Percival Chang leads and manages a team of 30 financial professionals, providing operational support, corporate governance, coaching, and business development at PHN Investment Services. With 20 years of management experience, he appreciates the value of continuing education outside of his industry. In pursuing the GDBA, he chose to further his academic and personal growth in a program that could prepare him for further professional opportunities.

My experience at SFU Beedie

I have found the instructors extremely helpful and supportive. The program director has a personal interest in my development and success. All expectations were communicated early and clearly, and I felt that I was always well supported from the start. Also, with proper time management, I was still able to work, learn, and spend time with my family.

As a manager, I am always striving for peak performance in myself as well as my team. The GDBA program supports this by blending core business courses with management skills development. Already interested and a lifelong student of performance management, I found many of the courses a great fit to what I was looking for.

My Journey

I was very interested in the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (GDBA) for its curriculum, delivery, and flexibility for busy professionals like myself. It also provided a new pathway to the MBA program for those out of school for many years.

I have succeeded with instructors and fellow peers. I have contributed as much as I have learned. For me, being an SFU Beedie student means being part of a working student community with similar growth mindsets.

The immediate impact of the GDBA has been a change in the way I approach my day professionally. I am equipped to make better decisions. My confidence level has been elevated significantly, and I am enjoying a new sense of optimism in my career.

Highlights

I have definitely used many of the organizational behavior learnings in my workplace when designing jobs and working with and managing different teams. My analytics course education has also contributed greatly to my data analysis and decision-making.

Where I am today

A year into the GDBA program, I had a 20% increase in my income. I would confidently attribute that partly due to my enrollment in the GDBA program. I am currently in my last year of the PT MBA program at SFU. As for future goals, I may do a career change. I may continue my education with a Ph.D. in Education. I am considering teaching as a potential next career.