i sat as a student representative on the equivalent of a curriculum committee at the gothenburg university of technogy some 40 years ago and i was not impressed by the industry representatives. they "tended to go with what they knew or were
familiar with as opposed to the skills they did not yet know they needed". my experience since then of outside representation has not been radically different. (there are exceptions to this, of course.)
in sweden, student representation on curriculum boards, department boards and the like is a matter of course, with no unintended consequences and often thoughtful and valuable contributions. the main problem these days is that sometimes, with increasing pressure on students, it is hard to fill all the places.
regards/bengt
------------------------------------------------------
Bengt Kjellén
bkj@fek.su.se
Assistant Professor
School of Business
Stockholm University
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-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: Management Education and Development Discussion genom Diane Parente
Skickat: ti 2009-05-26 22:19
Till:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Ämne: Re: student members on curriculum committees
I agree with Tom, wholeheartedly. We need to gather information from alums
and hiring managers but my experience is that current students do not know
what they need at this point. They tend to go with what they know or are
familiar with as opposed to the skills they do not yet know they need.
Diane
From: Management Education and Development Discussion
[mailto:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Tom Bryant
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 3:58 PM
To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Subject: Re: student members on curriculum committees
My suggestion would be to add recent alumni/ae (1-5 years post-grad) to the
committee, not current students, and to invite current students to
participate in curriculum reviews and new program proposals. Most current
students are there to learn, not to teach, and are paying for our guided
wisdom, not expecting (or qualified) to be providing the guidance. (That
said, it is always good to listen to incoming students about their
aspirations and expectations...) Alumni/ae -- especially MBAs and EMBAs --
have much to say about the relevance of a curriculum for their professional
lives, and that's a perspective that faculty generally do not have. And it
affects the employability of our graduates. Another option might be HR
professionals, especially alums doing recruiting, working for employers of a
school's grads.
Best,
Tom.
Thomas A. Bryant, Ph.D.
Trustee / Visiting Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, Newark School of
Theology
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Enterprise Development Center, New Jersey
Institute of Technology
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tombryant2008
For a different approach to valuing the work of entrepreneurs, SEE: Valuing
the Closely Held Firm by Mike Long and Tom Bryant
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Finance/Corporate/?view=usa
<http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Finance/Corporate/?view=usa&c
i=9780195301465> &ci=9780195301465
On May 26, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Liang Neng wrote:
Dear colleagues,
We are considering to add some student members to our curriculum committee
(currently all faculty), but are not sure of its full implications. On the
positive side, it ensures students feedback and advise on curriculum issues;
on the down side, we are concerned that it may have unintended consequences.
I understand that Wharton does not have student members, but Kellogg and
Duke do. I will appreciate comments/feedback on this issue, especially from
those whose schools do have students members on curriculum committee. Thank
you very much in advance.
Neng Liang, Associate Dean and EMBA Director, Professor of Management,
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
liangneng@ceibs.edu
8621-28905229; f: 8621-28905108.