The worlds of business and education have both changed drastically in recent years. With career options, technologies, and priorities rapidly shifting, many business schools have needed to evaluate what they teach and how they teach it to ensure that the investment students make in higher education pays off.
These sentiments are among the driving forces that led the Kogod School of Business to undergo a major reform of its undergraduate core curriculum. After over a year of evaluation, course development, and collaborative work, Kogod has unveiled a curriculum that gets students into business courses earlier, develops a more interdisciplinary understanding of business, and provides more opportunities for experiential learning at all stages. Beyond creating coursework better tailored to a business student’s needs, this reform also enables Kogod’s faculty to spend more time utilizing their individual and wide-ranging expertise to prepare students for anything they choose to do after they graduate.
We spoke with Casey Evans, Kogod’s Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Student Services, about the sweeping changes made to the curriculum and what they mean for incoming students and the Kogod community.
Kogod: Tell us about how you devised Kogod’s new curriculum—who was involved, how long did it take, and who did you consult?
Evans: The curriculum reform process was split into three phases. The first was research and recommendations, during which fifteen faculty and key staff members conducted extensive research and utilized the Design Thinking methodology to drive the committee’s activities and recommendations. During the second phase, faculty from the phase one team worked together to draft a new core curriculum. They then worked with other Kogod faculty, department chairs, senior leadership, and the Dean’s office to finalize the curriculum. Finally, phase three entailed developing courses for the new core curriculum. The process took about eighteen months from start to finish.
What makes Kogod’s new undergraduate curriculum unique from other business schools, especially ones in the DC area? What is the value add for future students?
Our students will take business classes much earlier than they would at another business school—and they don't need to apply and be admitted separately to Kogod in addition to their admission to AU. During the first semester, first-year students take three courses designed to help them explore the world of business; in the second semester, they take three additional business courses, including a global practicum, that focus on integrating the world of business. In their second year, students take foundational courses in accounting, marketing, organizational behavior, business finance, operations management, and data analytics. Finally, all Kogod students spend their senior year taking a capstone course on business strategy, which includes live-client projects tailored toward their major.
