30 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES 7 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES The Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration degree program is a three year program with the extent of 180 credits. The studies in BSc Degree are designed so that the student should complete 30 credits/term and 60 credits/academic year. During the first year, students complete the compulsory courses of the BSc degree as well as languages and possibly minor studies. The students will choose their program of study in the end of the first year of studies and after being admitted to a BSc study program they start to study the courses for common program studies and for specialization studies of the program. The structure of the BSc Degree Programs is as follows: FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE, COMMON CORE STUDIES, (60 CREDITS) Introduction to Accounting Introduction to Business Law Introduction to Business Ethics Introduction to Finance Introduction to Management Introduction to Marketing Mathematics and Statistics for Managers Operations Management Principles of Economics Professional Skills Portfolio Quantitative Business Analysis COMMON PROGRAM STUDIES (18 CREDITS) Bachelor s Program in Business Technology Bachelor s Program in Finance Bachelor s Program in Economics SPECIALIZATION STUDIES (42 CREDITS) Bachelor s Program in Business Technology Bachelor s Program in Finance Bachelor s program in Economics 5 courses of edits each Compulsory for all: Bachelor s Thesis 10 cr and Bachelor s Thesis Seminar 2 cr MINOR STUDIES (30 CREDITS) Students can choose their minor studies from the minors offered at the School of Economics or complete a minor at another university (e.g. exchange studies). Minor studies offered in English are Business Technology, Finance, International Business Communication, Economics, Information Technology Program and Quantitative Methods LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES TOTAL 180 CREDITS (30 CREDITS) The bachelor s degree programs are goal-oriented entities integrated in terms of content and coordinated in terms of time. The School of Economics Council for Teaching and Research has confirmed the specific learning goals for each BSc program: The common goal of the BSc degree programs at the School of Economics is to provide the student with: - an understanding and command of the fundamentals of business knowledge; - analytical abilities for exacting MSc degree studies; - scientific thinking; teamwork and problem solving capabilities; - preparedness to act in culturally diverse environments; - good knowledge and skills for a career as an entrepreneur or a specialist; - a knowledge of business ethics; and - good communication and language skills for business. 7.1 PLANNING OF STUDIES To be able to start and continue studies smoothly and effectively, the planning of studies will play an important role during the student s time of study. The School of Economics will provide advising and support for students in many different ways. The planning of the studies will start during the orientation days for the new, incoming students on August 29 September 2, 2011 with the sessions concentrating on support and assistance of the students with the planning of studies. The new students will be assigned student tutors whose task is to support new students at the very beginning of their studies. The student tutors assist the new students in adapting to the new study environment and with practical details of study including the planning of studies. All students will also be assigned a tutor teacher. BSc degree students will get their tutor teachers in
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES 31 the end of the first year of studies. The tasks related to the advisement of students are defined annually in the teachers work plan and the teachers have regular reception hours for students. During the first year of studies, the Office of Student Services will take care of advisement of the students. Students are entitled to receive advising services from the Office of Student Services by appointment. In the beginning of studies, the new students draw up a preliminary plan for their studies and timing of the first year. Once the Bachelor s study program has been confirmed, each student will compile an electronic personal study plan (HOPS in Finnish) to help them throughout the whole study period when making choices and planning their career. The personal study plan is an overall presentation of the studies the student plans to complete, as well as a plan of goal attainment and of earning the degree. On the other hand, the officially approved students personal study plans will provide systematic input for the planning and development of teaching. The personal study plan will be revised and updated with the progress of studies. Personal study plan and other forms of planning of studies are compulsory part of the BSc degree. The compulsory studies include the course of Professional Skills Portfolio. The name Portfolio refers to the idea that the student will collect in many different ways the skills and abilities needed in carrying out successfully university level studies and professional development. Professional Skills Portfolio will also help the student in his/her studies. In the Bachelor s Program the extent of Professional Skills Portfolio is edits with the modules of Guidance for Planning of Studies (3 credits), Academic writing (1 credit) and Computing Skills (2 credits). In the end, the student has the primary responsibility for the planning and success of her/his studies. We strongly recommend taking advantage of the advisement services. 7.1.1 SCHEDULING THE STUDIES OF BSC DEGREE The BSc studies have been scheduled for three years. During one year student is expected to complete 60 credits (equivalent to 1600 hours of student work) and during one semester the student is expected to complete 30 credits (equivalent to 800 hours of student work). The semester is divided into the two teaching periods and the student should complete during one period 12-18 credits. During the first year of studies the student will mainly complete the courses of the Fundamentals of Business Knowledge and languages. The language requirements of the BSc degree, 30 credits of languages, can be for example divided for 5 semesters ( language studies per semester) for 2.5 years time. Most non-finnish speakers will be granted an exemption from the official language requirements of the BSc degree. Instead they will make a personal language plan on how to complete 30 credits in languages, for example Finnish and English. It is also possible to complete (part of) the minor studies during the first year of studies provided that the student is not planning to participate in the student exchange program during his/her Bachelor studies. 7.2 FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE: CORE COURSES The BSc Program studies start with the Fundamentals of Business Knowledge study module which is a compulsory study module to all BSc students. There are altogether 9 courses in business and economics (each course is edits) and the course of Professional Skills Portfolio (edits) which together form the Fundamentals of Business Knowledge (60 credits). The courses are in alphabetical order as follows: 22A00210 Introduction to Accounting 32A00210 Introduction to Business Law 51A00210 Introduction to Business Ethics 28A00210 Introduction to Finance 21A00310 Introduction to Management 23A00210 Introduction to Marketing 30A00210 Mathematics and Statistics for Managers 35A00210 Operations Management 31A00210 Principles of Economics 30A00410 Quantitative Business Analysis 20A00210 Professional Skills Portfolio - 20A00410 Guidance for Planning of Studies (3 cr) - 20A00212 Computing Skills (2 cr) - 20A00213 Scientific Writing (1 cr) All other courses than 20A00210 Professional Skills Portfolio are offered by the departments and
32 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES they are related to business and economics subjects. Detailed course descriptions of the courses of Fundamentals of Business Knowledge can be found from chapter 14 Course descriptions, at the end of this guide. The nine common business and economics core courses will be taken during the first year of studies and during the autumn semester of the second year together with the Professional Skills Portfolio in the following order: Autumn 2011, 1 st period - Mathematics and Statistics for Managers, (Statistics) one semester course - Quantitative Business Analysis (Mathematics), only for those students who have been exempted from the course of Mathematics and Statistics for Managers otherwise during the 2 nd year of studies, one semester course - Introduction to Management Autumn 2011, 2 nd period - Mathematics and Statistics for Managers (Mathematics), continues from the 1 st period - Quantitative Business Analysis (Statistics), only for those students who have been exempted from the course of Mathematics and Statistics for Managers otherwise during the 2 nd year of studies, continues from the 1 st period - Introduction to Accounting - Introduction to Finance Spring 2011, 1 st period - Introduction to Business Law - Introduction to Ethics - Principles of Economics Spring 2011, 2 nd period - Operations Management - Introduction to Marketing Autumn 2011, 1 st period - Quantitative Business Analysis (Mathematics), one semester course Autumn 2011, 2 nd period - Quantitative Business Analysis (Statistics), continues from the 1 st period At the same time students will take language courses. In case student has for example transferred credits for the first year from another university, he/she might also have time for minor studies. 7.2.1 PROFESSIONAL SKILLS PORTFOLIO Professional Skills Portfolio is a compulsory course of edits for all BSc students and it is one of the required core courses of the degree. The name Portfolio refers to the idea that the student will collect in many different ways the skills and abilities needed in successfully carrying out university level studies and professional development. There are three different parts in the course: 1. 20A00411 Guidance for Planning of Studies, 3 credits 2. 20A00213 Academic writing, 1 credit 3. 20A00203 Computing skills, 2 credits The very first part of the Professional Skills Portfolio is the Orientation Week for the New Students on August 29 September 2, 2011 where all students are expected to be present. 7.3 LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUD- IES IN THE BSC DEGREE An integral part of the Bachelor of Science Degree is the language and communication studies. According to the Degree Regulations 2005 students are required to take 30 credits language and communication studies to be able to graduate from the Bachelor s Program. Language courses are offered by the Department of Communication. The requirements of the degree regulations for language and communication studies are as follows: COMPULSORY LANGUAGE AND COM- MUNICATION STUDIES ACCORDING TO THE BSC DEGREE REGULATIONS Domestic Languages and Communication () Finnish Business Communication Swedish Business Communication (30 CR) 3 cr 3 cr
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES 33 International Business Communication Foreign Language 1 Foreign Language 2 (18 cr) Elective Language Course () 6+ Courses are offered in English Business Communication, French, Finnish Language and Communication, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. The levels of the courses are A (basic), B (intermediate) and C (advanced). The requirements can mainly be followed by the students who are fluent in Finnish. Most of the language courses at the School of Economics are taught from Finnish to the foreign language. Students who are not fluent in Finnish may apply for exemptions in the language requirements. CEFR: language learning, teaching and assessment The School of Economics language courses are listed according to the CEFR, Common European Framework of Reference System in languages. CEFR is a European framework developed by the Council of Europe for the learning, teaching and assessment of languages. It defines and describes six levels of language attainment from A1 at the Basic User level to C2 at the Proficient User level. The levels are A1-A2-B1-B2-C1-C2. The CEFR can be used as a tool both for student self-assessment and for language course planning. In addition, it provides a common international basis for the evaluation of language learning, such as when deciding on compensation for language studies completed abroad. For more details see http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_en.as p 7.3.1 EXEMPTION ON LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS OF THE BSC DEGREE There are many students who are not able to follow the language and communication studies in the way that is defined in the degree regulations of the BSc degree, for example due to a lack of knowledge of Finnish and Swedish. The School of Economics language and communication courses (except English Business Communication) are usually taught from Finnish to the foreign language and therefore the non-finnish speaking students are able to participate only to the courses of English Business Communication and very few other courses offered at the School of Economics. However, they can attend Finnish (as foreign language) courses offered at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences which are open for the School of Economics students. In case the student is not able to follow the language requirements of the degree, the student needs to apply for exemption from language requirements to be able to graduate and complete the BSc degree. The Vice Dean responsible for teaching may grant the exemption. Applying for exemption on language requirements During the orientation days a special session concerning language studies will be arranged. In this session the students have a possibility to apply for the exemption. In other times the students can apply for exemption with the simple application addressed to the Vice Dean of the Aalto University School of Economics. The student should mention that he/she will apply the exemption based on his/her high school level studies. With the application of exemption the student should attach a true copy of his/her high school diploma. The true copy means that the document has been signed with two adult persons with their names, addresses and birth dates. The application for exemption should be addressed to the Office of Student Services. The exemption may be granted if the student has been educated in a language other than Finnish and Swedish or has been educated abroad. In most cases it is required that the student has not has his/her secondary level education (high school) in Finnish or in Swedish or has completed his/her secondary level education (high school) abroad. After the official decision has been made the student will get a letter of the decision by e-mail. The students should keep the decision on exemption, as a copy of it must be provided when ordering the BSc diploma. Also some of the BSc thesis instructors require a copy of the decision on language exemption. Language Studies according to the Language Plan If the exemption from the language requirements of the BSc degree will be granted, the student is expected to complete 30 cr language studies according to her/his own language plan. The language plan will be the part of the students personal study plan. Most students can take at least English Business Communication courses or Finnish for Foreigners from the beginner s level to advanced level (8 levels). The School of Economics has the co-operation agreement on Finnish language studies with Haa-
34 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE STUDIES ga-helia University of Applied Sciences. Non- Finnish speaking the School of Economics students are allowed to participate in the Finnish courses of Haaga-Helia starting from beginner s level 1 up to the level 6. The language courses last one period each and they are worth 3 credits. After the student has completed the level 6 Finnish course at Haaga-Helia he/she can continue studies at the School of Economics in level 7 and 8 Finnish courses. For more information, see chapter 5.5, Studying Finnish as Foreign Language. The student should study languages at least 6 cr/semester. To be able to complete 30 cr of languages for the BSc degree the student can for example study 18 cr Finnish language and 12 cr English or vice versa 12 cr Finnish and 18 cr English. First year students are assigned for the first course of English Business Communication which is the requirement for further studies in English. If you are fluent for example in French or in Spanish you may also be able to participate into the higher level language courses at the School of Economics, for example conversation courses. Language studies are also a part of the International Business Communication program and minor studies. Further information on IBC studies can be found in the program and minor descriptions in this guide.