Business (Major, Minor)

Summary

The Program of Study in Business is designed to ensure all Notre Dame Business graduates meet the following core competencies identified by major employers in the Baltimore/Washington corridor:

• Integrate quantitative and qualitative skills to solve problems and support decision-making,
• Demonstrate effective leadership skills in a team environment,
• Communicate effectively in all business environments with different types of media, and,
• Use technology to enhance business productivity and the quality of decision-making

Graduates of the Business Program of Study work in a variety of fields such as accounting, banking, marketing research, project and product management, human resource management, health care administration, nonprofit management, information systems, marketing, portfolio management, investments, law and many types of entrepreneurial adventures.

The Academic Program in Business

Undergraduate Degree

The undergraduate Business degree is offered in three instructional formats.

1. 16-week traditional semester via the Women's College - primarily face-to-face class meetings with 5 to 25 students enrolled.
2. 8-week hybrid course format in weekday evenings from 6:00 pm - 8:45 pm - College of Adult Undergraduate Studies - combining eight face-to-face class meetings along with additional learning online. Students are not required to be online at the same time. Class sizes vary from 5 to 25 students. 
3. 8-week totally online course format - NDMU Online - 24/7 IT and library support available - Students rarely required to be online synchronously. Class sizes do not exceed 20 students.

Courses

Class sizes are small and interactive. NDMU faculty are committed to helping students succeed and value greatly student experiences and contributions. Students should expect their thinking to be challenged in a productive and respectful manner. Per Federal guidelines and university policy, each 3 credit course, regardless of course length or format, involves a minimum of 37.5 hours of instruction and at a minimum of 75 hours of student work outside of class time.

Foundational Business Courses

Courses in Management, Finance, Marketing, Economics, International Business, Law and Accounting provide a solid foundation in the fundamentals of business. [30 credits]

Skills-Based Courses

Courses in data analysis, professional communication, business research, teamwork, negotiation and leadership enhance the technical skills necessary to compete in the workplace. [15 credits]

Advanced Business Policy and Practicum

These two courses enable students to apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout the degree program to strategic issues in business management and in the workplace. The successful completion of Advanced Business Policy, the capstone course, is required of all business majors and should be taken during the student's last semester of study. The four-credit practicum course is required for all Women's College and Adult Undergraduate business majors as well as NDMU Online students who do not have at least two years of full-time professional work experience. The practicum includes a 120-hour internship. [3 to 7 credits]

Business Elective Courses

Students complete their degree requirements either by completing courses for a concentration in accounting, or by completing at least two 400-level Business Elective courses. The upper-division elective courses challenge students to address complex business problems in a chosen field of interest such as finance, management, marketing, international business and human resource management. Students are required to complete two business elective course but are encouraged to take additional business electives if possible. [6 credits]

Accounting Concentration

Intermediate and advanced accounting courses are offered for those WC students interested in preparing for the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) exam. Business students must complete 12 credits of intermediate and advanced accounting courses to fulfill their accounting concentration requirements. Students preparing to take the CPA exam are encouraged to complete as many accounting courses as possible. [12 credits]

A grade of C or better is required for all courses in the Business major or Business minor. Transfer students must complete a minimum of five courses in the Business Major regardless of the number of credits accepted in transfer.

Business Minor

The Business and Economics Department works closely with students in other majors interested in a Minor in Business. Students with a Business minor are better prepared to understand and respond to the business environment in which their career fields operate. Flexibility of the Business minor ensures students have the ability to choose those business courses most helpful in their career fields. The Business minor comprises six courses (18 credits) and requires the student complete at least one course in Economics and BUS-416 Managing Financial Resources. No more than three courses from the student's major may be applied to the completion of the Business minor. No more than nine credits may be transferred into the minor.

Entrepreneurship Minor

The Entrepreneurship minor provides an introduction to both business entrepreneurship and "social entrepreneurship" for students from any major area of academic study. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to promote social change. The Entrepreneurship minor provides students with an opportunity to develop a business plan for either a social or for-profit entrepreneurial organization appropriate for pursuing investors or grants. The Entrepreneurship minor provides all students whose professional plans would benefit from entrepreneurial perspectives and skills a chance to develop their problem-solving, negotiation, organizing, ambiguity and risk tolerance skills. The minor requires the completion of 7 courses (21 credits): BUS-302 Principles of Management, BUS-303 Principles of Marketing, BUS-416 Managing Financial Resources, BUS-401 Entrepreneurship I, BUS-402 Entrepreneurship II, plus two elective courses offered by several departments on campus and chosen and approved in consultation with the Chair of the Business and Economics Department. Business majors do not take BUS-416. No more than three courses from the student's major may be applied to the completion of the Entrepreneurship minor.

Five-Year Option: B.A./M.A.

The Five-year Option enables a full-time WC undergraduate Business major or minor student to complete the Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts in Leadership and Management degrees in five years. A student wishing to pursue a five-year integrated program must meet with her advisor and the Chair of the Business and Economics Department before she registers for the fall semester of her senior year to plan her Program of Study and to determine program eligibility and review program requirements.

Study Abroad

Study abroad opportunities exist for all three student groups. They range from a full semester abroad to a 10-day study tour led by NDMU faculty during winter, spring or summer break.