Master of Health Administration

• Student Membership Application: American College of Health Care Executives
• American College of Health Care Executives Career Information

Consistent with its mission, the MHA curriculum focuses its teaching, learning, and assessment methods on the preparation of early-to-mid careerists for a broad range of professional employment opportunities across the continuum of health services delivery. Small class sizes (typically 15 or fewer) allow for significant use of team-based activities as well as project-based assignments that allow students to gain real-world experience while in the program. The program’s capstone requirement provides opportunities for students to identify, conceptualize, and execute a project of strategic importance to the field of health administration.

Grading Policies

The MHA program utilizes the same grading rubric as the university, as described in the Georgia Southern University’s Graduate Studies catalog.

With the exception of professional seminar and ALE sections, all required coursework is graded on an A-F scale.

As per College of Graduate Studies policy, all students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is order to remain in good academic standing and graduate from the MHA program.

Goal #1 – Foster student success

Objective #1-Monitor student attainment of education competencies

Measurement(s)-(1) student self assessment of competency attainment at program inception and completion; (2) preceptor assessment of student competency attainment and the conclusion of applied learning experience(s).

Benchmark(s): (1) 100% of students will self-assess as proficient on all program competencies at program completion; (2) 100% of students will be assessed as proficient on all program competencies by their preceptor(s) at the conclusion of their applied learning experience(s).

Objective #2: Monitor student job placement after program completion

Measurement(s) – (1) student career placement rates; (2) student post-graduate residency/fellowship placement rates based on responses to MHA Alumni Survey results.

Benchmarks: (1) 90% of graduates will be working/advancing in the field of health administration within five years of program completion; (2) 20% of graduates will complete a post-graduate administrative residency or fellowship within five years of program completion.

Goal #2-Foster/promote diversity of student experiences in the MHA program

Objective #1 – Monitor demographic characteristics of student applicants to the MHA program.

Measurement(s) – (1) monitor number of ethnic minority applicants and admissions to the MHA program; (2) monitor number of years of health-related experience among program applicants and admissions

Benchmark(s): (1) 30% or more of MHA admissions will consist of persons from ethnic minority group(s); (2) average years of health related experience among MHA admissions will be one year or greater.

Objective #2 – Monitor demographic characteristics of program faculty, preceptors and other program resources (e.g. guest speakers)

Measurement(s) – (1) monitor number and type of ethnic minority faculty members; (2) monitor number and type of ethnic minority preceptors and guest speakers/lecturers.

Benchmark(s): (1) at least one full-time or part-time faculty member will be from an ethnic minority group; (2) 100% of MHA faculty will utilize at least one ethnic minority guest speaker and/or student preceptor in one or more classes annually.

Goal #3 – Foster / promote excellence in faculty performance

Objective #1 – Monitor faculty participation and performance in activities that improve teaching/instructional/pedagogical skills.

Measurement(s) – annual faculty evaluation results in the area(s) of instructional/pedagogical skills development

Benchmark(s): 100% faculty participation in instructional/pedagogical skills development and satisfactory rating or higher on annual faculty evaluations in this area.

Objective #2 – Monitor student evaluations of instructional performance

Measurement(s) – Faculty and Course Evaluation (FACE) instrument administered at the conclusion of each course/term.

Benchmark(s): 100% of MHSA faculty attaining average course instructional rating of good to excellent across all MHA courses taught per year.

Objective #3 – Monitor faculty performance in scholarly activities

Measurement(s) – number and type of scholarship related activities engaged in by MHA faculty.

Benchmark(s): 100% of MHA faculty will be engaged in one or more activities of scholarship on an annual basis.

Goal #4 – Recruit/admit highly qualified students for success in health administration.

Objective #1 – Monitor academic qualifications of students accepted into the MHA program.

Measurement(s) – (1) Monitor average undergraduate grade point average for MHA program applicants and admissions; (2) monitor standardized test scores (GRE, GMAT) for MHA program applicants and admissions.

Benchmark(s): (1) Average GPA of successful MHA admissions will be 3.2 or higher; (2) Average GRE score will be 900 or higher/average GMAT score will be 450 or higher.

Objective #2 – Monitor program completion/graduation rates for all MHA program admissions.

Measurement(s) – program completion rates for both full-time as well as part-time students.

Benchmark(s): 90% or greater of full-time MHA students will graduate within three years of program matriculation; 80% or greater of part-time MHA students will graduate within three years of program matriculation.

All CAHME accredited programs are required by CHEA to include current student outcomes data. For a complete data set of program outcomes for Georgia Southern’s MHA program, visit MHA Residential at https://cahme.org/programs/?georgiasouthern. 

Tyler Barnett (December 2015)

Current Position: Hawai’i Health Partners (Sr. Population Health Analyst)
Testimonial: My MHA degree provided a very necessary robust and multifaceted overview of the many complexities within the health care industry. As I sought employment with a consulting firm and a commercial accountable care organization, I quickly recognized the importance of this broad understanding. The industry really is changing at a rapid pace, it is difficult for many professionals to understand the macro-level adjustments while focusing on their day-to-day duties. My degree solidified both my ability to recognize the conflicting pressures health systems, physicians, and private practices are experiencing while also providing me with the tools necessary to look ahead to where the industry is heading, through a foggy haze of competing policy adjustments, logistical practicalities, and market demands.

Ryan Burnside (May 2014)

Current Position: Assistant Patient Access Director, Memorial University Medical Center
Testimonial: The MHSA/MHA program at Georgia Southern University prepared me for a multi-faceted health care landscape that is ever adapting and changing. The program does this by providing a strong foundation in the health care field by exposing you to the many aspects that make up the major careers in this market. One of the great things about the program is that it prepares its students with an education that can take them into many fields within the health care arena and does not limit your career aspirations in this profession.

Michelle K. Horne (Summer 2015)

Current Position: Director, Operations and Administration at University of Nevada Reno, School of Medicine (UNR Med)
Testimonial: My studies prepared me to understand the “big picture”. By learning the fundamental components of health care operations it helped me go into organizations and assess their needs, and help them bridge the gaps between vision and goals and execution.

Ashley Anderson, MHSA, CMPE (Spring 2012)

Current Position: St Josephs/Candler Medical Group
Testimonial: My experience with the MHSA program was extremely positive. Without a doubt, it allowed me to turn a corner professionally. The program’s materials were relevant as they hit heavily on current events, regularity shifts, MACRA, and real health system challenges- all of which were areas I was challenged with in the workplace following graduation (and still am). I found the health care law exposure very valuable, and I use that legal knowledge almost daily in decision making and it changed the way I assess certain workplace situations and opportunities. The program also facilitated internships that exposed me to senior leadership and project management- ultimately making me more comfortable with formal presentations and to executive presence. The MHSA program’s rigorous finance, statistics, and quality courses provided me transferable skills. For example, the Quality course had a tremendous impact on my ability to lead projects, impact change, monitor my project teams performance, and it truly strengthened my approaches in process improvement. I use those formal methods regularly in practice in workflow changes, clinical quality improvement projects, financial analysis, patient access efforts, etc. I’ve also been able to leverage and share those process improvement models (DMAIC, PDSA) to other on my team- managers, team leaders, providers, clerical and clinical staff, all in an effort to engage teams in impactful change efforts.

Shinal Y. Patel (December 2015)

Current Position: Triage Consulting Group, Associate Consultant
Testimonial: Coupled with my innate passion for health care, the MHSA/MHA program expanded the context through rigorous instruction, diligent research, and practical experience. The quality of education gained is evident through my daily application of revenue cycle management, professional development, analytics, and much more. Under the guidance of a competent and compassionate staff, my confidence level in my work increased as I matriculated throughout the program.

Trevor Castaneda (May 2011)

Current Position: President and Chief Executive Officer Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Frisco
Testimonial: The MHA program at Georgia Southern University provided me the opportunity to establish an  extraordinarily meaningful and practical foundation of understanding as it relates to health care and the complexities and interdependencies that exist within the field. This very foundation is what I have built my health care career on and around, enabling me to continually develop as a health care executive and advance my career throughout the ranks of several health care organizations.