GBTA Announces UVA’s Darden School as New Partner for Prestigious GLP Program

*This post is co-authored by Christle Johnson, GBTA President and Daphne Bryant, GBTA Foundation Executive Director*

The GBTA Academy is pleased to announce a new partnership today for our Global Leadership Professional® (GLP) program with the University of Virginia’s renowned Darden School of Business.

The only masters-level course for travel professionals, the GLP has a strategic curriculum that uses an interdisciplinary approach to address both the opportunities and challenges of conducting business in today’s environment. Since its beginning, we have seen 600 travel professionals participate in GLP sessions, with nearly half (280+) completing the Certificate of Professional Development, and more than 125 achieving the industry’s highest designation, the GLP.

In response to direct feedback from past and current program participants, we constantly work to find ways to better the GLP program, so that we can continue to deliver participants the high level of professional development they have come to expect. In March of this year, we announced the enhancements to the structure of the GLP program. These positive changes, along with the move to partner with the Darden School, position the program for future success allowing it to continue to meet the evolving needs of our members and the industry. The quality of the program will remain unparalleled delivering the same strong ROI for our participants.

Why Partner with UVA’s Darden School of Business?
The GBTA Academy’s partnership with Darden goes hand in hand with our continued efforts to provide top quality education through a globally ranked institution, world class faculty and a learning environment that fosters real-world application.

The Darden School of Business faculty have been ranked #1 globally since 2004 by the Financial Times and The Economist ranked Darden #2 in the world in 2015. In The Economist’s specialty rankings, Darden ranked #1 globally for personal development and education experience, #2 for student rating of faculty and #5 for opening new career opportunities.

Darden’s faculty members are leading thinkers in various fields of business, offering expertise in the best current management practice from their own research and consulting with organizations in diverse industries around the globe. They are experienced at blending theoretical knowledge with real-time, real-world business applications. Their versatile faculty in the Leadership, Management, Finance and Marketing disciplines will tailor course content to reflect the most pressing challenges facing the global business travel industry and its senior leaders.

Darden’s case method of teaching allows participants to actively examine real-life business situations, utilizing their experiences and insights in new ways while practicing newly learned skills. This method is one of the best ways for managers to develop themselves into better business leaders.

More About the GLP Program
The GLP program has been a hallmark of the GBTA Academy for 15 years. It consists of three components: individual courses, the Certificate of Professional Development and a Global Leadership Professional^® (GLP) Designation.

The Certificate of Professional Development is obtained by successfully completing four course sessions within 24 months, including one session in each of the four main competencies: Management, Marketing, Leadership and Finance. There is no need to enroll in the Certificate program – enrollment is per course and you can attend any course that is offered.

For those currently participating in the GLP program this change will have no impact on their current status in the program. Any courses completed previously will fully count towards requirements for the program at-large. There is one more course offered this fall before we kick off our 2017 schedule with the Darden School.

Find the 2017 GLP Course Schedule here.

The Certificate of Professional Development is a prerequisite for the GLP Designation, which includes an in-person session with the program’s Academic Director, independent work within a cohort on a project deliverable to benefit the business travel industry and presentation of those cohort projects at GBTA Convention. The Designation program is offered every other year and the next Designation program will kick off July 15-16, 2017 in Boston at GBTA Convention.

In addition to senior corporate travel buyers, the GLP program attracts executives from major travel suppliers and agencies from around the world, so every class offers broad perspectives from diverse industry segments and geographic regions. Building collaborative relationships will positively contribute to the overall experience of an attendee. The program offers opportunities to practice creative leadership techniques, study the impact of decisions on financial performance, develop better decision-making skills, and learn techniques for achieving strategic advantage.

Our goal is to deliver dynamic training and education to industry professionals and elevate the future of the business travel profession.