Education for executives goes professional.

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Colorado's business schools are evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of today's businesses and the executives who run them.

"The predictions about the need for life-long learning are no longer a prediction," said Jim Davis, dean of University of Denver's School for Adult Professional Studies. "Whether you call it the Information Age or the knowledge-based workplace, people working with information and knowledge are a much larger segment of our population. Today, business people constantly need to retool their skills because the workplace is constantly changing."

The role of business schools has shifted from sharing information to preparing students to implement that information, said Darren Adamson, University of Phoenix's vice president director for Colorado and Wyoming. "Companies want problem solvers," Adamson said. "They want individuals with the knowledge and skills, but more important with the ability to apply that knowledge."

Mike Goess, chairman of the MBA program at Regis University, said he's seen a trend among businesses in favor of generalists over specialists. "Employers are less interested in technology specialists and more interested in people with collaborative skills," Goess said. "They want critical thinkers and problem solvers. They want people who understand technology, but also who are efficient users of that technology."

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Business schools always have taught leadership, but today the emphasis is on leadership development, said Bill Silver, associate dean for Executive & Professional Programs at University of Denver Daniels College of Business.

"It's not enough to simply give people information about leadership," Silver said. "Leadership success is about business results and outcomes. We start with teaching the hard business acumen and the soft skills required for leadership intelligence, but we bridge the two with what we call execution confidence, the discipline to achieve results."

Silver said the trend in education is mass personalization. Curriculums once were determined by the faculty. Today, curriculum reflects specific needs of businesses and the changing economic environment. The goal is to personalize the learning experience to meet the challenges faced by businesses. The focus is on relevance and application.

As a small private university offering Colorado's newest fully-accredited MBA program, Colorado Christian University has the flexibility to meet every student's unique...