I AM an English major. I love it and wouldn't want to be in any other field, and I know that because of all the books I've been forced to read, I'll be much more entertaining at cocktail parties than, say, an engineer. However, I've finally admitted to myself that potential employers are not going to be knocking down my door for that English major.
Which is why I need to take a business class.
The McIntire School of Commerce, as we all know, is the prime source of such business classes -- for students who have applied and actually gotten in. While the "Comm School," as it's commonly known, offers a few classes open to non-Commerce students, it needs to take one step further and join forces with the College to eventually offer a series of business minors.
Currently, the main non-Commerce but still somewhat-business-related field is economics. ECON 201, for example, is one of the most popular classes at the University and a class that my parents have been subtly hinting I should take for the past two and a half years. While an economics class can provide a sound basis for understanding basic principles of the business world, it is only one of many, many business-related fields. In addition, an economics class generally draws heavily on one's math skills -- skills that I, as an English major, do not have.
Likewise, most of the Comm School's classes that are open to non-Commerce students are classes in accounting or finance. Again, both of these subjects represent prominent business fields, and again, my lack of math skills prevents me from succeeding in either of them.
Business, however, is not all math. The Comm School will offer a Marketing class and an International Business class next semester, both of which could be extremely helpful for anyone seeking to learn more about these fields. These are just two classes, however, with limited enrollment, which means that many students will still be denied the opportunity to take them. The creation of a business minor will allow more students to take a diversified selection of courses.
According to Carl Zeithaml, the Dean of the Commerce School, a generic business minor makes little sense, as taking a broad spectrum of classes doesn't adequately prepare a student for anything in the business world. Zeithaml feels that more specified minors would be of a larger benefit to students, providing them with greater depth and training for their desired career. For example, a math student with a minor in finances would be more desirous in the eyes of Wall Street employees than a math student with a buffet of a business minor. This is an excellent point.
However, for all of us who have not yet figured out what we're going to do once we've got that diploma, specified business minors are of little help. A "generic" minor would at least give students like me an introduction to various aspects of commerce while, more importantly, affording us the ability to say to potential employers that we do have a minor in business.
The Commerce School has made an effort to reach out to non-Commerce students. It offers seminars each semester on various topics that are open to anyone, and it offers the McIntire Business Institute.
The McIntire Business Institute is an intensive summer business program for those holding non-business degrees, while the recently developed McIntire Business Institute II is a two-semester, weekly seminar program, taught by McIntire faculty, that allows undergraduates to learn everything they ever wanted to know about Commerce without actually having to enroll in the Comm School. Ironically, the MBI II is strikingly similar to the idea of a general business minor. Yes, all this can be yours for the price of $3,500.
Well, that's no problem. I'll just add another $3,500 to my out-of-state tuition, and housing, and the rest of the costs of attending college, so I can take a business class. The McIntire Business Institute is a nice effort on the part of the Comm School, but unless you happen to be Bill Gates, it's not necessarily affordable, even with financial assistance. We all know that the University is in a bit of a financial crunch these days, and that this MBI cannot be offered for free. This, however, doesn't change the fact that for many students, the McIntire Business Institute simply isn't an option.
And what about the people who aren't accepted into the Comm School? Most end up in the Economics Department, which is about the closest you can get to a business major in the College. The creation of various business minors, and therefore the availability of more business classes in the College, would not only ease the strain on the Economics Department, but also allow those students the opportunity to have some kind of a degree in business.
There is, of course, the continuing lack of money, space, and faculty needed to implement these ideas. Changes, however, loom on the horizon for the Commerce School, including a move to bigger and better buildings on the Lawn and several proposals of academic collaborations between the College and the Commerce School that the administration seems to feel are feasible, not to mention continual fundraising. The creation of a business minor is not impossible.
The idea of a collaboration between the College and the Comm School to create a business minor was proposed last year, at the same time the decision was made to move the Comm School back onto the Lawn. This proposal was a definite step in the right direction, and should be further refined to include the eventual implementation of both specified and, indeed, generic business minors.
So please, spread some Comm School love into the College. Help an English major out.
(Kristin Brown's column appears Wednesdays in the Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at kbrown@cavalierdaily.com.)
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