Overview
The College of Business offers baccalaureate degree programs
with the following nine academic majors: accounting, computer information
systems, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, international
business, management, marketing, and quantitative finance. Each of the
baccalaureate degree programs leading to the B.B.A. degree has essentially the
same general structure:
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General Education component
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B.B.A. core requirement
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Major component
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Non-business electives component
Graduate-level programs offered by the college lead to the
M.B.A. degree or the M.S.A. degree. All academic degree programs offered by the
College of Business are accredited by AACSB International - The Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
To comply with AACSB International accreditation standards,
the undergraduate curriculum is structured so that at least 50 percent of the
program requirements are in the category of general education and non-business
electives with the remaining requirements devoted to professional business
preparation.
Course requirements in each major offered by the College of
Business are in compliance with the AACSB International 50-percent standard.
Admission to the College of Business
A student desiring to major in any B.B.A. program in the
College of Business must formally apply for admission to the College. The
application may be submitted upon completion of 45 credit hours and must meet
the official calendar deadline announced by the CoB Academic Services Center
each year for fall, spring, or summer admission. Applications received after the
deadline for each application period (i.e., fall, spring, or summer) will not
be considered. Late applicants will be required to resubmit their application
prior to the next deadline.
Admission to the College of Business is competitive. At a
minimum, a student must have completed 56 credit hours, earned a cumulative
grade point average of 2.500 (rounding is not used) in all courses taken at
JMU, and must have completed all 100- and 200-level B.B.A. core courses
(described below) and their prerequisites. Meeting these minimum requirements,
however, does not guarantee admission.
Final admission decisions are based upon resources. The total
number of students admitted will be no greater than can be effectively
supported with available instructional resources.
Admission permits a student to enroll in COB 300 and to be
formally admitted to a major. However, some majors in the College of Business
may impose standards that exceed those of the College as a whole. A student
must meet both the College of Business requirements and the requirements of the
major in which he or she seeks to enroll.
The above requirements do not pertain to students who are
enrolled in the B.A. or B.S. in economics program or to those enrolled in the
B.S. in quantitative finance program.
Lower-Level B.B.A. Requirements
During their freshman and sophomore years, business majors
concentrate on building an academic foundation upon which they will base more
in-depth junior-year studies. This foundation includes both lower-division
B.B.A. core requirements and the major part of the university general education
program.
B.B.A. Core
B.B.A. majors must complete all 100- and 200-level core
requirements and meet all of the criteria under “Admission to the College of
Business” to be eligible for junior-level business course work. Consequently,
class schedules for the four-semester sequence covering the freshman and
sophomore years must be planned accordingly.
The following lower-division courses must be completed prior
to enrolling in 300-level courses:
COB 191. Business and Economic Statistics (3 credits)
COB 202. Interpersonal Skills (3 credits)
COB 204. Computer Information Systems (3 credits)
COB 218. Legal Environment of Business (3 credits)
COB 241. Financial Accounting (3 credits)
COB 242. Managerial Accounting (3 credits)
COB 291. Introduction to Management Science (3 credits)
ECON 201. Principles of Economics (Micro) (3 credits)
GECON 200. Introduction to Macroeconomics (3 credits; available
in General Education Cluster 4)
MATH 205, 205E or 235. (3 or 4 credits; available in General
Education Cluster 3, Package A, D, E or F)
Upper-Level B.B.A. Requirements
Upper-division core courses required of all B.B.A. majors may
not be taken until all lower-division B.B.A. core courses have been completed
and the student has been admitted to the College of Business. The
upper-division courses are the following:
COB 300A. Integrated Functional Systems: Management (3
credits)
COB 300B. Integrated Functional Systems: Finance (3 credits)
COB 300C. Integrated Functional Systems: Operations (3
credits)
COB 300D. Integrated Functional Systems: Marketing (3 credits)
COB 487. Strategic Management (3 credits)
Students must take all four COB 300 courses
during the same semester.
Refer to the appropriate sections of this catalog for specific
degree requirements for the individual majors in the College of Business.
Non-Business Electives
The B.B.A. degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of
undergraduate course work. Fifty percent of this work, 60 credit hours, must be
taken outside of the College of Business. In counting the 60 credit hours of
non-business courses, B.B.A. students may include all hours taken in general
education (usually 41), up to a total of nine hours in Economics (note that GECON
courses must be counted as Economics) and three hours of COB 191. The remaining
hours, to bring the total to 60, must be taken from any department outside the
College of Business. Students should carefully select these non-business
electives to help them gain additional knowledge and expertise for their
careers and personal lives.
Declaration of a Business Major or Minor
JMU students seeking to change their current major to one in
the College of Business must be in “good standing,” meaning they must have a
cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher on the date they submit a
“Change or Declaration of Major” form. This policy affects students desiring to
change their major to one of the following: accounting, computer information
systems, economics (B.B.A. degree only), finance, hospitality and tourism
management, international business, management, and marketing. This policy also
applies to non-College of Business students desiring to declare one of the
following minors: economics, finance, management science and retail
merchandising. The policy does not apply to freshmen or transfer students
during their first semester at JMU.
This policy does not supersede the 2.5 cumulative grade point
average stipulated for enrollment in COB 300 or junior-level courses in College
of Business major programs, nor does it supersede admission requirements for
specific academic programs in the College of Business.
Business as a Second Major
A student enrolled in any JMU degree program other than the
B.B.A. Program who wishes to select a B.B.A. major field (i.e., accounting,
computer information systems, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism
management, international business, management, or marketing) as a second major
must complete the following courses:
1.
All B.B.A. core courses, as shown above;
2.
All upper-level B.B.A. requirements, as shown above; and
3.
All requirements specific to the major selected.
Transfer Credit Policy
AACSB International-accredited colleges of business generally
allow only a limited amount of business course work prior to the junior year.
Because of that restriction, accredited colleges are required to detail a
process for accepting transfer courses. To meet that requirement, the JMU
College of Business has established the following transfer credit policy: The
College of Business normally does not award transfer credit for courses that
were taken at the 100- or 200-level if those courses are offered at the 300- or
400-level at JMU. If a transfer student wishes to receive credit for such a
course, the following steps must be taken:
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The student must present the course syllabus and
appropriate course materials to the director of the relevant academic program
in the JMU College of Business.
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The program director must determine that the course
covers material similar to that covered at JMU. If the material is not deemed
sufficiently similar, then the student must take the course at JMU. This
decision is final and may not be appealed.
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If the material is considered sufficiently similar, the
student may take a comprehensive examination covering the JMU course material
and must pass it with at least a grade of 70 percent, or the student may choose
to complete the course itself.
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If the student passes the comprehensive examination,
the program director will report that result to the College of Business
Academic Services Center, which will prepare a course substitution form.
Additionally, each program in the College of Business will
accept no more than two courses for transfer credit toward the major. The major
is defined as the course work required by a major field of study in addition to
the lower- and upper-level B.B.A. core courses. For a course to be considered
for acceptance in the student’s major, it must have been completed in an AACSB
International-accredited business program at a four-year university. Certain
majors within the College of Business may have more restrictive policies on
transfer credit. Those policies are explained in the following sections devoted
to the individual majors.
As an AACSB International-accredited institution, the JMU
College of Business prescribes that at least fifty percent of the business
credit hours required for the B.B.A. degree be earned at JMU. Specifically,
this statement means that no fewer than 28 of the required credit hours in the
College of Business be completed at JMU. Required credit hours include the
B.B.A. Core, upper-level B.B.A. requirements, and the courses required for the
major. The following B.B.A. core courses do not count toward meeting this
requirement: COB 191, ECON 201, and GECON 200.
Individual programs in the College of Business may have
transfer credit limitations in addition to this overall requirement. Please
refer to the specific academic major following this section.
Internships for Business Majors
Students with majors in the College of Business are
encouraged to participate in at least one formal business internship prior to
graduation. Most commonly, students serve as interns in business organizations
during the summer between their junior and senior years, but internships are
not restricted to that period of time.
In some cases, students may receive academic credit for
internships. In such cases, the maximum amount of credit that may be obtained
is three credit hours. The minimum requirements for such academic credit are
the following:
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The student must have at least junior standing.
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The internship must be approved in advance by the
Faculty Internship Coordinator and the Program Director in the student’s major,
and the student must be registered for the class credit during the internship
experience.
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The intern must complete a minimum of 200 hours of work
experience.
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The intern’s immediate supervisor must submit at least
one performance evaluation to the Faculty Internship Coordinator.
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The intern must submit a final written paper and
participate in an exit interview with the Faculty Internship Coordinator.
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Internships in more than one program are permitted.
However, double counting (i.e., receiving credit for a single internship
experience in more than one major) is not permitted.
Some majors in the College of Business may have higher
requirements than these minimum standards.
Computer Competency Requirements
All students majoring in the College of Business must be able
to use current information technology tools and demonstrate the ability to
learn new tools as part of their preparation for the professional world. Many
business courses help students develop basic information technology skills in
such areas as spreadsheet analysis, database management, presentation software
and web page development. However, course work alone cannot provide students
with the level of proficiency needed by employers and graduate schools.
Consequently, students must take personal responsibility for developing their
skills beyond the basics taught in various classes.
To facilitate student progress, the College of Business
requires every business major to have continuing access to two resources: a
book on using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and a book on using the Microsoft
Access database. Students are expected to acquire these books as sophomores and
use them throughout their programs of study.
Personal Computers
Many courses in the JMU business curriculum make extensive
use of computers and software. Students are given hands-on experience in using computer
technology to solve complex business problems.
Computer labs are conveniently located in several academic
buildings and residence halls. These labs are intended for quick, short-term
use by students as an adjunct to their class time. Relying solely on the labs
for lengthy or complex assignments, however, is unrealistic; therefore,
students should make arrangements to have their own personal computers outside
the university-provided labs.
Since computers are essential in today’s business
environment, students with majors in the College of Business are strongly
encouraged to purchase their own personal computers. Computers are available at
discount prices from the university bookstore; however, computers meeting the
recommended configuration may be purchased from many retail and mail-order
sources. Various vendors also provide rental and leasing programs. Because
technology is continually advancing, students should consult the College of
Business Web site at http://www.jmu.edu/computing/purchase/dept.shtml
to obtain the latest specifications on recommended minimum hardware
configuration.
European Business Concentration
The European Business Concentration can be completed by
taking COB 300A-D (Integrated Functional Systems: Management, Finance,
Operations, Marketing - 12 credit hours) and COB 301 (European Integration,
Culture and History - 3 credit hours) in Belgium as part of the Semester in
Belgium program. These two courses will be taught in the context of the European
Union, and, as a part of the curriculum, students will visit and study European
businesses (e.g., the London Stock Exchange, businesses in the Port of Antwerp)
and the institutions that comprise the European Union (e.g., the Council of
Europe, the European Parliament). In addition, students will visit business,
governmental and cultural institutions in five countries: Belgium, France,
Holland, Luxembourg and England.
Students in this concentration will:
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acquire an in-depth understanding of the European
business environment;
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learn about the institutions of the European Union;
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gain an understanding of the issues surrounding
economic and monetary union;
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apply the integrated functional systems to the European
market; and
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understand the role of culture in conducting business
in Europe.
This
concentration is only available to students who complete COB 300 and COB 301 with the
Semester in Belgium program.
