CUMMING — The Cumming City Council on Tuesday night discussed the return of a popular master’s of business administration program to its former location.

The council voted 5-0 to approve a five-year lease agreement with the University of North Georgia’s to bring its MBA program, as well as some continuing education and professional development programs, back to Cumming City Hall.

The program occupied the top floor from 2008-12, when it moved to the school’s new Cumming campus on Aquatic Circle off Pilgrim Mill Road. The return is necessitated by program and enrollment growth at the campus.

“When they left here they had a capacity over [there],” Gravitt said. “Originally, there were 750 students [at the campus], which they filled up the first year.

“The second year they had 850 students and they made room for some overtime classes. So the third year, which they are getting into now, they had 1,250 students. So to make that work they want to bring the MBA back to city hall and they’ll have room for [those] students here.”

Gravitt said that the lease agreement will be identical to the previous one, except that the university will do some renovations to the top floor, which spans 10,000 square feet. That work is expected to be finished by August.

According to UNG, the Cottrell MBA and the undergraduate degree programs offered through the college of business are accredited by the AACSB, an honor less than 5 percent of the world's 13,000 business programs have earned.

The two-year, part-time MBA program is based on a cohort structure, which means that a group of students is accepted into the program each fall and progresses through as a group.

During their second year, the students complete a capstone consulting project in which they form teams and consult with regional organizations on a strategic business need.

Each team is provided a professional mentor as a coach to help them apply their learning to real-world situations.

Donna Mayo, dean of the business college, said in a statement that the program is “designed for working professionals seeking to enhance their career opportunities.”

"By moving the MBA program to [city hall], it allows us to be in a very professional setting with closer access to businesses in the surrounding area,” she said.

This year, UNG’s office of continuing and professional education offered 66 courses and enrolled 637 students in Cumming.

Wendy Thellman, director continuing education programs, expects enrollment to double in the next year.

"We anticipate growth in computer training due to a designated computer lab in [city hall]," Thellman said in a statement. "Also, because we will have classroom space available during the day, we expect to increase our health care certificate programs, language programs, and leadership and supervisory training."