New Director Named For Limestone MBA Program

Limestone College recently welcomed Shannon Creighton as the new Director of its Master of Business Administration program.

Creighton joins Limestone after eight years at Appalachian State University where he served in several roles, including graduate assistant for the MBA program, financial aid counselor, a faculty member in the Walker College of Business, and a faculty advisor to several student groups.

“Shannon brings vast experience, as well as a strong desire to grow our MBA program to even greater heights,” said Limestone College President Dr. Walt Griffin. “He has a combination of higher education administrative and service experience, teaching, and program development. His innovative leadership will also ensure our graduates are prepared with the skills they need to advance their careers. We think he will be an excellent fit with our mission.”

Creighton received his Bachelor’s in Management and Marketing from Appalachian State University, and his MBA and Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from ASU. He is currently finishing his Doctor of Business Administration in International Business from Walden University.

“It’s great to be at a college where everyone knows everyone else,” Creighton said. “The faculty and staff are so friendly and the administration is so approachable. I appreciate an administration that wants to be involved in all aspects of the campus. I have enjoyed working with them, and I look forward to meeting the challenges ahead. Limestone has a great reputation and is well respected, and the MBA program goes right along with it. I look forward to building on that.”

Established in 2012, Limestone’s innovative online MBA program is designed for working professionals. Flexible online classes provide learning opportunities day or night and group work coupled with three strategic on-site residency weekends. The residency weekends are held at the beginning, middle and end of the program.

There are currently 57 participants in the Limestone MBA program, with a total of 66 alumni. The present members are from six states (California, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas) and four countries (Canada, Nigeria, United States, and Zimbabwe).

“It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of something that is still pretty new,” Creighton noted. “Limestone College has been around for a long time and it has that legacy behind it. It also has a history of being creative, inventive, and different. We want our MBA program to be a model of what future programs will look like. Our desire is for other institutions to look to us when it comes to how to build their MBA programs for future students. It’s going to be fun to have my fingerprints, so to speak, on our program and how it progresses.”

Some things to come for Limestone could include an accelerated version of the program to graduate students faster, and possibly new MBA concentrations, Creighton said.

“My immediate goal is to go out and personally visit as many of our MBA students as I can. I want to know how they enjoy the program and how they think we might be able to serve them even better,” Creighton said. “The students are the heartbeat of the program.”