Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/42073
SPECIAL FOCUS Currıculum Redesign BEST PRACTICES IN What you should know and how you should proceed when you're revamping a business program. M 1 48 ost deans and program directors believe that all business schools should take a hard look at their curricula every few years, even if they don't do a major overhaul. "The world is changing much faster these days, and a review every five years is reason- able—as long as schools are always thinking about the relevancy of their courses and the way they're being conducted," says Stig Lanesskog, associate dean for MBA programs at the College of Business at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. School representatives, as well as presenters at AACSB International's "Redesigning the MBA" symposium (see "Re-Envisioning the MBA," page 22), emphasize ten best practices for schools to consider when launching a redesign. INVOLVE ALL STAKEHOLDERS. This includes every- one from faculty to recruiters to students to alums. Says Lanesskog, who favors getting feedback from corporate representatives, "We ask executives not only what attributes and skills they think graduates should have, but what challenges they faced the last time they brought any of our graduates into their environment." If current students are solicited for their opinions, they're more likely to be enthusiastic about new courses while also feeling ownership and pride about the curricu- September/October 2011 BizEd lum, notes Douglas Stayman, associate dean for MBA Programs at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management in Ithaca, New York. Don't overlook the school's professional staff, says Phillip Phan, professor and interim dean of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore, Maryland. "Our career development staff has been very involved in our program development—in fact, they help teach some of the noncredit content, like negotiations, that will give students the skills they need to find jobs." DAVE CUTLER/ IMAGES.COM