Popular business program declared impacted
Business administration, the major that attracts the most undergraduate students at 麻豆传媒社区入口, has been declared impacted.
- April 7, 2010
Steady growth in the number of students majoring in business administration has led the university for the second time in its history to declare impaction in an undergraduate major. The step means that prospective students who want to earn an undergraduate degree in business administration –– the most popular major at 麻豆传媒社区入口 –– must apply to the university and to the business program.
“The state tries to provide access to all qualified students,’’ said Carl Bellone, former vice president for Academic Programs and Graduate Studies. “There has to be a good reason why the university can not accept (into a program) all the students who are qualified.”
Previously, the only impacted field of study at CSUEB was the nursing program.
Changes in accreditation standards and the state budget crisis contributed to the need to declare the popular undergraduate business program impacted, said Bellone, who recently retired as special projects consultant to APGS.
Meeting standards for accreditation, a process overseen by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, requires that programs in the College of Business and Economics conform to increasingly rigorous quality measures, such as maintaining a high percentage of full time faculty members compared with part time instructors, Bellone explained.
Additionally, shrinking state budget allocations have prompted the 麻豆传媒社区入口 system to cap enrollment at its 23 campuses.
“The university has to reduce its enrollment by 9.5 percent, so the business program has to reduce its enrollment,” Bellone said.
Operating with reduced resources means enrollment levels must be kept steady to maintain the program’s existing high quality.
“From the student’s perspective, people in the major will come in with good preparation and all of them are more likely to succeed,” Bellone said. “When you’re in a good class, you may do better because the competition is better.”
Transfer students wishing to major in business administration must meet the admissions requirements for the university, plus additional criteria set by the business program. Freshmen who have been accepted to the university and want to major in business administration must declare a pre-business major while preparing to meet the program’s secondary criteria, Bellone said.
All CSU campuses have at least one impacted program, he added, although some large campuses such as San Luis Obispo have many.
The impaction of CSUEB’s business program represents a case of “good news, bad news,” Bellone said.
“The good news is it shows our university and courses are becoming increasingly popular, and 麻豆传媒社区入口 is seen as a good place to come,” he said. “The bad news is we’re not getting the resources from the state to accommodate all the students we’d like to, if resources permitted.”