Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Business Minor Approved

The Executive Curriculum Committee for the College passed plans for a business minor Tuesday night, finalizing a year-long process begun when the College Academic Council proposed giving students in the College the option to study business.

According to College Dean Chester Gillis, lengthy negotiations between the College and the McDonough School of Business have taken place to make sure the business minor will be successful.

“It’s taken a whole year to hammer out the arrangements,” he said.

The business minor will be available by application to students in the College starting with the Class of 2012.

College Academic Councilmember David Dietz (COL ’10) detailed the work of the council in creating the new academic option.

“In the last few years it became clear that students in the College wanted a `practical’ minor to pair with their liberal arts majors. This past fall, in response to the growing desire for such a minor, we on the academic council drafted a proposal to allow students in the College to minor in the business school,” he said.

The business minor was previously available to students in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, but now the business minor is open to all students in the College.

According to Associate Dean Hubert Cloke, this minor is more than just about “pre-professional credentialing.”

Cloke said that the goal was to integrate liberal arts coursework with business coursework. “We think we have achieved that through the option to include one College elective in the minor and through a common capstone course taken by all students in the MSB along with all College business minors,” he said.

Gillis agreed with Dean Cloke on this front.

“The business minor is not really making the College pre-professional but extending opportunities across schools,” he said.

According to Cloke, the pre-requisites for the minor would include a year of math (one semester of calculus and one of probability and statistics), as well as a year of economics.

“This is to ensure that students have the preparation the MSB faculty thinks necessary for success in their elective courses,” Cloke said. Gillis emphasized that the minor will be just like any other minor in the College, but will have a selection of courses principally in the MSB that emphasize business life.

According to Norean Sharpe, undergraduate dean of the MSB, “both the business and College faculty are delighted to finally see the business minor become a reality.”

The cross-college discussions were facilitated by Deans Cloke and Sharpe, and the major structure and details were decided by the two curriculum committees within the College and MSB.

Sharpe cited professor Pietra Rivoli, who teaches finance and international business inthe MSB, as “being instrumental in helping to move the ball forward on this project,” since she served as chair of the school’s curriculum committee. According to Sharpe, “This new business minor will be a unique opportunity for College students to complement their major within the College and to add to their education by taking courses in finance, accounting, management, operations, strategy, marketing, international business and entrepreneurship.”

Cloke said that the minor will be capped at 50 juniors and 50 seniors in the College, beginning with the Class of 2012.

“The details of the application process will be sent to all rising juniors in the College in the next week or so, and I expect that we will select 50 students early this summer who will begin the minor in the fall,” Cloke said.

Student reactions have been largely in favor for the business minor.

“I think that it creates a wide range of opportunities for those with majors in the College and has practical implications to pair with maybe a less practical major,” Laura Golojuch (COL ’13) said.

Ben Burdick (COL ’13) agreed. “I think it’s a good idea because it gives students in the College who don’t want to major and concentrate on business a solid experience within the business realm of education,” he said.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Hoya Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *