This year, the Center for Business and Economics (CBE), once the destination for both business and economics majors, will no longer be a single department after the resignation of former CBE director and professor of business, Gary Wilson.
“This came as a result of my resignation,” said Wilson, who is now chair of the independent Business Department. “Since the CBE had been in the same type of organizational structure for over 35 years (with minor variations during this time), members of the CBE sensed it may be time for a major change.”
The CBE was split into the independent departments of Economics and Business, effective July 1, after a majority of former CBE faculty voted in favor of the formation of two separate departments at the end of spring 2012. The move was then recommended to the board of trustees by President S. Alan Ray.
However, Susanne Schmitz, the chair of the Economics Department, said she was against the decision.
“Given Elmhurst College’s emphasis on professional preparation within a liberal arts tradition, I feel it is important to have economics firmly integrated into the business program,” she said. “Although it is important to understand the applied nature of business disciplines, it is also important to recognize the value of the theoretical components of a strong business education.
“I opposed the separation, but now that it has happened we need to move forward.”
Before separating, the CBE was one of the largest departments, offering eight majors, employing 16 full-time faculty, and serving approximately 750 undergraduate and graduate students.
As of right now, Schmitz does not expect students to be drastically affected.
“For now the changes will be subtle,” she said. “There will be advising changes–economics students will be advised by [economics professor Joseph] Heiney and me while the business students will be advised by business department faculty.”
In a faculty-wide letter sent after the decision, Dean of Faculty Alzada Tipton wrote, “All who have been involved in effecting the structural change stressed that Elmhurst students–across all majors and disciplines–learn to communicate, analyze data, think critically, solve problems collaboratively, and use both words and images to convey ideas with impact.”
According to the college’s website, the Department of Economics will concentrate on “an especially strong scholarly foundation in the classroom…for a wide variety of careers in banking, business, financial services, government and the law.”
The Department of Business will focus on “the practical application of scholarly work…to prepare students for immediate entry into the work world, usually in the for-profit sector.”
Senior business administration major Megan McCracken showed concern over the split.
“Will there be additional classes required for the separate majors causing it to take longer to graduate? If not, then what is [the] point of splitting up the CBE? New students [will] be able to adjust to this change because it’ll be new to them, but how will this affect us current business majors?”
Mark Cunningham, assistant professor of business and an advisor for internships, resumes, mock interviews, career and mentor placement, and collaborative research, said student opportunities would not be affected.
“I can tell you firsthand [they] will not be diminished,” Cunningham said. “Students that have worked with the CBE will still get the opportunities to interview for internships and jobs [and] still get the advice on resumes and whatever other career guidance we can give them.”
Source:
http://ecleader.org/2012/09/12/departmental-split-in-cbe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=departmental-split-in-cbe