Howard Horton
Title: President, New England College of Business and Finance
Age: 58
Experience: 40 years
Howard Horton was not brought on at the New England College of Business and Finance (NECB) for his business background. Truth be told, he doesn’t have any. Horton has worked in television production, communications regulations and law, but it was his work in higher education that drew him to NECB. In the 1980s, Horton worked with a partner to build up the Northeast School of Broadcasting. Then he took over as president at Bay State College and developed the school into a baccalaureate-granting institution. In 2006, he became president at NECB, and took the school from a membership college that offered mainly seminars to a degree-granting institution that has graduated around 200 students from its new masters degree program in ethics and compliance.
Q: NECB hasn’t always offered bachelors and masters degrees. When did that change occur?
A: Around 2003, the banking industry in New England began to change. More banks came in from outside the area. Bank of America bought Fleet Bank, and they had a different training program, so they took half the enrollment out of the school. The school at that time only offered an associate’s degree. Prior to 2005, this was more of a training institute. It probably had the most complete set of topics, but they were seminars.
That was good for the banks, but not so great for the students. To excel, they needed to get degrees. When I got here, we shifted the focus. Our new plan was to become more centered around the students, so they could get degrees.
Q: Why was that important?
A: Getting a degree means they’re getting higher level competencies, and it gives them the ability to elevate more or even change companies. It also meant that we have students here for longer periods of time. We were graduating associate students, and they would go off to Bentley or the University of Hartford. It was a very bad business strategy, in my view.
Q: So what kind of degree programs does NECB offer now?
A: One of the first degrees we put in was a bachelor’s degree in business. We also put in a master’s of science in finance, but the one that’s really unique is the masters in business compliance and ethics.
In the world of higher education, there’s also a lot of regulation and accrediting. Had we just gone for a bachelors and an MBA, they probably would have just let us do the bachelors. Because we went in with this MBEC degree and because there was such a need for ethics and compliance, there was a feeling that this is a fabulous degree and no one else was offering it in the country. The accrediting agency wanted this degree in Massachusetts and all through New England.
Q: Tell me about the MBEC program.
A: The degree is 10 courses and 30 credits, and it’s all online. We found that graduate students, especially working adults, like to take one course at a time. It’s a little intense. They take one five-week course, they get a week off, and they take another five-week course … It’s 60 weeks, and then you’re done.
They learn SEC regulations, Sarbanes Oxley, Dodd Frank, and the applicable laws pertaining to compliance, but they also learn the ethical underpinnings of being a good business. How do you do well by doing good? What’s your obligation to society? What’s your obligation to your employees? What is good corporate governance? What is the role of an auditor? It’s a combination of philosophy and pragmatism.
Q: Do you see a lot more demand for this kind of background with all the regulations coming out in the year ahead?
A: Definitely. Compliance is a high-growth area. We’re looking more at exponential than incremental growth. There are not enough trained people in compliance. We haven’t even seen all the Dodd-Frank regulations. There will be more and more coming out, so this is the right field for the person who wants to do this.
Howard Horton’s Top Five Boston-Area Restaurants:
- Strega Waterfront
- Davio’s
- Monica’s Trattoria, North End
- Rialto, Cambridge
- Trattoria Pulcinella, Cambridge
