DEAN S RESPONSE. Planning and Review Committee Program: B.S. Business Administration College: College of Management Year:

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1 Recommendations for the Program Director: DEAN S RESPONSE Planning and Review Committee Program: B.S. Business Administration College: College of Management Year: Issue/Concern: Identify key courses, instructors, and teaching strategies that enhance program graduate cultural and linguistic competence across their life and work domains. There are several courses which students may select from. This includes International Business (BUINB- 260), International Management (BUINB-367), International Marketing (BUINB-485), and International Economics (ECON-480). Students taking the international business emphasis area will take most if not all of these courses. Each course has content related to developing cultural competencies. BSBA students are required to select from one of these courses. The majority of students select International Business. This course does have a modest amount of culture related content, but not an extensive amount. Quite often, the amount of content and subsequent conversation and/or supplemental content is up to the individual instructor as long as the related course objective has been met. Students who go on to take International Management have a significant level of cultural content as well as those taking International Marketing. Issue/Concern: Advance graduate insight and competency in the areas of international/global business beyond the designated BUINB 260 or BUINB 485 courses. It would be difficult to add a considerable amount of content relating to increasing cultural competence in existing courses where appropriate. However, there are courses which incorporate some aspects of international business. All BSBA students take BUMGT-304 (Principles of Management), which has one chapter introducing international business. This may provide for an opportunity to work with current and future faculty teaching BUMGT-304 to incorporate content with a higher level of cross cultural awareness as it affects business. In recent years the business department has hired two well qualified instructors who are from other countries. Both of these instructors incorporate relevant international business experience into their respective courses. The current program director is a strong supporter of international education and works closely with the Office of International Education to promote short and long-term study abroad opportunities for students in the BSBA program. Issue/Concern: Identify explicit integrated global connections across all business courses to advance international/global content beyond a singular course. As noted earlier, there are four courses dedicated to international content students may select from. They are required to take one, but if planed right, they could take all four without increasing credits to degree. The program director will address this issue of concern with program faculty to determine opportunities to integrate global connection content in the appropriate courses. This would include principles courses, as well as courses with leadership and inclusivity content. 1

2 Issue/Concern: Identify faculty that can competently teach accounting for students that don t become accountants rather need the competency to drive business management and tactics to measurably affect the desired business objectives. The recommendation of selection of faculty is done by a search and screen committee. The program director does not serve on all search committees. The business department requires accounting faculty to have CPA or CMA licensure as well as instructional experience. Students are required to take 3 BUACT- XXX courses. All take BUACT-206 (Introduction to Financial Accounting) and BUACT-207 (Introduction to Corporate and Managerial Accounting). These or similar courses are required of business students in similar programs noted in the BSBA Self-Study. BSBA students also are required to take a third course. BUACT-312 (Cost Accounting), BUACT-320 (Income Tax Accounting), or BUACT-335 (Accounting for Management Decisions). If students were in an accounting degree program, these would be first year courses. There has been considerable turnover of accounting faculty since the previous PRC review. The program director is confident the current accounting faculty are meeting the expectations of those employers who hire BSBA graduates. However, this concern will be brought up in a meeting with the accounting faculty for discussion. Issue/Concern: Increase number of faculty allocated to accounting courses to reduce high faculty/student ratio to positively affect student competence. The accounting faculty serve multiple programs including at least three that were not in existence during the previous PRC review. To the extent possible, the department chair opens additional sections. The business department is currently conducting an approved search for two accounting faculty members to fill in positions previously held by faculty who have retired. It is unknown if additional full time equivalent positions will become available. Issue/Concern: Distribute student advisement across business faculty to create a culture of student belonging in an effort to positively affect student retention recruitment. Student advisement is spread evenly across faculty in the BSBA program. New faculty are not assigned advisees until after their first year in the department. In addition, in the fall 2014 term, additional faculty from the operations and management department have taken on advisement roles for BSBA students. This has reduced the ratio of students per faculty member for advisement purposes. Seniors in the BSBA program are assigned to the program director. This also reduces the ratio of student to faculty advisor. Issue/Concern: Continue student recruitment and retention strategies that attract students that can meet the rigor of industry and accreditation demands. In 2014, the program director met with University Marketing to develop a marketing plan/budget. The program is continuing to address opportunities to move forward with program specific marketing in addition to university recruitment efforts. In the next advisory board meeting, program marketing efforts is scheduled as the main topic for discussion and planning purposes. 2

3 Recommendations for the Department Chair: Issue/Concern: Work with the program director to access key instructors in an effort to target courses, experiences and strategies that advance graduate cultural and linguistic competence across their life and work domains. The Department Chair will work closely with the Program Director to see that appropriate learning experiences to advance cultural and linguistic competence are embedded in key courses within the Department of Business. Issue/Concern: Support curriculum development designed to embed international/global business and industry competency across all business functions. Although the Department of Business has long supported international educational experiences, a new initiative will be launched during the academic year to infuse learning experiences across the business curriculum specifically designed to increase international/global business competencies. Issue/Concern: Work with program director to hire and retain qualified faculty that can measurably affect the desired accounting competencies that drive business management and decision-making. Even though the projected decrease in state funding could dramatically impact UW-Stout s ability to attract and retain faculty, the Chair of the Department of Business will continue efforts to hire qualified accounting faculty/staff with proven decision-making and teaching/training experience in business at competitive salaries. Issue/Concern: Allocate sufficient key program faculty to reduce high faculty/student ratio to positively affect student competence. Although the decrease in state funding projected for the biennium may deliver negative impacts that are outside the department s, the Department Chair will strive to keep the Student to Staff Ratio within the Department of Business comparable to those of our peer institutions, benchmarking the metrics used (Percent of classes with <20 students & Percent of classes with 50 students) in the Best Colleges Rankings by US News and World Reports. Issue/Concern: Work with the program director to distribute student advisement across business faculty to reduce advisor to student advisee ratio. Because programs are tied to a college and not a particular department, the Chair of the Department of Business has worked and will continue to work with COM Administration to identify appropriate faculty & staff within the college to assist with student advisement for COM programs to prevent excessive numbers of advisees ( 50) assigned to academic advisors who do not have a portion of their workload specifically allocated for advisement (e.g. program directors.) These efforts include the advisement of Business Administration majors. 3

4 Issue/Concern: Support program director student recruitment strategies to attract program students that can meet the rigor of industry and accreditation demands. Ongoing curriculum development efforts within the Department of Business have addressed course revisions for key courses identified by the Business Administration program director in All course revisions are reviewed by the program director and suggestions/comments/concerns are addressed before the revisions are approved by the department and forwarded on for approval at the college and university levels. All courses offered through the Department of Business will be revised on a seven-year rotation, with all existing courses brought in line with this schedule by the start of the academic year. This departmental initiative is primarily undertaken to increase rigor and consistency across all course sections and meet the demands of industry and the discipline-specific accrediting body, the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP.) As follow-up to each course revision, lead faculty in the various common professional core (CPC) areas identified in the summative direct assessment measure in the Business Administration program, the Comprehensive Peregrine CPC Exam, will work in teams beginning in the fall of 2015 to facilitate the continuous improvement of student competencies in these CPC areas, as required for ACBSP accreditation, within the 7-year rotation cycle. Recommendations for the Dean: Issue/Concern: Financially support the Program Director and Department Chair to assist key instructors to identify and explicitly refine and/or modify courses; experiences and strategies that enhance graduate cultural and linguistic competence life and work domains. Response from Dean: The Program Director and Department chair currently have budgets to support instructors. Departments and instructors are expected to update courses regularly as needed and, if future funding allows, can be paid summer contracts to refine and modify courses. Issue/Concern: Financially support the Program Director and Department Chair to identify curriculum development to embed international/global business and industry competency across all business functions. Response from Dean: The Program Director and Department chair currently have budgets to support instructors. Instructors are expected to update courses regularly as needed and, if future funding allows, can be paid summer contracts to refine and modify courses. There is also a process for curriculum updates within the department and COM Council prior to approval by the Curriculum Instruction Committee (CIC). Additionally, in partnership with the Office of International Education (OIE), COM has initiated the COM International Committee to promote and organize international opportunities for faculty and students. Issue/Concern: Financially support the Program Director and Department Chair to secure resources and support staff to a. Hire and retain qualified faculty that can measurably affect the desired accounting competencies that drive management and decision-making. b. Distribute student advisement across business faculty to reduce advisor to student advisee ratio. c. Sustainably drive student recruitment strategies in an effort to attract and retain program students that can meet the rigor of industry and accreditation demands. Response from Dean: a. There is currently an opening and search committee in place to hire additional accounting faculty 4

5 for Fall b. Beginning in the academic year, student advisement was distributed across the Business Department faculty as well as Operations & Management Department faculty. c. Recruitment has been supported by the program and minimal outreach marketing efforts with Advisory groups and co-op contacts at this time. COM is currently focusing on digital marketing efforts and recruitment efforts in conjunction with Admissions for potential students visiting oncampus. An Assessment Coordinator is in place to ensure COM s rigor and accreditation requirements are met. 5