Columbia Business School Opens Semester With Newly Enhanced Core Curriculum

analyze, decide and lead," says Columbia's Dean Glenn Hubbard

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Columbia Business School will unveil its redesigned core curriculum this fall with the entering class of 2010, introducing a streamlined set of foundational courses, newly built-in flexibility and a corporate governance module during orientation for first year students.

Consolidated to allow for an additional full-term elective course in the second semester of the first year, the revised core curriculum is organized into "required" and "flexible" components. The new structure retains Columbia's commitment to an academically rigorous core as the nucleus of the MBA. The required core of 6.5 courses covers material that is deemed essential to an MBA: accounting, corporate finance, leadership, marketing, operations, statistics and strategy. The flexible core, designed to expand the scope of the required core and complement its content, is composed of 1.5 courses. Students will select one course from each of three broad categories: Organizations, Performance and Markets, and may take additional courses as electives.

Organizations focuses on organizational change and the importance of social networks and interpersonal skills. Performance combines the disciplines of risk management and accounting; courses cover the impact of a firm's operational strategy and introduce accounting-based performance measures as tools for decision-making. Markets delves more deeply into macro- and microeconomics, including game theory.

"The innovative transformation of the core curriculum provides students with foundational expertise in preparation for electives, internships and Master Classes," says R. Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics. "The core is the first step in the journey to the MBA degree - essential to preparing our students to analyze, decide and lead in an increasingly complex and global business environment."

A new feature of Columbia's core curriculum - a non-credit corporate governance module - brings a unique focus to a topic often overlooked as a core competency in management education. The module is designed to enhance students' understanding of their duties and responsibilities as managers and directors of firms, as well as their appreciation of the role of corporate governance in their careers, the business entity, the economy and society at large.

"Today, every business leader must understand the potential economic benefit of good governance, as well as the interaction among directors, management, regulatory bodies, investors and other stakeholders," remarked Dean Hubbard.

The corporate governance module will begin during first-year orientation with a series of pre-term readings and class sessions, and will conclude with a capstone session in the final term of the MBA program.

The revised core curriculum was developed by the Foundations Curriculum Committee (FCC), a group of tenured faculty representing the School's five academic divisions convened by Dean Hubbard in 2006. They were charged with evaluating the existing core and developing a smaller, more flexible curriculum that would impart the necessary content for a Columbia MBA. Earlier strategic planning work informed the committee, and student exit surveys confirmed students' preference for more diverse content in preparation for summer internships and second-year electives. Further, the FCC was guided by the School's core value of bridging academic theory and real-world practice and adherence to the School's cluster system and academic calendar.

"With unflinching commitment and hard work among the faculty across the board, we were able to devise a required core that provides essentials knowledge as well as a flexible core that allows students to tailor requirements according to career interests," said Lawrence Glosten, S. Sloan Colt Professor of Banking and International Finance and chair of the Foundations Curriculum Committee.

Professor Glosten notes a positive byproduct of the flexible core may be the competition among courses within each category. "As student choice within the flexible core categories encourages refreshed content and sparks innovation, the Columbia Business School curricular bar will be raised even higher."

About Columbia Business School

Led by Dean R. Glenn Hubbard, the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School is at the forefront of management education for a rapidly changing world. The school's cutting-edge curriculum bridges academic theory and practice, equipping students with an entrepreneurial mindset to recognize and capture opportunity in a competitive business environment. Beyond academic rigor and teaching excellence, the school offers programs that are designed to give students practical experience making decisions in real-world environments. The school offers MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) degrees, as well as non-degree Executive Education programs. For more information, visit www.gsb.columbia.edu.

SOURCE Columbia Business School

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