School of Business Competency Goals

Our Five Competency Goals

In addition to discipline-specific knowledge, we have established five competency goals for undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business.

Ethics

Our graduating students should have the ability to be ethical decision-makers. Students should learn to recognize ethical dilemmas, to distinguish between ethical and legal considerations, and to identify the ethical pros and cons of alternatives related to making a decision.

Global/Multicultural Perspective

Our graduating students should have a global perspective. Students should recognize and effectively address important international and multicultural issues that arise in readings or class discussion. When faced with a business problem in a case or class example, students should propose solutions that consider global dimensions or multicultural perspectives, as appropriate.

Communication Skills

Our graduating students should be effective communicators—in writing and in speaking. Students should make minimal errors in grammar, syntax, and punctuation. Sources of information should be properly documented. Content of a written document or oral presentation should be clearly organized and adequately reflect the topic at hand. All communication should be presented in a professional manner.

Critical-Thinking Skills

Our graduating students should be critical thinkers who are able to draw meaning from information. They should analyze and, if appropriate, question the available data and information. Issues related to critical thinking can be quantitative or qualitative, but must require students to do more than simply understand or memorize course material. Examples of critical thinking include uncovering the important issues embedded in a case study, identifying problems by sifting through data, or questioning a theory or proposed solution to a problem.

Leadership

Graduating students should have demonstrated their understanding of leadership skills and leader characteristics. They should also think through dilemmas facing leaders as depicted in classroom examples or case studies. They should demonstrate leadership behavior in team assignments.