Assessment of Management
a. Who is the person responsible for program assessment, data gathering and analysis in your discipline?
Dr. Arne Kildegaard, through academic year 2006-2007.
b. What are the stated goals of the discipline?
The management curriculum is designed to ensure that
students: i) understand and use a variety of techniques to manage financial,
human, and material resources; ii) are able to critically conceptualize
business problems and to develop appropriate strategies for problem solving;
iii) understand and use a variety of quantitative analysis techniques
appropriate for business; iv) develop collaborative skills; v) be competent in
written and oral communication; vi) develop competence in computer skills; vii)
are prepared for professional careers in business or public service, or for
graduate studies; viii) are able to see relationships between management and
other liberal arts disciplines .
c. How do you assess whether your discipline is achieving its goals?
The first goal is met by a broad curriculum that requires
exposure to various functional areas of the field: accounting, management,
finance, and economics (optional: marketing, business law). The second goal is
evaluated across the curriculum through case studies and problem sets, and in
particular is addressed by the year-long senior seminar experience wherein
students collaborate closely with an instructor to define, analyze, present and
discuss a contemporary management challenge. Quantitative techniques are taught
and evaluated in the required statistics course, the required accounting
courses, and several of the required economics courses. Those taking the
Financial Management emphasis must also complete a calculus course.
Quantitative electives include 3501 and 3502 (management science).
Collaborative work and group exercises are fundamental
features of several courses in the management major, including 3151, 3152,
3201, 3221, 3512, 3513, and 3701. It is very common elsewhere in the management
curriculum as well. Likewise, written and oral communication are taught across
the curriculum, with most classes involving either some combination of a
written research project, essay exams, and oral presentation. Students are
required to take a course in public speaking. The senior seminar experience
provides a forum for structured oral presentation of research.
Computational skills are taught and evaluated in the
accounting sequence and the
required statistics class. Management science courses are electives with a
substantial computational component. Those choosing the Financial Management
emphasis will learn and be evaluated on computational techniques in several
upper level finance courses.
Student preparation for graduate school is evaluated
through a) maintaining and appropriate curriculum; and b) an intensive
mentoring process, whereby students are encouraged to participate in various
research and academic enhancement opportunities, including MAPS, UROPS,
directed studies, URS projects, funded research, and senior seminars.
Management challenges often have historical,
institutional, scientific, cultural and political dimensions. Across our
curriculum students are encouraged not to ignore these. Economics courses
figure prominently among the required elements of the major, and these tend to
be broadly based on methods of social science inquiry, rather than narrowly
vocational. Students opting for the International Business emphasis are
required to take two years of foreign language. Students opting for the Organizations
and Human Resources emphasis are required to take Philosophy 2112: Professional
Ethics. Students opting for the Financial Management emphasis must take Math
1101: Calculus. In general terms, by limiting the hours within the major to 40,
the discipline encourages students
to explore complementary offerings elsewhere in the liberal arts curriculum.