Curriculum Revision Process
Any Langdale College faculty member can initiate a curriculum revision request, which can entail course number and description changes, new courses, courses required, and new programs.
All revisions must be approved by the Langdale College Curriculum and Executive Committees, the VSU Academic Committee and Faculty Senate, and for more substantive requests, the Board of Regents.
New Offerings since Previous Accreditation Review
International Business Major
A survey asked 128 sophomore business students to select or state new majors in which they might be interested. The major most frequently cited was International Business, mentioned by 48 percent of the respondents. This led to the implementation of the International Business (IB) major in the BBA Degree Program, beginning in Spring 2010. A new tenure-track IB faculty member with a Ph.D. in International Business was hired and joined our faculty in Fall 2011. He serves as the director of the IB program and chairs a committee that is responsible for IB
curriculum, academic advising, and coordination of study abroad and exchange programs.
In addition to the senior college business core, the IB major includes international courses in economics, finance, management, and marketing; a concentration in another business discipline;
nine to twelve hours in a foreign language; cross-cultural courses, and an international study, living, or working experience. There are more than 25 universities in 14 European, Asian, and South American countries at which VSU students can fulfill the study abroad experience requirement. The Langdale College Foundation endowment funded more 18 study abroad scholarships in both summers 2010 and 2011. Other scholarship opportunities are available through VSU’s Office of International Programs. In Fall 2011, there are 60 students who are junior and senior IB majors or freshmen and sophomores who plan to become IB majors when they enter the upper-division business program.
Certificate in Internal Auditing
The Certificate in Internal Auditing program, which is endorsed by the Institute of Internal Auditors, began in Fall 2007. Accounting majors obtain an in-depth knowledge of Internal Auditing topics by taking these required courses: Introduction to Fraud Examination, Internal Auditing, and an Internship in Internal Auditing. In Fall 2010, 15 students were enrolled in the program and 43 students had graduated with the certificate.
Certificate in Human Resources Management
The Certificate in Human Resources Management (HRM) program, which began in Fall 2008, provides management majors the in-depth knowledge necessary to enter the HRM field. In addition to the courses required for a Management major, students pursing the HRM Certificate must take Employment Law (a new course developed for the program) and three of the following five courses: Labor Relations, Performance Management and Rewards, Career Development, Organizational Change and Development, and Management Internship. Approximately 40 students are currently in the process of completing this program and more than 20 students have already graduated with the certificate.
Certificate in Healthcare Administration
The Certificate in Healthcare Administration (HCAD) Program, which began in Fall 2008, is a collaborative effort among the Langdale College of Business. the College of Nursing and South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC). It was designed to provide specialized education for business majors who may seek employment in various healthcare-related organizations, such as offices of health practitioners, general medical and surgical hospitals, home healthcare services, and outpatient care centers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s Occupational Outlook
Handbook, employment of medical and health services managers is expected to increase 18 to 26 percent between 2009 and 2014. Job opportunities will be especially good for applicants with strong business and management skills.
Students who elect to pursue the certificate program must complete one of the six undergraduate business majors. The HCAD Certificate program consists of six required courses: Health Economics, Health Care Marketing, Healthcare Human Resources Management (new course), Medical Terminology for Health and Wellness, Leadership and Management (new course), and Internship in Healthcare Administration (new course). About 20 students are enrolled in the certificate program and the first graduate received the certificate in December 2010.
Honors Program
A Langdale College Honors Program, integrated with the VSU Honors College, was fully funded by the Strategic Focus 2010 Initiative. Four new courses, designed by Langdale College faculty, were approved: Environment of Business Honors, Survey of Economics Honors, Principles of Macroeconomics Honors, and Principles of Microeconomics Honors. In Fall 2011, Survey of Economics Honors, was the first course to be offered. To help populate these Honors courses, Langdale College offers up to twenty-five renewable scholarships to high school seniors with
SAT scores of 1240 or more, and GPAs of 3.25 or higher. Scholarships of $2,500 per year and Study Abroad scholarships of $1,500 are available for these students.
Other Curriculum Additions and Revisions
In addition to the courses necessitated by the previously-discussed new MAcc Program and International Business major, more than a dozen other new courses have been added since Fall 2006. Internship courses were added in Economics, Management, and Marketing. A second version of Current Issues in Finance was added to prepare students for the Certified Financial Planner certificate. Nine new undergraduate elective courses were made available based on student interest, curriculum needs, and/or faculty expertise: Introduction to Fraud Examination, Fundamentals of Real Estate, Advanced Portfolio Management, Employment Law, Entrepren-eurship Skills, Supply Chain Management, Health Care Marketing, Marketplace Culture and Ethnography, and Marketing and Society. Four new MBA electives were added in 2011-2012:
International Business, International Economics, International Financial Management, and Business Law.
The MBA curriculum was changed in 2011-2012, replacing a required Production course with a choice of one of the three international courses mentioned in the preceding sentence. Also, two Topics courses were replaced by six hours of MBA or MAcc electives.
MKTG 4620 (Buyer Behavior) and MKTG 4650 (Marketing Research) were renumbered as MKTG 3620 and MKTG 3650, respectively, to help ensure that students take the courses earlier in their program of study. Both courses are prerequisites for the required senior level course Strategic Planning (MKTG 4900). The course title for MKTG 4770 was changed from Internet Marketing to Electronic Business and the course description was revised. Formerly, the course had a primary emphasis on web design, but now the content coverage is broader in scope. The title for MKTG 4810 was changed from Contemporary Marketing to the more descriptive title Special Topics in Marketing. The course number for Multinational Corporate Finance was changed from ECON 3650 to FIN 3650, which is a better fit based on the course content title and the fact that the course is taught by a finance professor. Three undergraduate accounting courses, Not-for Profit Accounting, Advanced Accounting, and Corporate and Partnership Taxation, were redesigned, adding rigor and more required work, and moved to the MAcc program.
Introduction to Business (BUS 2000, 1 semester hour) was changed substantially beginning in Fall 2011 and became a true introduction to the fields within business, rather than an orientation to the Langdale College. In addition to providing a brief background about business for our majors, it is now available to non-business majors to serve as a potential recruiting tool.
Substantive curriculum changes were made in Fall 2011 regarding two courses required for all business majors. A new course, Writing for the Professions (ENGL 2010), was added and
Fundamentals of Computer Applications (CISM 2201) was expanded from 2 to 3 semester hours.
See the Curriculum Changes Resulting from the Assurance of Learning Process section for details.
At the individual course level, content, degree of emphasis on various topics, methods of teaching and testing, and technology usage are continually changing. The curriculum is always evolving to become more up-to-date with greater variety and higher quality. In the spirit of continuous improvement, no course is ever considered to be completely finalized or perfect.
K. Assessment Tools and Procedures: A brief statement of learning goals for each degree