Now that the Business School has had an outer makeover, it needs an inner restructuring as well.
Photo Credit: Kristen Bryfogle
Sitting in our business classes, we often question the School of Business’ admission standards. Too often, we have encountered business students making senseless mistakes. We realize the university should teach business skills and concepts after students are admitted, but there should be qualities inherently expected of applicants, such as basic grammar, comprehension and the ability to make simple calculations.
Erroneous thinking is not our only concern. We frequently hear students complain about being in groups with unmotivated classmates who only contribute the bare minimum. This behavior is unacceptable in a school that demands students to complete group work in a number of its core classes, including Spreadsheet Modeling for Business Decisions, Elements of Business and Applied Business Strategy.
Everyone who is in the School of Business should also genuinely want to be there. Recently, Montclair State renewed their belief in business students by investing millions of dollars into a state-of-the-art facility, the new Feliciano School of Business.
Students within the School of Business should be expected to reciprocate that investment with academic excellence.
To ensure committed students, the School of Business could institute a mandatory interview, required writing samples and a higher entry GPA. Interviews are already commonplace within the School of Communication and Media and the School of Business should be no different. Interviews would give the school’s faculty an idea of which applicants would demonstrate passion, professionalism and motivation as students. Furthermore, writing samples could help ensure that students possess some degree of writing and analytical skills.
Raising the GPA standards would make Montclair State’s School of Business more competitive and on par with many other colleges in the area. This advantage would subsequently enhance Montclair State’s status within the state as well as across the nation.
According to business-school.startclass.com, Montclair State’s School of Business ranks below that of Rutgers, Fairleigh Dickinson, Stevens Institute of Technology and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The entry GPA required by the School of Business is currently a 3.0. By raising the GPA requirement, the School of Business would become more selective.
In addition, considering mandating a retention GPA for all accepted and enrolled business students would continue to allow the School of Business to stay competitive even after students have been accepted.
Presently, only accounting requires a retention GPA. Mandating this for all business majors would guarantee that students work hard and maintain their grades throughout their college career.
Montclair State has upgraded the School of Business and now they need to upgrade their standards. The school should make their credentials for entry more than just meeting a 3.0 GPA. It would be advantageous for the school and its students if the application criteria was more selective. Doing so might even elevate the university’s School of Business rankings and give it the prestige it so rightly deserves.
