S
S.97-3
(formerly S.96-75)
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY?
OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC
MEMORANDUM
To: ?
Senate
From: ?
D. Gagan, Chair
Senate Committee on Academic Planning
Subject: ?
Faculty of Business Administration -
?
Curriculum revisions
Date: ?
November 12, 1996
SCUS Reference: SCUS 96-37
SCAP Reference: SCAP
96-52
For Information:
Acting under delegated authority of Senate, SCUS approved revisions of a minor nature in the Faculty of
Business Administration as follows:
A.
?
Area course changes:
a)
Accounting
i) ?
Change in prerequisite BUS 319
b)
Human Resource Management
i) ?
Deletion of BUS 483-3
C) ?
International Business
i)
Change of number and prerequisites:
BUS 430-3 to BUS 380-3
ii)
Change in concentration requirements
iii)
Change in prerequisites: BUS 431, 432, 435, 438, 439
d)
Management Information Systems
i) ?
Change in prerequisite: BUS 364, 468
e)
Management Science
i) ?
Change in prerequisites: BUS 336
f)
Marketing
i)
Change in course names: BUS 347, 344, 448, 477
ii)
Change in prerequisites: BUS 347, 447, 448
B. ?
Changes to Joint Major in Business Administration and Psychology
C. ?
Addition to Group B requirements
D. ?
New course:
BUS 242-3 Introduction to Financial Management
In all cases agreement has been reached between the Faculty and the Library in the
assessment of library costs associated with new courses.
Any Senator wishing to consult the full report of curriculum revisions within the
Faculty of Business Administration should contact Bobbie Grant, Senate Assistant at
291-3168 or e-mail bgrant@sfu.ca
El
Simon Fraser University
Memorandum
To: ?
Senate
FROM: ?
Roger Blackman, Chair, Senate Committee on Undergtaduate Studies
DATE: ?
December 12 1996
SUBJECT: Referral of Curriculum Revisions in the Faculty of Business
Administration to SCUS
At the Senate
.
meeting. on December 2, 1996, questions were raised about the
proposed changes in the International Business concentration.
In the days following the Senate meeting, Dr. Larry Pinfield had a lengthy meeting
with Senator Chan to discuss the prerequisite/corequisite changes and the rationale
for the program revisions.
The matter was also considered at the SCUS meeting on December 11 1996 at which
time the Director of Undergraduate Programs in that Faculty, M. Fizzell supplied
additional information to clarify the purpose Of the changes. The following was
approved by SCUS:
Motion:
That SCUS reaffirms its approval of the curriculum revisions contained in
SCUS 96-37 and forwards the revisions to Senate for Information.
SCUS noted that students have experienced difficulties getting into BUS 346. It was
noted that the Faculty of Business Administration will shortly consider a
recommendation to change the course offerings within the core component of the
major, which if approved will mean that BUS 346 would not be included in the set
of courses which constitute the "Business and Society" requirement. This is
expected to reduce the enrolment pressure on BUS 346 in the future. However on
behalf of SCUS, I conveyed a recommendation to the Dean that BUS 346 might be
offered more frequently prior to the implementation of the changes in the
concentration requirements in order to avoid BUS 346 becoming a bottleneck,
particularly for those students who have been admitted to the major program but
Who have not yet taken BUS 346.
0
S
Attachment to SCUS 96-37 and
S.96-75
Rationale for changes to International Business (IB) concentration in
the Faculty of Business Administration
Following an extensive review of the undergraduate program in the Faculty of Business
Administration in 96-2 (interested members of Senate may request copies of the Task Force Report
from the Office of the Dean -
5746),
recommendations were make to simplify, streamline, reduce
and add focus to our UG course offerings. Implementation of these recommendations is planned to
occur in stages over the 96-97, and 97-98 academic years. The recommendations noted in SCUS
96-37 and S.96-75 are those which can be implemented most readily but need to be understood in
the context of other changes which will come to Senate for information/approval later.
Questions were raised in the December 2, 1996 meeting of Senate regarding the proposed changes
to the International Business (IB) concentration. In particular,concern was raised that changing the
corequisite of Bus 346 (International Business) for several other lB courses to that of a prerequisite
could increase the amount of time required for students to complete the lB concentration
requirements. This could indeed be a logical consequence if no other changes were being made or
contemplated. However, Bus 346 was identified as a prerequisite rather than a corequisite for
sound pedagogical reasons, while other changes are being made to reduce enrolment pressures on
this and other TB courses. For example:
a)
Bus 346 will be removed from the set of courses which currently constitute the "Business and
Society" requirement. This will reduce significantly enrolments in Bus 346 of students who are not
lB concentrators.
b)
Bus 430, previously a seminar course, is being labelled as a 300-level course, permitting
significantly larger class sizes and consequently larger through-puts of students.
c)
The sets of requirements for exposure to both geographic and functional lB courses have been
combined and simplified.
Once all changes have been implemented, students will be able to complete a subject concentration
in lB with increased academic coherence and in fewer semesters than is presently the case.
Because of the necessary time required to implement all proposed changes, students already
enrolled in our BBA program may not necessarily receive any immediate benefit in increased or
easier access to Bus 346 and subsequent 113 courses. A more detailed rationale for the proposed
minor course changes follow:
Course changes:
Before
BUS 346 - required.
One of
BUS 430, or
BUS 432
Proposed
BUS 346 - required.
BUS 430 has become BUS 380 - which will be
required. The option to complete BUS 432 becomes
one of a set of five courses (see below) of which
students must take 2.
One of
BUS
BUS
435
434,
?
or ?
course
BUS 434
content.
and
435
These
had
two
some
courses
areas
have
of overlap
therefore
in
?
W
been combined into BUS
435
which will be required
of all lB subject concentrators.
One of
BUS 434, or
These requirement, together with those which
BUS 435, or
followed, have been simplified so that students
BUS 427, or
would be required to take two courses from the set
BUS 438 or BUS 418, or
consisting of BUS 418, BUS 427, BUS 431, BUS
BUS 447
432, and BUS 447.
One of
BUS 431, or
There is no guarantee that teaching resources will be
BUS 439, or
available to have BUS 439 taught in
BUS 492
the future. This requirements was therefore
BUS 493
deleted.BUS 492, BUS 493 and BUS 494 are all
BUS 494
special topics courses in Business. They are taught
on capacity-available and as-needed basis. They have
therefore not been included in regular concentration
requirements.
Rationale:
Before the changes there was one required course plus one course from each of 4 sets
of further courses. Each set of courses had its own set of different requirements - producing
considerable confusion. The proposal for 3 required courses plus 2 additional courses selected
Rationale
from a group
for
of
the
5
courses
change
is more
from
straightforward
corequisite courses
and deliverable.
to prerequisite
?
-0
courses:
Problems:
When the concentration was originally established in 92-3, BUS 346 was set up as a corequisite
for subsequent courses so that students could move into these courses while combining an
lB
concentration with other concentrations. Because many of the subsequent courses were established
as corequisites, instructors teaching 400 level courses had to modify their material to account for
the fact that some students would not yet have completed the BUS 346 (introductory course).
In addition, offerings of some of these subsequent courses e.g. BUS 427, BUS 418, and BUS
447 are controlled by other areas of concentration. Consequently, it is very difficult for the lB area
coordinator to ensure that sufficient courses will be offered to meet expressed demand. Finally,
some of the subsequent course requirements (e.g. BUS 418 - International Financial Management)
had prerequisites from another concentration (Finance) which severely restricted entry for students
who wished to combine their TB concentration with subject areas other than Finance.
Solutions:
Now the concentration is established. There are between 30 and 50 students expressing interest in
an
lB
concentration. It is time to establish BUS 346 as the basic introductory course so that the
instructors of the 400 level classes can build on a general understanding of international issues.
In light of resource restrictions we have reduced the confusion associated with courses listed for
the concentration and have focused our courses on those deemed essential for students with an lB
concentration. The current structure makes it possible for the
lB
area coordinator to ensure that
there are sufficient course offerings for TB students to complete their concentration.
4
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Change in concentration requirements
?
S ?
FROM:
BUS 346-3 International Business
and one Cross-cultural course
BUS 430-3 Comparative Management
BUS 432-3 International Human Resources Management
and two Functional courses [one of which must be from a)]
a)
BUS 434-3 Foreign Market Entry
BUS 435-3 Management of International Firms
b)
BUS 427-3 Seminar in International Accounting
BUS 438-3 Multinational Corporate Finance (or BUS 418)
BUS 447-3 International Marketing Management
and one Geographic Area course
BUS 431-3 Business with East Asian Countries
BUS 439-3 North American International Trade Issues
BUS 492-3 Selected Topics in Business Administration*
BUS 493-3 Selected Topics in Business Administration*
BUS 494-3 Selected Topics in Business Administration*
*when topic is South East Asia or other areas
TO:
BUS 346-3 International Business
BUS 380-3 Comparative Management
BUS 435-3 Management of International Finns
and two of:
• BUS 418-3 International Financial Management
BUS 427-3 Seminar in International Accounting
BUS 431-3 Business with East Asian Countries
BUS 432-3 International Human Resources Management
BUS 447-3 International Marketing Management
Rationale: This change of sequence maintains the number of courses
required for a concentration but reduces and simplifies the course
requirements at the 400 level.
0
6.
loe
