The W. P. Carey School of Business is expanding its curriculum, offering new programs and interdisciplinary degrees for undergraduate and graduate students at all four campuses next fall.
The new degrees and concentrations are a result of budget cuts, and incorporate new approaches to business studies to help students in the economic downturn, said Tim Desch, assistant dean of undergraduate admissions for the business school.
“The idea behind these interdisciplinary degrees [is] the recognition that business knowledge and experience stretches far beyond the traditional,” Desch said.
In fall 2010, the school is planning to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in business with a concentration in communication at the Polytechnic and West campuses, and the West campus will offer two new Bachelor of Science degrees focusing on accountancy and management.
These new programs are in addition to other new degrees being offered on all four campuses.
Rudy Pino, director of the business administration master’s program, said branching out would allow students to gain the business skills needed for success in a tough job market.
“There is certainly a need to work with the community, the local business, the local economy in the … Phoenix metropolitan area,” he said. “To meet the demand of those communities is why we’re expanding.”
Two new business BAs will be offered at the Tempe campus. One program will offer courses with a concentration in law through the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. The other will be offered in collaboration with the School of Politics & Global Studies with a concentration in global politics.
The Polytechnic campus will begin offering the Bachelor of Science in computer information systems, as well as three new business BAs in collaboration with the College of Technology and Information, with concentrations in aviation management, graphic information technology and manufacturing.
Desch said the school’s traditional offerings, which focus solely on business and finance, shouldn’t limit students, but supplement their passions.
“It’s not just working in a bank,” he said. “We’d like our students to look at areas where they have an interest, in areas that may not be associated with business.”
The graduate school will also launch an evening MBA program at ASU West this fall.
“[The program allows students] to manage both their jobs and pursue a quality education,” he said.
Pino said the program, which is also offered in Tempe and at the school’s new Scottsdale location, is currently ranked by US News & World Report among the top 25 part-time MBAs.
The business school is also partnering with other ASU schools to expand its scope.
“We are offering the master’s in public health through the School of Health Management and Policy at the Downtown campus in collaboration with the [College of Nursing and Health Innovation],” Pino said.
Desch said he hopes students will find programs that combine business with other interests.
“We hope that this triggers some thought among students that they can apply a business degree in areas so far beyond what they might imagine,” Desch said. “[They] can attach a particular interest or even a passion of theirs where before they may not have thought of it in a business framework, but now we’re trying to create that opportunity for them.”
Reach the reporter at joseph.schmidt@asu.edu
