{"id":307,"date":"2016-09-27T16:20:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T23:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=307"},"modified":"2024-04-02T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:08:58","slug":"eric-vela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/eric-vela\/","title":{"rendered":"On a quest for the cure"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBA student Vela turns to Oregon State to help manage HIV vaccine efforts<\/h2>\n
\"Eric

Eric Vela is a student in an Oregon State Ecampus MBA program, which he joined to enhance his work as the program manager of a multimillion dollar vaccine program that aims to find a cure for HIV. (Photos by Ryan Flood)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Tyler Hansen<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/em><\/a>Sept. 27, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine you were just hired to manage a $28 million vaccine program that may someday lead to the cure for HIV.<\/p>\n

Read that sentence again and let the enormity of the scenario sink in for a moment.<\/p>\n

Then imagine that, after taking the position, you acknowledge that you don\u2019t have the necessary skills to perform your\u00a0job duties as well as you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

If your first instinct would be to panic and run for the hills, you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

Eric Vela doesn\u2019t get rattled easily, though.<\/p>\n

In December 2014, he was hired by Oregon Health & Science University to help lead a multimillion dollar program that \u201cis at the leading edge of a process that might eliminate HIV from humans,\u201d according to OHSU President Joe Robertson.<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s new job was enormous not only in importance but also in scope: He is in charge of managing the finances of the $28 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, coordinating bicoastal manufacturing efforts and transferring vital research findings between various labs and institutions.<\/p>\n

Even though he has more than 16 years of experience in infectious disease research \u2013 with a specialization in virology \u2013 his\u00a0background in business and leadership was\u00a0somewhat lacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came to management, finance, leadership \u2013 the things you need in order to properly manage a project of this magnitude \u2013 I had never really been trained,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Eric had no illusions that the HIV vaccine program would pause until he honed his skills. So he turned to Oregon State University to pursue an MBA in Organizational Leadership, a program<\/a> that combines online coursework with in-person classes in Portland.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>I\u2019m not learning something to file away for a later date \u2013 I\u2019m learning it and applying it to my job later that same day.\u00a0The classes are teaching me how things work in the real world.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The program is offered by Oregon State\u2019s College of Business and delivered by Oregon State Ecampus. It\u2019s designed to give adult learners an avenue to gain practical knowledge and skills in a flexible format that fits the lifestyle of working professionals.<\/p>\n

For Eric \u2013 who worked closely with the Obama administration in his previous job to investigate the nation\u2019s Ebola outbreak in 2014 \u2013 the MBA coursework enables him to increase his value to the HIV vaccine program on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not learning something to file away for a later date \u2013 I\u2019m learning it and applying it to my job later that same day,\u201d he says. \u201cThe classes are teaching me how things work in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eric

Eric Vela says the ability to easily interact with classmates and faculty is a primary benefit of the hybrid MBA in Organizational Leadership track.<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s significant because of how acutely involved he is in so many aspects of the project. He manages the timeline, budget and program deliverables, as well as the production of data and a portion of the research.\u00a0His extensive experience in regulatory science makes him an expert of sorts when working with the Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n

On top of it all, Eric manages personnel, makes lab equipment purchases and keeps himself apprised of additional funding opportunities that could aid research efforts.<\/p>\n

What makes his workload easier to manage is the ability to lean on Oregon State\u2019s MBA faculty members for guidance \u2013 for class and for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll call or email them and say, \u2018I\u2019m dealing with this. Is there a resource you can point me to?\u2019 \u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll get a response almost immediately that says, \u2018Try reading this case study. This is what I experienced when I first started managing a team.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe instructors are very engaging and easily accessible. It\u2019s allowed me to reach a sort of potential that I wouldn\u2019t be able to on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vibrant learning community is also a product of constant collaboration online among his classmates. The rigorous Oregon State coursework invites group discussion in a variety of formats.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>The instructors are very engaging and easily accessible. It\u2019s allowed me to reach a sort of potential that I wouldn\u2019t be able to on my own.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve learned as much from my classmates as I have from the professors because the majority of us are professionals,\u201d Eric says. \u201cThey\u2019re bringing their own experience from their businesses, and we can see what\u2019s happening in real life as opposed to just reading about concepts in a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s life is filled to the brim with responsibility, at school, home \u2013 where he raises 40 boer goats on his farm to be\u00a0sold as breeding stocks \u2013 and especially work. Few people ever play a prominent role in the name of such an important global cause. In the ideal outcome, the HIV vaccine program will someday help save millions of lives worldwide every year.<\/p>\n

And the Oregon State MBA student who says he once knew nothing now stands at the forefront of everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gaining a lot of publicity because of the possibility of this vaccine. We\u2019re still years away from knowing if it\u2019s even safe to test in humans, but it\u2019s showed a lot of promise,\u201d says Eric, who expects to graduate with his MBA next spring. \u201cIt\u2019s a really exciting thing to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>In December 2014, Eric Vela was hired by Oregon Health Sciences University to help lead a $28 million vaccine program that aims to eliminate HIV from humans. Even though he had 16 years of experience in infectious disease research, Eric needed to enhance his skills as a leader and project manager. So he turned to Oregon State to pursue an MBA in Organizational Leadership, a program that combines online course work with in-person classes in Portland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[107,126,138,350],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-business","tag-mba","tag-mba-in-organizational-leadership","tag-portland"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/eric-vela-main.jpg?fit=638%2C414&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-4X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1125,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-mba-programs-set-students-up-for-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":307,"position":0},"title":"Oregon State\u2019s 100% online and hybrid MBA programs set students up for career success","author":"Heather Doherty","date":"February 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Known for its high level of faculty involvement, the Oregon State MBA program connects OSU College of Business\u2019 world-class faculty with students for personalized support and ample networking opportunities \u2013 no matter where you live.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Oregon-State-MBA-Rachel-Salazar.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Oregon-State-MBA-Rachel-Salazar.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Oregon-State-MBA-Rachel-Salazar.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Oregon-State-MBA-Rachel-Salazar.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2148,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/shane-adams-computer-science-online\/","url_meta":{"origin":307,"position":1},"title":"Oregon State Everywhere: Driven to change lives through computer science online","author":"Shane Adams","date":"October 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I have loved my experience online with Oregon State. ... 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