EDITORIAL: Academic improvement, not prestige, should be goal of curricular revision

As Villanova's School of Business continues to rise in national rankings, Dean James Danko has embarked on an ambitious project to revamp the fundamental courses in the school's curriculum. Some of these changes to the curriculum, the six-credit Financial Management & Reporting course in particular, have generated significant controversy and pushback from students, albeit not openly.

When designing a curriculum, the primary focus should be on strengthening the academic quality and rigor of the course load. However, much of the rhetoric emanating from Bartley Hall suggests that the course redesign is driven as much by a fixation on enhancing the reputation and profile of the School of Business as it is on preparing students for the business world.

In an interview, Dean Danko remarked, "I tell Jay [Wright] that we need both business and basketball to raise our reputation" as a University. Let us be clear: we acknowledge that the increased national stature of the School of Business has increased the value of our Villanova diplomas regardless of our major, and the entire school benefits from the visibility and notoriety of the School's success.

But any changes to the VSB curriculum should focus on more effectively educating students, not increasing the marketability of the School of Business. Reputation and prestige should stem from academic rigor, not the other way around.  

Much of the criticism of FM&R  is a result of the increased difficulty involved with a six-credit course. Though the School of Business should ensure that its courses are not unfairly challenging, it should be noted that as a nationally-recognized and top-ranked undergraduate business program, the core business school curriculum is supposed to be hard. 

As a reaction to the widespread backlash from the new sophomore course, the School of Business hosted a series of focus groups and invited all students enrolled in FM&R to participate. Despite many students' strong opinions, only 17 students out of 225 invitees attended, according to Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Melinda German. As a result of the lack of participation, similar focus groups for Competitive Effectiveness, the companion six-credit course, were canceled. 

As the School of Business continues to revise and improve its curriculum, it is vital that students take an active role in providing useful feedback to VSB administrators. School of Business students should not expect their opinions to be considered if they cannot be bothered to take the time to voice their concerns. 

The School of Business has made great progress in recent years in establishing itself as a respected national undergraduate institution, and Dean Danko and his staff deserve much credit for this success. But it is critical that the VSB leadership avoids becoming engrossed in the hunt for higher rankings and concentrates on what's most important: providing the highest-quality business education and preparing its students for a career in the real world.