He joined the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a program manager in executive education, collaborating with a team and faculty to design custom solutions for organizations. From there, he first entered the EMBA world as director of Executive MBA Programs for the Sauder School.

“I was offered the role of EMBA director at UBC Sauder,” says Corbishley. “I was hesitant at first since I had not worked in degree programs. But quickly I realized that graduate degree education was well suited to me and thoroughly enjoyable.”

He was given the opportunity to move to London and redesign student services for City Lit, Europe’s largest adult education college. Once completed, he returned to Canada for his next challenge.

Now, Corbishley leads the delivery of nine graduate programs and works closely with school leadership on the overarching strategy for graduate programs as managing director, graduate program strategy and student experience, at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management.

“In my current role, I work with the Dean’s Office to determine how to improve our portfolio of graduate programs. We do environmental scans, conduct market research, analyze trends in management education, and determine a strategic plan to restructure a program, sunset a program, and/or develop a new program.”

He also focuses on the student experience through the departments that he manages. “Business schools are constantly in competition, and we are always looking for improvement to the student experience. Something that can give us the ‘edge’ over other schools in the region.”

He finds it rewarding to see the growth and impact of students. For example, he managed two health care EMBAs and saw firsthand students apply business concepts to make health care more sustainable and better able to serve all patients.

“I enjoy watching the students’ progress. It gives me great satisfaction to see how they absorb the information and immediately see how it can benefit their work and organization. I enjoy hearing the stories of their successes, which they attribute back to their education.”

With fewer organizations sponsoring employees, recruitment challenges, and rising tuition, EMBA faces challenges.

“Flexibility and accessibility are key to a successful future for the EMBAs,” says Corbishley. Programs that offer in-person and online options to cater to different learning styles and schedules will find greater success, he adds.

Corbishley attended his first EMBAC conference in Miami and hosted the USA/Canada Northwest Regional Meeting this year, which led him to accept the nomination to run for the board. “I genuinely see the benefits of members coming together and learning from each other, sharing ideas, challenges, and opportunities,” he says.

“I thoroughly enjoy the conferences and virtual seminars. Every event that I attend broadens my view and gives me new ideas for my degree programs. Now I watch my staff when they attend conferences, and I appreciate how much they learn and how excited they get when they come back to work to try out new ideas that come from all the seminars and one-on-one conversations.”

As a board member, he looks to build on the EMBAC tradition of sharing while exploring new strategies to help members prepare for the future of the industry.

“I look forward to the evolution of EMBAC and the direction it will take over the coming years. I see so many members who are dedicated to the council, and I believe we can deliver new and exciting activities and resources in the coming years.”

Corbishley also shared the following insights with EMBAC Voice:

• My hobbies include: “Travel (about 10 vacations per year – life is too short to not have fun!).”
• My favorite city is: “Tied between Barcelona and Bangkok.”
• I’m most proud of: “Getting through the day!”
• I’m reading: “Queer City by Peter Ackroyd.”
• I’m passionate about: “Lifelong learning.”
• My next project is: “Top secret.”
• You may not know that: “I am a citizen of three countries.”
• When I think about EMBAC, I think: “Of all the wonderful people I have met through the years.”

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