Incoming business administration students will face different degree requirements than current students in the McCombs School of Business. In addition to a new upper-division statistics and modeling course, which teaches financial trend predictions, the business school will now recognize only three major hours of fine arts classes, reduced from the previous six.
The change is a result of the University complying with state undergraduate curriculum requirements, said Cale McDowell, deputy to the Dean of Students.
The state mandated the requirements a few years ago, but colleges within the University are still catching up.
"Historically, visual and performing arts and humanities have been mixed," McDowell said. "The Texas higher education core requirements state that each institution must adopt separate humanities and fine arts cores."
McDowell said other UT colleges may adopt similar divisions.
The new degree requirements do not mandate additional humanities hours. Instead, existing English requirements fulfill the humanities section of the core.
Business honors and Plan II senior Ryan Jordan said adding an extra business class and reducing fine arts major hours is a trade-off the business school does not need to make.
"Your education in undergrad is enriched by looking at things outside the basic curriculum," Jordan said. "They could probably combine a lot of existing classes to include requirements outside the business school."
Finance junior Kyle Robertson said the business school was just responding to university mandates. A member of the Undergraduate Business Council and the business school's Student Advisory Council, Robertson said the business school is "flexible enough to accommodate double majors" for those students who wish to take more courses outside the college, so the change is not as negative as some students think it is.
Teresa Asma, a finance and Plan II junior, said the business school provides training, but not an education. Asma said that without her second major she would not gain important high-level thinking and analytic skills, so the decrease in requirements detracts from a degree already lacking in course requirements that make students think.
"The business school is a really important step in preparing you for the workplace," Asma said. "But I want to leave college more well-rounded."
Officials from the business school's Undergraduate Programs Office and the business school's dean's office did not respond to messages left by The Daily Texan.
Be the first to comment on this article!