Students who begin Questrom in their first BU year complete, alongside their other degree requirements, two required business courses: Business, Ethics, and the Creation of Value, and Measuring Financial Value. The intent of these two courses, taken with a cohorted and cohesive linkage, is to provide a philosophical, economic, and applied foundation for ethical decision making in finance and business. Collectively, the courses are designed to launch the development of the student's writing, presentation, and team skills along with their understanding of the complexities of business.
Generally, in the sophomore year, students develop the analytical tools of financial and managerial accounting, management information systems, and statistics, study management and organizations, develop their business communication skills, and learn the institutional realities of business law. Informed by their first-year experience, students more readily comprehend the importance of these analytical tools, see the need to extend their team skills, and recognize the practical importance of the institutional perspective of business law.
Learning Outcomes
Responsible Business Leadership. Students will:
Understand classic and contemporary perspectives on the purpose and responsibilities of business and its impact on the world.
Identify and evaluate ethical issues and give voice to their values in personal and/or business contexts.
Develop awareness of blind spots and biases in decision making and learn to remedy these risks.
An Independent Concentration allows a Questrom student to design a course of study specifically suited to their academic interests and career goals. The student plans a program of four 4-unit Questrom elective courses (300- and 400-level) focusing on a central theme or area of interest for the student. This is accomplished with consultation and approval of 1) their UDC Academic Advisor and 2) the Faculty Concentration Advisor for the Independent Concentration.
The Independent Concentration is not designed to be a random assortment of four unrelated courses. Instead, students pursuing the Independent Concentration will be required, as part of the application process, to provide an explanation (approximately 200 words) of the theme unifying the four courses under consideration.
If the proposal is approved by the Academic Advisor and the Faculty Concentration Advisor, the Independent Concentration appears on the transcript.
Students may apply for the Independent Concentration as early as the end of the first term of their first year.
Students should apply before completing SM 323 (Cross-Functional Core).
In no case may a student pursue an Independent Concentration without prior approval of their plan of study.
A student can count no more than one course, one time, toward multiple concentrations.
