The Barometer Online

Issue date: 9/1/06 Section: News

Beginning this fall, the College of Business will become a professional school.

Like other pro-schools at OSU students will be enrolled in pre-business and at the end of their sophomore year apply for business school.

This change is brought by the College of Business's continuing desire to create programs that produce professionally ready graduates.

"Business employers today are expecting a level of specialization of graduates for upward mobility," Ilene Kleinsorge, Dean of the College of Business, said.

"This will better assist students in seeking and preparing career tracks as oppose to jobs," Kleinsorge said.

The proposal for the change was submitted last winter term. Current business students were involved in the planning process by actively looking at the core curriculum and provided advice for the screening process, which includes two levels of screening.

First, students must meet all pro-school requirements with a grade point average of 3.0 or better after their sophomore year for automatic acceptance.

Students with a GPA between 2.5 and 3.0 must submit a portfolio for consideration.

Second, each individual discipline of business (i.e. marketing, accounting, management, etc.) will have their own requirements, which at the moment are not yet decided but will be set to be consistent with what employers today want.

The screening process is a way of identifying future successful business graduates.

The number of successful graduates is not expected to change significantly due to the pro-school requirements.

"Students who are ultimately successful in completing the business degree will not change significantly," Kleinsorge said. "Unsuccessful students will be identified sooner and we are able to redirect them sooner."

Views amongst students and past graduates are mixed. "I can see the good and bad to this," Alex Ho, a MIS major, said.

"It raises the view of the major, but makes it hard for students who may be able to get a business degree otherwise," Ho said.

"I don't know if I like it," Mari Lim, an accounting graduate, said. "It limits the potential graduates in the work force."

Changes to the course curriculum, especially at the freshmen and sophomore level, will also be made.

More resources will be focused at the pre-business level to provide a better introduction and more information on which discipline and career track is suitable for the students.

"We intend to create a freshman experience that sets the expectations relative to attitude, behavior, knowledge, skill, and abilities on course to a professional career track," Kleinsorge said.

The change to pro-school raises the bar for students but it is also viewed as a way of raising the reputation of the business program at OSU.

"Students appreciate that perceptions of a degree and a reputation affects their success and their value."

Andrew Sam, staff writer news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools