Andy Cameron, 41, a parks management analyst for Washington County, thought his educational background in psychology would have him "swimming upstream" if he decided to get a business degree.

"I had never even taken a business class and never had any desire to do so back in my younger days," Cameron says. "It was maybe halfway through the first term that it became pretty apparent that the program accommodates—and even expects—folks like me to be there."

Cameron enrolled in the Oregon Executive MBA program knowing that a business degree was a useful way to advance in state government. His capstone project centered around the ways in which advancing technology is likely to disrupt the parks system.

Even before Cameron's graduation in May 2020, the program had already paid off: His research now has him collaborating with leaders at the National Parks and Recreation Association.

"Some of those [conversations] became lasting dialogues," Cameron says. "That was kind of a fortuitous turn that never would have really happened without needing to talk to these folks for capstone."