accounting and economics. I also plan to carry those skills over into my newest academic pursuit as I begin working toward an Ed.D. in Entrepreneurial Leadership at Johns Hopkins University School of Education this fall.

The CORe community consists of a rich and diverse group of learners. Want to learn more about other students who've participated in the program?

Read Additional Student Profiles

 

Topics: Student Profiles, HBX CORe, HBX Student Spotlight