Business program idealistic, unrealistic

In last week’s Cord, a front-page news story, “BBA program reviewed,” captured my attention.

Being a former business student at Laurier, I will be the first to admit that the SBE faces an enormous task in redesigning the BBA program.

I am speaking from the viewpoint of a student so frustrated with the BBA program that I dropped out in my second half of third year. I was also in the co-op program.

My marks were fine, but I found that the program had many faults, and that I was personally ill suited for the business mentality.

I stayed in the program so long because I wanted to be absolutely sure that it was not for me.

Now that I have dropped out and transferred to English, I have never once regretted my seemingly irrational decision.

Business-minded people have always been big on glossy propagandist statements. I hope the business school’s declaration to improve its BBA program is not just another one of them.

In my opinion, if the BBA program is to survive, the committee is going to have to get right down to the specifics and risk some drastic changes.

The recession and changing attitudes about our selfishly-high material standard of living are going to hit hard on the business world.

If I may be so bold, I predict that there will be a dramatic decline in the student enrollment in university business programs in the next few decades.

Young people today have seen what the materialistic ways of their parents have done to the environment.

Laurier students should integrate business with either an arts or science degree to make the university experience more interesting and useful, or in case they choose to drop the business side.

As it is now, business students are not receiving the well-rounded education university is supposed to offer.

One major problem I had with the BBA program is that the courses are redundant. Many of the courses over the four years could be condensed into one year.

The University of Western Ontario manages, in two years, to teach everything we learn in four.

After first year, courses should be a lot more specialized.

I strongly agree with the committee that writing skills must be greatly improved.

Unfortunately, the SBE failed to realize earlier that an ability to write does not result from group hand-in cases, but from individual work.

Compulsory English courses requiring a variety of writing styles—not just formal business reports—are crucial.

Many business students have this naïve, unrealistic, and sickeningly arrogant expectation of entering an organization and immediately receiving a middle or upper management position.

Leadership training should be reserved for mature students in the business diploma program who have already had experience in the business world and wish to upgrade their management skills.

The ironic thing about my experience in the BBA program at Laurier is that, as much as I believed it in the beginning, going into business was not a practical field for me.

I did not get my money’s worth for the two and a half years I spent in business.

The personal fulfillment and invaluable knowledge I have gained from the English program at Laurier is worth what is relative to the combined salaries of the CEOs of P&G, Hydro and Ernst & Young.