BYU–Hawaii’s International Business Management (IBM) and Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) majors recently underwent revision that has changed the structure and curriculum of both degrees. This refinement has given the International Business Management major a new face and shortened name—Business Management. The newly dubbed Business Management has six ‘tracks’ or areas of focus within the major. And the Hospitality and Tourism Management major also faced changes—two classes have been deleted from the curriculum; also, some of the basic business classes have been combined with the Business Management degree. (Pictured above: international business students of BYU–Hawaii)
The old curriculum has been under revision since Oct. 2008 and has recently been approved in May 2009 by the Curriculum Committee and university administration, including the President’s Council.
These changes will impact 156 Hospitality and Tourism and 363 Business Management students from 48 countries who take courses in the Business Management Department. The curriculum changes have required dedication and great effort from the eight full-time faculty of the department. Some faculty members stayed to teach during the summer term and others will teach during the new First Term in order to facilitate a smooth transition and offer courses to students under the new program.
According to Helena Hannonen (pictured right), the Chair of the Business Management Department, which houses both the Business Management and Hospitality and Tourism majors, there are four reasons why these changes were brought about:
- The IBM major was too general.
- The courses offered in the degree were not international in their content.
- Employers are looking for graduates with solid business fundamentals.
- Students are looking for areas of specialization.
The massive overhaul of majors and curriculum was based on thorough research of what students need to compete on current job markets domestically and internationally, as well as benchmarking business and HTM programs in other universities. Both majors had new classes added and also some removed to make the curriculum more relevant.
Within the business major there are six different tracks that students can choose to emphasize or focus on: General Business, Corporate Finance, Investment Finance, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, Operations and Supply Chain Management, and Marketing
Brian Pike, junior in business management from California/Cayman Islands, said, “I think the new curriculum and tracks are great. I love that I can now focus my major on more than just international business. I am really excited to start the marketing track and will mostly likely take several of the investment finance classes also.”
Students will now take prerequisite courses and must apply to Business Management major, whereas before, there was no application process. Once accepted, students are required to complete Business Foundation courses before taking courses in one of the six tracks. Students finish their major and emphasis by taking a capstone course in their respective major and Career Management course. (Pictured: students Al Doan & Benson Massey in a moment of quiet conversation)
“Faculty has worked tirelessly to align curriculum with business programs and to improve the educational experience for our students. They are developing new courses some of which will start during the First Term and Fall Semester. We have hired two new faculty members with extensive experience in finance to replace faculty who moved away from Hawaii in the last year. We have worked closely with employers and appreciate the close relationship with Career and Alumni Services,” said Hannonen.
Kim Austin, Director of Career and Alumni Services said, “As students focus more on a specific functional area in their studies, it also helps them focus on a career path and makes them more marketable. The more targeted the student is, the easier it is for us to help him or her in our Career Center. We will know what resources students need, with whom we can connect them for career leads and advice, and any direction they may need for their career and job search.”
Even students who are not majoring in business management are finding the added curriculum to be beneficial. Spenser Arn, junior in accounting from Utah, said, “I think that the tracks allow for more flexibility. It also helps those who have more of a focus to chose a track that better interests them. As for those of us who are not Business Management majors it gives us the option and opportunity to branch out to expand our skills and talents if we want to double major in one of those fields.”
The initial response to changes has been positive from students as well as academic advisors who work closely with students. All seem positive about the new direction Business Management and Hospitality and Tourism majors are going. The mission of the Business Management department is to develop principled and innovative business leaders for Asia, the Pacific and beyond. The goal is to educate students at BYU–Hawaii and return them to their home regions with marketable skills. This way graduates can earn a good living as well as be spiritually strong and be better prepared serve as leaders their families, Church, and communities.
--Photos by Monique Saenz