PMBA Checklist

Are you ready for your UBC PMBA program?

Go through the checklist to ensure that you are prepared to start your program.

Task Description Deadline
1. Mark your calendar – your program begins with an in-house Residency which will run for 8 full days from January 4-11, 2020. Please ensure that you have made arrangements with your employer as attendance is mandatory for all days of the Residencies. A detailed schedule of the Residency will be posted closer to the start of the program. Upon acceptance

2. Ensure that you will have a laptop computer for the duration of your program. Your laptop and home Internet service must meet the minimum requirements (under Computers drop down menu).

Please also note the Robert H. Lee Graduate School’s “lids down” policy for all classes (see item 6.5 here), including the residencies. This means that students should only open their laptops when asked to by the instructor in order to undertake a specific activity. Similarly, cell phones, tablets, and other personal technology must be turned off during class and stowed away.

 Upon acceptance

3. Review the PMBA Academic Prep Tutorials and complete the studies in any areas where you need to brush up your knowledge/skills.

 Upon acceptance

4. We have created a Facebook group for your cohort (participation is optional). Please use this link to log into Facebook and request to be added to the group.

 Upon acceptance

5. Explore all sections of this program site, and bookmark this site on your computer – you will be notified as more sections of the site are made available over the coming months.

 Upon access

6. Sign-up for the optional Buddy Program where you will be matched with a current student. 

  Nov 13, 2019

7. Residency 1 (course code BA 501) will have its own Canvas course site, which will be published in late November (it will appear on your Canvas dashboard then). It will include a detailed schedule, required readings, and other important residency information.

You can find the list of classes you are taking from January–June 2020 in your PMBA (Class of 2022) Program Schedule. Course outlines (syllabi) for upcoming courses will be posted on this program site under the Program Content tile about 4 weeks before the course starts. 

 Nov, 2019

8. Upload your Student Roster Photo and complete the Personal Information Release Form.

 Dec 6, 2019
9. Complete the TCPS 2: Course on Research Ethics and submit your certificate in Assignments within this Canvas site.  Completing this certificate is mandatory. Dec 13, 2019
10. Excelling with Integrity Modules – required: This three-part series is about integrity, giving students clear and common understanding of what integrity means. These modules are found on this Canvas site. Dec 13, 2019
11. Please make sure your LinkedIn profile reflects your latest status. If you do not have a LinkedIn account, please create one as we will be working on this in Residency I. Jan 2, 2020
12. Read and review the following academic regulations: Professionalism, Attendance & Behaviour, Academic Standing & Grading Practices, and Academic Misconduct. Please ensure that you understand these regulations as you will be required to sign an Undertaking to Abide by the Regulations of the RHL Graduate School at the beginning of Residency 1. Also be sure to review UBC’s Student Code of Conduct. Jan 3, 2020

The fast pace of the UBC PMBA program necessitates that all students have a foundational proficiency in Quantitative Methods and Excel and familiarity with Statistics, Economics and Finance. To aid in ensuring that you have adequate knowledge in the above subjects we have liaised with your program instructors to compile a list of online academic prep tutorials for you to review as you prepare for your program.

Each of you comes to the program with a different academic background and different work experiences, so your familiarity with the academic prep tutorials will also vary. It may be that some of the resources on this list are very familiar to you, and you can just quickly review to make sure you are up to speed, or it may be that you have never covered some of them and you will need to learn them in depth.

When your classes begin in January, you will need to be familiar with all of the material listed on the academic prep resource list, as classes move along very quickly and you will need to be able to keep up with your classmates.

Printable: Download and print the full list of tutorials,  if you would like to keep track of your progress.

Instructions

Where to begin:  Please review each section and aim to complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable. Most tutorials include quizzes and practice tests, so completing these is a good way to quickly review whether you are comfortable with the content.

Concepts that past students have indicated are critical have been highlighted in red. If you have only a small amount of time to devote to the academic prep, please focus on the highlighted sections first.

If you would like to track your learning progress you can sign up for a user account with Khan Academy, but this is not required.

Completion times: We have estimated the times to complete each section based on the length of videos and allocating time for the practice questions. It may take you a longer or shorter time than we have indicated, and after a few sections you will begin to get an idea of your speed compared to our estimates.

Disclaimer: All resources below are from Khan Academy, unless otherwise indicated.

These tutorials have not been vetted in-depth. They have been selected based on the concepts included and tutorial descriptions. Students are encouraged to explore the content and cover concepts with which they are unfamiliar.

The aim is to ensure that you have foundational proficiency in these topics, but be aware that not all concepts taught will apply directly to your course work.

If you have feedback about these academic prep materials, please send it to askpmba@sauder.ubc.ca.

Printable: Download and print the full list of tutorials, if you would like to keep track of your progress.

Academic Writing

These resources are recommended by the staff at the UBC Sauder Canaccord Learning Commons

Sharpening Your Writing Skills by Duncan Kent
Sharpening Your Writing Skills is an excellent workbook on business writing with exercises and answers, online or as a downloadable PDF.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Well-known resource especially for APA research citations as well as a wide range of grammar and writing topics.

David Appleyard English
A comprehensive and easy-to-use website covering numerous grammar topics.

Quantitative Methods

Arithmetic

2 hours approximate study time. Relevant for Statistics, Operations, Finance, Economics.

Reminder: each of you comes to the program with a different background - please review each section and complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable.

The Basic Order of Operations (PEMDAS)

Fractions (approx. 1 hour 15 mins total)

Averages

Linear Equations & Functions – relevant for Economics

Algebra

19 hours approximate study time. Relevant for Statistics, Operations, Finance, Economics.

Reminder: each of you comes to the program with a different background - please review each section and complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable.

Functions (approx. 1 hour 20 mins total) (Relevant for Economics)

Logarithms  (approx. 45 mins total) (Relevant for Economics & Finance)

Introduction to algebra (approx. 3 hours 20 mins total) (Relevant for Statistics/Operations)

One-variable linear equations (approx. 5 hours total) (Relevant for Statistics/Operations)

One-variable linear inequalities (approx. 1 hour 10 mins total) (Relevant for Statistics/Operations) (only sections indicated below)

Two-variable linear equations (approx. 6 hours 50 mins) (Relevant for Statistics/Operations/Economics)

Excel

Excel

1 hour to 4 hours approximate study time, depending on previous skill level. Relevant for Statistics, Operations, Finance.

Reminder: each of you comes to the program with a different background - please review each section and complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable.

You will use Excel frequently in various courses during your program – make sure you have the basic skills in advance.

  • Excel training (delivered by Microsoft)
  • Advanced Formulas & Functions (delivered by In Learning)
    • Intro (1 min)
    • Section 1: Formula & Function Tips & Shortcuts (50 mins)
    • Section 2: Formula & Function Tools (45 mins)
    • Section 3: IF and Related Functions (25 mins)
    • Section 4: Lookup and Reference Functions (only VLOOKUP) (25 mins)
    • Section 6: Statistical Functions (only MEDIAN, MODE, COUNT) (15 mins)
    • Section 7: Math Functions (only ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN, RAND, RANDBETWEEN) (10 mins)
    • Section 11: Text Functions (only CONCATENATE)

Plagiarism & Citation

Plagiarism & Citation

1 hour approximate study time. Critical skills for all of your courses - make sure you know how to cite your work, and understand what your responsibilities are with regards to academic integrity.

Finance & Capital Markets

Finance & Capital Markets

1 hour 45 mins approximate study time. Relevant for Finance.

Reminder: each of you comes to the program with a different background - please review each section and complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable.

Ratio, Proportion and Percent 

Interest & Debt

Statistics

Statistics

11 hours 40 mins approximate study time. Relevant for Statistics/Operations.

Reminder: each of you comes to the program with a different background - please review each section and complete those areas with which you are not currently comfortable.

Displaying & Describing Data (approx. 6 hours 50 mins total) (only sections indicated below)

Economics

Economics

10 hours approximate study time. Relevant for Economics.

We will take for granted knowledge of basic algebraic manipulations, including simplifying single equations for the value of a variable in terms of other parameters and solving two-equation, two-variable problems. We will also assume students are familiar with moving between algebraic and graphical representations of functions of two variables (most importantly, straight lines).

Differential calculus will be used in some optimization problems, and students should be familiar with techniques of differentiation for polynomials and exponential functions, in particular. Parts of our course deal with situations of uncertainty, and for this reason it is helpful for students to be familiar with the basics of probability theory, and the concepts of expected value and variance, in particular.

Economics-specific concepts to know include the following: opportunity cost; marginal cost and marginal revenue; elasticity; demand curve; (industry) supply curve; Nash equilibrium

Introduction to Economics

Average costs (ATC, MC) and marginal revenue (MR)

Derivative introduction (approx. 3 hours 45 mins total)

Basic differentiation (approx. 2 hours 15 mins total)

Product, quotient & chain rules (approx. 1 hour 35 mins total)

Derivative applications (approx. 1 hour 40 mins total) (only section below)

Game theory and Nash Equilibrium (approx. 17 mins total)

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