Next fall, first and second-year College students can look forward to collaborative courses that will combine the study of business and traditional liberal arts disciplines.
Commerce School Dean Carl Zeithaml said the new courses will be more effective than the proposed business minor at making College students more attractive to employers.
The new classes will replace two courses that now are pre-requisites for entry to the Commerce School.
One new course, "Making Business Work," is an introductory approach to business and will be offered next year to interested students.
Environmental Sciences Prof. Tom Smith and Assoc. Commerce Dean Michael Atchison are developing another course called "The Business of Saving Nature," which will include a trip to South Africa.
These courses are two of several collaborative efforts of Zeithaml and others to accommodate College students looking for courses relevant to their specific interests, Zeithaml said.
In Zeithaml's view, interdisciplinary collaboration is what students need -- not a commerce minor.
"A minor just doesn't give you the depth that recruiters want," Zeithaml said. "One course in each of the business functions, like finance, marketing, management, would be like having a minor in the College of one course in history, one in psychology, and one in government," he said. "We really want to help students get the expertise they need to get a job."
Economics Chairman David E. Mills, on the other hand, says he advocates a business minor.
"For students with a lot of intellectual curiosity or academic ability who choose to remain in the college, or who don't get accepted into the Commerce School, they should get some credentials," he said.
Some College students say they feel excluded from the Commerce School because of the limited number of courses open to them each semester. Fourth-year College student and economics major Anne Flatness, for example, said the commerce minor might be the best means to combat what she and others see as an exclusionary policy.
"It's really hard to get in it from the outside," Flatness said. "I think six commerce classes for a minor would be quite a lot because they tend to be very focused. People would feel like they really had a grasp of the basics, whereas a minor in religious studies might give you a very broad knowledge in introductory classes, but nothing specific."
Mills cited several universities, such as Harvard, that have a commerce school only for graduate students. The University is highly unusual in preparing undergraduate students for a business career, Mills said.
"Harvard does not have an undergraduate school of commerce, nor is it planning one," Harvard Dean for Undergraduate Education Benedict H. Gross said. "We don't really have undergraduate career programs. Our system is one of a general education, with a concentration in an academic field."
Zeithaml said commerce and academics make a compatible pair.
"I am a complete supporter of a liberal arts undergraduate education, and I believe business courses play a significant role," he said. "The key is to have the first two years in the college, then later years open for electives. Thomas Jefferson saw knowledge of commerce part of being a well-educated citizen."
Read More
Dean Rucker honored with Z Society’s highest honor, Pale Z Award
By Brendon Bordwine | 10 hours agoThe Society has a storied history of honoring University leaders with the Pale Z.
Students receive free STI testing through U.Va. Health and Wellness
By Jackie Bond | YesterdayThrough funding from Student Council, students are now able to receive free STI testing with SHW which includes tests for HIV, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Hepatitis C.
President Ryan signs collective statement condemning Trump administration
By Cecilia Mould | YesterdayWhile the statement claims that signees are willing to enact reforms and cooperate with government supervision, it disagrees with the current administration’s decision to withdraw funding from institutions.
