The program has three primary objectives:
- Each student is fully engaged in the entirety of the program, with exposure to all of the professional-level issues of the field.
- Courses are designed with syllabi that ensure a sequence of learning filled with each of the best-practice topics and tactics necessary for gaining professional-level skills and wherewithal.
- Each student is engaged in research designed to capture far-reaching information formed from intense study and field experiences.
- Such research will result in (at least) two formal papers and presentations that exemplify exceptional effort and provide lasting value for the learner.
- Such research includes, but is not limited to creating and managing projects of various sizes, business models and implementation strategies, and industry-related statistical analysis such as environmental scans, demographics, and so forth, as well as the exploration of arts-based subjects that go to the heart of the arts presenting reason d'etere.
- Each student is introduced to professionals in the field—across the U.S. and beyond—such that they have developed a meaningful and useful network of mentors and contacts offering insights into live entertainment management issues, best practices, and opportunities for further learning.
- The network of contacts is compelled into existence by way of coursework throughout the degree program that relies upon expert input as part of the assignment's objectives, as well as professionals introduced by faculty.
