academic program: johnson college of business and

Academic Program: Johnson College of Business and Economics Assessment Report 2013/2014

JCBE 10.01.2014 1

Component Description Report

Program Mission Statement

From your Program Assessment Plan (Statement

should articulate the unit / program mission in support of the institutional mission and include a clearly defined purpose appropriate to collegiate education.)

The mission of the USC Upstate George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics (JCBE) is to educate students and to engage in strategic partnerships to enhance the economic development of the Upstate.

Goal #1

From your Program Assessment Plan (Describe what you

want students to learn expressed in general terms (clear communication, problem-solving skills, etc.). Goals should focus on discipline-specific outcomes relevant to the program.)

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the Business Core curriculum.

Objectives SLO’s (Student Learning Outcomes)

From your Program Assessment Plan (Describes the

specific knowledge and skills students should be able to exhibit that reflect the broader goals. Objectives (student learning outcomes) transform the general program goals into specific and measureable student performance/behaviors that demonstrate student learning and skill development along these goals.)

1.1 Students will demonstrate knowledge of current business practices and theory.

1.2 Students will correctly use the language of business.

Assessment Methods


measure(s) by which the department will know the students are meeting the departmental learning objectives. Includes both direct and indirect assessment. Each SLO should have at least one assessment method.)

The assessments of both student learning outcomes are made using performance on the national Major Field Test in Business (MFTB) exam. The MFTB is an assessment taken by undergraduate business students designed to measure their basic knowledge and understanding in a nine fields of study. The MFTB is designed and scored by Educational Testing Services. Students’ scores are compared to all undergraduate business students taking the assessment, and reported as percentiles. The JCBE assessment goal is based on the average percentiles of our students. The MFTB is administered in our capstone course, BADM 478 Business Policy. The MFTB is administered each fall, spring and summer, and aggregated for a score for the year.


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Assessment Criteria

Level of achievement you are targeting (Indicate

benchmarks, scores on assessment instruments, etc… that would indicate acceptable achievement under your plan)

Having met the goals for this learning objective for the prior two years and desiring to promote continuous improvement for this critical objective, this year JCBE raised the targets and added the third and fourth criteria below. On the MFTB exam, the targets are:

An overall mean score of the 80th percentile or higher.

A score in each of the nine sections of the 55th percentile or higher.

Fifteen percent or more of JCBE students will score at or above the 90th percentile.

Five percent or fewer of JCBE students will score below the 20th percentile.

Assessment Results

Actual results and data collected (Make sure to break

down data by subgroups (e.g. other campuses or emphases). As appropriate, also include item or category analysis and explain what conclusions can be made from the data analysis.)

The targets for the measures on the MFTB were largely not met.

The overall mean score was the 66th percentile versus a goal of the 80th percentile or higher.

Six of the nine sections met the target of a score of the 55th percentile or higher.

Fourteen percent of JCBE students scored at or above the 90th percentile versus a goal of 15% or higher.

Twelve percent of JCBE students scored at or below the 20th percentile versus a goal of five percent or lower.

(see Appendix A).


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Action Plan What actions or modifications have been or will be made based on this assessment?

Faculty made several catalog changes (effective in the 2011-2012 catalog), below. JCBE will continue to monitor MFTB results as more students enroll under catalogs with the new requirements.

BADM 478 prerequisite change: require C or better in each 300 or 400 level core course

BADM 478 prerequisite change: require international course. In spring 2013, the international course was made a pre-or co-requisite to BADM 478.

The economics/finance concentration added ACCT 333 as a required course instead of an elective.

The management concentration added a requirement of either ACCT 333 or ECON 326 to the management concentration. Management also made MGMT 390 a required course instead of an elective.

Accounting and marketing concentrations changed some elective courses.

The Dean has created an ad hoc faculty committee to investigate the recent decline in MFTB performance. The committee is looking at issues concerning student quality, faculty deployment, and curriculum. The committee will report to the faculty during the fall semester, 2014.

To address the decline in performance in the MFT international section, the Dean is recruiting a new faculty member (faculty deployment). The USC Upstate Literature, Language, and Composition department developed a course for the business school, SPCH 398 Business and Professional Communication, focused on professional communication. The JCBE Curriculum Committee is reviewing the core curriculum classes for consistency across sections and will develop guidelines for each class.


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Implementation of Previous Years’ Action Plan

Which of the modifications indicated in the previous years’ reports were implement this year and what was the impact?

Admission to the Professional Program Requirement Changes JCBE implemented more rigorous requirements for the admission to the professional program effective Fall 2008:

Successful completion of 54 credit hours

Cumulative GPA of at least 2.0

Completion with a C or better: ENGL 101, ENGL 102, SPCH 201, and MATH 122.

Successful completion of ACCT 225 and ECON 221 or ECON 222. Curriculum Changes

In Fall 2010, JCBE began implementing curriculum changes:

Added a requirement that students must make a C or better in all upper-level business core courses before taking the business strategy class.

Moved the international requirement to the business core so that students will have to complete the course prior to taking the business strategy class and the MFTB.

The management department added a choice of Accounting for Decision Making and Control (formerly Cost Accounting) or Managerial Economics as an additional required course.

The management department added Strategic Information Management as a required course.

Economics added Accounting for Decision Making and Control as a required course.

Accounting added an additional accounting course.

Marketing added an additional marketing course. In Spring 2012, JCBE implemented curriculum changes to better align the content of the Legal Environment of Business course with the MFTB content. Other instructors have increased the emphasis on legal business environment in their courses.

Results

The impact of the admissions requirements and curriculum changes was significant with JCBE students exceeding goals in all areas for years 2011-2013. This prompted the Business college to raise its goals of the year 2013 - 2014. However, performance declined in year 2013-2014 (see Appendix A). The college is implementing countermeasures for this decline.


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Goal #2



Students will be able to communicate effectively in standard business English, both in writing and verbally.




2.1 Students will prepare and deliver a professional oral presentation

2.2 Students will prepare written work of professional quality.

Assessment Methods



2.1 BADM 478 Business Policy

Each student makes an oral presentation to the class regarding research they conducted on a business of their choice. The professor rates the students’ presentations using a rating rubric in eight categories (problem identification, diagnosing problem sources, opportunities, alternative actions, recommendations, impacts, verbal style and slide content). (see Appendix B). 2.2 MGMT 371 Principles of Organization Management

Each student writes a paper of a minimum of 10 pages on a topic related to the principles of organization management of their choice. (see Appendix E).

Assessment Criteria



2.1 The professor’s rating of the student’s presentation (on a 10 point scale) is categorized as Exemplary (8-10 points), Acceptable (5-7 points), and Unacceptable (1-4 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Exemplary and Acceptable categories.

2.2 Papers are scored as follows: content 70%, APA style and format 20%, and grammar, spelling, etc. 10%. Paper scores are categorized by Excellent (90-100 points), Good (80-89 points), Acceptable (70-79 points) and Unacceptable (<70 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Excellent, Good and Acceptable categories.


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Assessment Results



2.1 This goal was met with 89% of students achieving Exemplary or Acceptable levels (see Appendix B).

2.2 This goal was met with 88% of students achieving Excellent, Good or Acceptable levels (see Appendix E).


2.1 Based on the results of the Fall 2013 assessment, we spent more time discussing and preparing for presentations in the Spring. Furthermore, the class engaged in additional group and class discussion.

The instructor will spend additional time clarifying what is expected from the project, emphasizing the rubric areas, especially the ones scoring lowest this semester. He will also be encouraging and motivating students to invest more time in their projects and to begin working on them earlier in the semester.

Also, the USC Upstate Literature, Language, and Composition department developed a course for the business school, SPCH 398 Business and Professional Communication, focused on professional communication that is being initiated the 2014/2015 school year.

2.2 While we met the goal for this learning outcome, in general, quality of student writing in Management 371 is mixed. Few students’ writing were graded to be excellent and nearly half were only acceptable. The grading rubric for the required writing assignment stresses content over structure. Although there are specific directives relative to style and format, student ability to follow APA stylistic guidelines vary considerably. Furthermore, there are modest difficulties for students, across the board, with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It is apparent that many MGT 371 students struggle to construct a coherent research paper.

Future sections of this course will be modified to require students to submit one or more working drafts of the research paper in order to provide oversight, corrective guidance, and additional learning opportunities in their writing. While not formally graded, this approach will ensure that the students are following a good writing process.



2.1 Additional time was spent prior to presentations on skills and after presentations on debriefs. The proportion of the students’ final grade representing the presentation grade was increased from 15% to 20%.

2.2 No recent action plans for this SLO.


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Goal #3



Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize and analyze business problems using a variety of quantitative tools.




3.1 Our students will analyze data to solve problems commonly encountered in business such as determining statistically significant relationships between two variables.

3.2 Our students will analyze data to solve problems commonly encountered in business such as capital budgeting.

3.3 Our students will formulate and analyze problems related to inventory models.

Assessment Methods



3.1 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I).

3.2 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I).

3.3 Inventory Problem (MGMT 372)

The student is asked to complete six tasks.

The student must construct and label a graph showing the relationships among ordering cost, carrying cost and total inventory cost versus order quantity for a given situation.

The student must then perform numerical calculations to obtain the following values for the given situation: the economic order quantity, the expected average inventory, the expected annual ordering cost, the annually carrying cost, and the reorder point.

Assessment Criteria



3.1 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.2 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.3 Levels for exemplary, acceptable, and unacceptable performance are defined. Our goal is for at least 70% of the students to score at the acceptable level or above.


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Assessment Results



3.1 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.2 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.3 This goal was met with 97% of students achieving Exemplary or Acceptable levels (See Appendix C).


3.1 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.2 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I).

3.3 Continue using the assessment as currently designed.



3.1 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I). 3.2 Not assessed per JCBE Five-year Assessment Plan (See Appendix I).

3.3 There have been no action plans since the 2009 – 2010 school year.


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Goal #4



Students will recognize and analyze ethical issues in business and choose and defend appropriate measures to deal with problems in business in an ethical manner.




4.1 Students will identify and describe ethical standards and tests. 4.2 Students will recognize ethical dilemmas. 4.3 Students will discuss the consequences of ethical choices. 4.4 When presented with an ethical dilemma, students will select (and justify) an ethically-sound solution.

Assessment Methods



4.1 MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing Students completed a short case analysis that included multiple choice questions.

4.2 MGMT 371 Principles of Organization Management and MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing

MGMT 371: Questions were posted on the course discussion board, questions were included in a quiz, and questions were included in an exam.

MKTG 350: Students completed a short case analysis that included multiple choice questions.

4.3 MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing Students completed a short case analysis that included multiple choice questions. 4.4 MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing Students completed a short case analysis that included multiple choice questions.


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Assessment Criteria



4.2 MGMT 371: The percentage of the seven ethics assessment questions that were answered correctly after ethics was covered in class. The goal is ≥70%.

4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 MKTG 350: For each assessment instrument we define levels for exemplary, acceptable, and unacceptable performance. The goal is ≥70% of the students will score at the acceptable or exemplary levels

Assessment Results



4.2 MGMT 371 Principles of Organization Management (see Appendix D)

The results met the goal of ≥70% with a 78%. The results have been fairly consistent over time. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing (see Appendix G)

The results met the 70% goal with 78% of the students falling in the Acceptable and Exemplary categories.


4.2 MGMT 371 Organizational Behavior Since the goal was met, and because the these quiz and examination items were used for the first time this spring (2014), they will serve as benchmark measures to review future treatment of ethics and ethical decision making in future course section offerings. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 MKTG 350 Principles of Marketing

We recommend we evaluate the assessment instrument question format choice between essay and multiple choice and choose one to implement in the future consistently to enable meaningful longitudinal comparisons.

We recommend that we continue to evaluate the performance of business majors versus non-business majors on the assessment.


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4.2 MGMT 371 Principles of Organization Management

No action plans have been implemented in recent periods. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 MGKT 350 Principles of Marketing

Last year we recommended that we continue to use an essay format. However, this year we decided to use multiple choice format to remove subjectivity in the evaluation process. This year we will evaluate and choose between the formats for future use.

Last year we recommended that more instruction on ethics be given to students and that ethics assignments and performance measurement related to this course content be mandatory. This was implemented.

We identified a potential problem with the use of MKTG 350 for measurement because many students who take this course are not business majors and may have no exposure to the remainder of the business curriculum. We recommended that the results include only those students who are business majors. However, rather than exclude non-business majors, we evaluated their scores versus business majors’ scores. We found no evidence that the scores of non-business majors were lower on average than the business majors. However, the sample sizes were small and this will be evaluated in future reports.


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Goal #5



Students will demonstrate the ability to use information technology in modern organizational operations.




5.1 Students will demonstrate the ability to use common spreadsheet software (e.g., Excel).

5.2 Students will demonstrate the ability to use common statistical software (e.g., Excel).

5.3 Students will demonstrate the ability to use common presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint).

Assessment Methods



5.1 MGMT 290 Introduction to Business Information Systems

Students were assigned twelve Access and Excel projects of equal weight and eleven Teach/Show/Try lessons. Each project was a unique assignment with its individual grading rubric. The lessons represented 4% of the students’ overall grade and the projects represented 21%. Students were allowed unlimited attempts on the lessons and two attempts on the assignments. (see Appendix H) 5.2 ECON 291 Probability and Statistics Assignment

The student was asked to complete four tasks using Excel. 1. The student must construct a bar chart. 2. The student must construct a pie chart. 3. The student must construct a scatter diagram. 4. The student must use Excel’s descriptive statistics to create a table of summary statistics.

(see Appendix F).


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Assessment Methods



5.3 BADM 478 Business Policy

Each student makes an oral presentation to the class regarding research they conducted on a business of their choice. The professor rates the students’ presentations using a rating rubric in eight categories (problem identification, diagnosing problem sources, opportunities, alternative actions, recommendations, impacts, verbal style and slide content). The latter two are the focus in this learning outcome). (see Appendix B).

Assessment Criteria



5.1 MGMT 290 The goal is ≥75% overall class average on the cumulative projects and assignments scores.

5.2 ECON 291 For each of four graphs, students are graded on:

Titles for all graphs

Labelling the axes, bars, and pie chart slices

Correct data (frequencies, summary statistics, etc.) The assignment scores total to 100 points. The students’ performance is categorized as Exemplary (95-100 points), Acceptable (70-94 points), and Unacceptable (<70 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Exemplary and Acceptable categories

5.3 BADM 478 The professor’s rating of the student’s presentation (on a 10 point scale) is categorized as Exemplary (8-10 points), Acceptable (5-7 points), and Unacceptable (1-4 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Exemplary and Acceptable categories.


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Assessment Results



5.1 MGMT 290 The combined average score for Fall of 2013 semester was 80.5%, exceeding the goal of ≥75%. Forty-four percent of students earned 90% or higher (Exemplary), 37.1% of students earned 70-89.9% (Acceptable), and 18.6% of students earned <70 (Unsatisfactory). (see Appendix H)

5.2 ECON 291 The average score for the exercise was 86%. 86% of the students scored at the Acceptable or Exemplary levels. The results fall in the acceptable range for each of the four tasks. The students have little difficulty doing this assignment. (see Appendix F). 5.3 BADM 478 This goal was met with 97% of students achieving Exemplary or Acceptable levels in the presentation rubric categories (see Appendix B).


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5.1 MGMT 290 Because of the success of the students with these assignments, the projects will be more rigorous and detailed this year. The projects will have significantly more detail, the number of skills covered will be greater, and there will be more rubric items. In a nutshell, they are tougher exercises.

5.2 ECON 291 Continue to use the measurement instrument and track progress for general education assessment and JCBE learning goal assessment. Continue to emphasize the value and use Excel with class discussion and homework.

5.3 BADM 478 While 98% of students achieved the acceptable or excellent levels, we still see room for improvement (see Appendix B). Based on the results of the Fall 2013 assessment, we spent more time discussing and preparing for presentations in the Spring. Furthermore, the class engaged in additional group and class discussion.

The instructor will spend additional time clarifying what is expected from the project, emphasizing the rubric areas, especially the ones scoring lowest this semester. He will also be encouraging and motivating students to invest more time in their projects and to begin working on them earlier in the semester.

Also, the USC Upstate Literature, Language, and Composition department developed a course for the business school, SPCH 398 Business and Professional Communication, focused on professional communication.


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5.1 MGMT 290 The action plan was to include a semester project that includes model interpretation and problem analysis. This action plan was implemented but did not prove successful. The problem given was an accounting problem and many students had not yet developed the accounting skills needed to be successful.

5.2 ECON 291 No action plans have been implemented in recent periods. 5.3 BADM 478 Additional time was spent prior to presentations on skills and after presentations on debriefs. The proportion of the students’ final grade representing the presentation grade was increased from 15% to 20%.


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Appendix A

Learning Goal #1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the business core curriculum. Objective 1.1: Students will demonstrate knowledge of current business practices and theory (BADM 478). Objective 1.2: Students will correctly use the language of business (BADM 478).

Assessment report for Goal #1: Understanding of Business Core Curriculum Each fall and spring semester, and in at least one of the summer semesters, students take the Major Field Test in Business (MFTB) in the BADM 478 class. We have been giving the MFTB since the Fall of 1998. The test counts as 25% of the course grade. The MFTB portion of the course grade is based on relative performance of the student. This report includes observations for spring 2007 through summer 2014. The comparative data for the 4JMF version of the test was not available until the summer of 2014. As more students take this version of the test, the comparative data guide will change and the percentiles will be adjusted. During the fall 2013 semester, JCBE revised the targets for MFTB performance. JCBE has set the target performance on this assessment measure at a percentile performance of at least the 80th percentile for the overall score (from 75th) and at least the 55th percentile for each area of the exam (from 50th). The nine areas of the exam are accounting, economics, management, quantitative business analysis, finance, marketing, legal and social environment, information systems, and international. In addition to mean percentile targets, JCBE has “extremes” targets: at least 15% of the students will score at the 90th percentile or above and that less than 5% of our students will score at the 20th percentile or below. Results

MFT in Business Percentiles from Spring 2007 through Spring 2013 – All Students Highlighting indicates areas where targets were not met.

Test Version: 4CMF n MFTB ACCT ECON MANG QUAN FIN MKT LEGAL IS INTNAT

S07 81 85 80 85 77.5 95 65 90 77.5 85 90

F07 43 65 35 65 75 95 30 92.5 65 55 80

S08 67 80 50 75 45 95 70 92.5 65 85 87.5

F08 57 70 45 75 45 95 55 80 40 85 75

S09 83 65 55 70 55 85 50 65 40 75 70

F09 69 65 65 80 45 80 50 60 35 60 62.5

S10 87 40 35 55 30 92.5 35 50 30 35 30

F10 67 70 65 80 45 95 60 77.5 60 75 60

S11 95 75 75 75 55 90 65 85 65 70 72.5

Weighted Mean

649 68 58 73 52 91 54 76 53 69 69


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Test Version: 4GMF n MFTB ACCT ECON MANG QUAN FIN MKT LEGAL IS INTNAT

F11 69 86 84 93 59 95 71 81 95 88 63

S12 77 79 76 87 66 89 54 81 74 81 79

F12 51 86 84 87 66 89 66 90 95 85 74

S13 86 79 81 78 72 89 59 87 59 77 79

Weighted Mean

283 82 81 86 66 90 62 84 78 82 74

Test Version: 4JMF n MFTB ACCT ECON MANG QUAN FIN MKT LEGAL IS INTNAT

F13 49 57 64 51 72 61 30 49 53 87 37

S14 88 72 64 72 59 91 47 66 45 81 44

SS 14 36 72 75 56 72 74 60 49 39 87 44

F13-SS14 173 66 64 61 67 78 47 55 45 85 44

Results Versus “Extremes” Targets - Individual Students Total Score Distribution Highlighting indicates areas where targets were not met.

90th percentile = 172 20th percentile = 141.5 (used 141)

Number students ≥ 90th % of students ≥ 90th Number of students ≤ 20th % of students ≤ 20th

F13 7 14% 5 10%

S14 13 15% 8 9%

SS14 5 14% 7 19%

F13-SS14 25 14% 20 12 %


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Since the spring of 2010, JCBE started collecting MFTB data by student concentration. There can be considerable variation among semesters. Weighted Percentile Data By Concentration And Subject Area for the Fall 2013-Summer 2014

Weighted percentiles accounting

students econ/fin students

gen bus students

management students

marketing students

Number Of Students 38 18 29 49 39

Overall MFTB Percentile 96 91 45 36 51

Accounting Subject Area 99 75 36 20 41

Economics Subject Area 90 99 32 28 56

Management Subject Area 76 93 59 67 40

Quantitative Bus. Anal. Subject Area 91 83 74 87 61

Finance Subject Area 78 97 40 15 19

Marketing Subject Area 74 49 44 37 84

Legal And Social Env. Subject Area 94 60 27 22 32

Information Systems Subject Area 99 85 74 58 74

International Subject Area 75 57 32 23 37

For fall 11 – spring 2013, the overall percentile score for management concentration students was 54th percentile and marketing was 73rd percentile; accounting, econ/finance and general business were above the 75th percentile. (See last report.) For fall 2013-summer 2014, accounting and econ/finance exceeded the 80th percentile target. International students During the fall of 2013 faculty discussions included a concern that larger numbers of international students in the business program were affecting the MFT scores. For these purposes, international student is defined as a student indicating that he/she communicates better in another language rather than English. Fall 2013-Summer 2014

n Overall Percentile # of International Students % International Students

Accounting 38 96 2 5%

Econ/Finance 18 91 6 33%

Gen Business 29 45 5 17%

Management 49 36 3 6%

Marketing 39 51 6 15%

All 173 66 22 13%


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The overall proportion of international students is 13 %. Thirty-three percent of econ/finance students were international students. Econ/finance had an overall MFTB performance of 91st percentile.

Percentiles* Overall Acct Econ Mang Quant Fin Mkt Legal IS Internat

International Students n = 22

57 79 56 72 87 78 27 12 62 19

Rest of Students n =151

66 64 61 67 78 40 61 53 87 44

Percentile Gap -9 15 -5 5 9 38 -34 -41 -25 -25

*Percentiles are from the institutional means table instead of the individual student table due to the “contribution” the student makes to the overall group scores.

The scores of the international students are below the scores of the rest of the students overall, and in five of the nine subject areas. There is a large percentile gap in the subject areas of legal, marketing, information systems and international. Implementation of Previous Years’ Action Plan Admission to the Professional Program Requirement Changes JCBE implemented more rigorous requirements for the admission to the professional program effective Fall 2008:

Successful completion of 54 credit hours

Cumulative GPA of at least 2.0

Completion with a C or better: ENGL 101, ENGL 102, SPCH 201, and MATH 122.

Successful completion of ACCT 225 and ECON 221 or ECON 222. Curriculum Changes

In Fall 2010, JCBE began implementing curriculum changes: 1. Added a requirement that students must make a C or better in all upper-level business core courses before taking the business strategy class. 2. Moved the international requirement to the business core so that students will have to complete the course prior to taking the business strategy class and the MFTB. 3. The management department added a choice of Accounting for Decision Making and Control (formerly Cost Accounting) or Managerial Economics as an additional

required course. 4. The management department added Strategic Information Management as a required course. 5. Economics added Accounting for Decision Making and Control as a required course. 6. Accounting added an additional accounting course. 7. Marketing added an additional marketing course.


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In Spring 2012, JCBE implemented curriculum changes to better align the content of the Legal Environment of Business course with the MFTB content. Other instructors have increased the emphasis on legal business environment in their courses. JCBE is developing relationships with universities outside of the U.S., principally in Germany and China. We have identified that these exchange students, as well as domestic students whose first language is not English, perform significantly lower on the MFTB. We are continuing to gather data on international student performance versus the rest of the student body.

Results

The impact of the admissions requirements and curriculum changes was significant with JCBE students exceeding goals in all areas for years 2011-2013. This prompted the Business college to raise its goals last year. However, performance has declined in year 2013-2014. The college is implementing countermeasures for this decline. In response to the decline in MFT exam scores, the college has already taken some actions. First, we reviewed the MFT exam topics and mapped those to the JCBE curriculum to ensure there was satisfactory coverage of the topics. Below are the results.

MFTB content: Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course Faculty Course

A. Financial accounting

1. Conceptual foundations Cipriano 331 J Smith 471 225 226 332 333 435 437

2. Income statement and

statement of retained earningsCipriano 331, 332 J Smith 471 225 226 333

336 335

435435 437

3. Balance sheet Cipriano 332 J Smith 471 225 226 331 333 336 435 437

4. Statement of cash flows Cipriano 332 J Smith 471 225 331 336 435 437

B. Managerial accounting

1. Cost concepts Cipriano 333 Goessel 226,333

2. Product-costing systems Cipriano 333 Goessel 226,333 435

3. Activity-based costing Cipriano 333 Goessel 226,333

4. Cost, volume and profit

analysisCipriano 333 J Smith 471 Goessel 226,333

5. Budgeting (except capital

budgeting covered under

Finance)

Cipriano 333 Ouzts 398 J Smith 471 Goessel 226,333

6. Standard costing Cipriano 333 Goessel 226,333

7. Nonroutine decision making Cipriano 333 O'Connor 475 Goessel 226,333

C. International accounting Cipriano 333 303 461

MFTB Topic to JCBE Course MapThe highlighted course(s) are the primary course(s) for that topic.

Accounting (~15%)


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A. Basic Economic Concepts

1. Scarcity and opportunity

costDeHan 221 Word 222 303 Cipriano 333

2. Production possibilities

frontierDeHan 221 Word 222 303

3. Comparative advantage

and specializationDeHan 221 Word 222 303

4. Economic systems DeHan 221 Word 222,303

B. Microeconomics

1. Supply and demand Word 222, 303 DeHan 221 Rook 311

2. Models of consumer choice Word 222

3. Production and costs Word 222

4. Product market structures Word 222

5. Resource markets Word 222

6. Market failure and the role

of governmentRook 311 DeHan 221 Word 222 303

C. Macroeconomics

1. Measurement of economic

performanceRook 322 DeHan 221

2. Aggregate demand and

aggregate supplyRook 322 DeHan 221

3. Money and the banking

systemRook 322 DeHan 221 301

4. Monetary policy and fiscal

policyRook 322 DeHan 221, 301

D. International economics

1. International trade and

policyDeHan 461 Word 303

2. Exchange rates DeHan 461 301 Word 303

3. Balance of payments DeHan 461 Word 303

The highlighted course(s) are the primary course(s) for that topic.

MFTB Topic to JCBE Course Map

Economics (~13 %)


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A. Management principles

1. History and theoryDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Wade 371

2. Functions (organizing,

leading, planning and

controlling)

Duesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Wade 371 Ouzts 398 J Smith 471

3. Group/team dynamicsDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Wade 371 Ouzts 398

B. Organizational behavior

1. Leadership and motivationDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Wade 371 Ouzts 398 J Smith 471

2. CommunicationDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Wade 371 Ouzts 398

3. Managing diversityDuesterha


4. Human resource

management

Duesterha


C. Operations Management

1. Operations design O'Connor 372 J Smith 471

2. Operations execution O'Connor 372 O'Connor 475 J Smith 471

3. Total quality managementDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 O'Connor 372 O'Connor 475

D. Strategy and policy Ouzts 398

1. Strategic analysisDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 J Smith 471 Dinger 478

2. Policy determinationDuesterha

us371 Harrington 371 Dinger 478

E. International/cross cultural

management

Duesterha

us371 Harrington 371

F. Entrepreneurship Ouzts 398 J Smith 471



Management (~15%)


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A. Probability and statistics

1. Measure of set operations

2. Conditional/joint

probabilitiesRook 291

3. Counting rules Rook 291

4. Measures of central

tendency and dispersionRook 291

5. Distributions (including

normal and binomial)Rook 291

6. Sampling and estimation Rook 291

7. Hypothesis testing Harrington 292 Rook 291

8. Correlation and regression Harrington 292

9. Time-series forecasting Harrington 292

10. Statistical concepts in

quality controlO'Connor 372

B. Quantitative Operations

Management Techniques

1. Linear programming

2. Project scheduling

(including PERT and CPM)O'Connor 372

3. Inventory modeling O'Connor 372

4. Statistical process control O'Connor 372

5. Special topics (including

queuing theory, simulation and

decision analysis)

O'Connor 372 O'Connor 475



Quantitative Business Analysis (~11%)


JCBE 10.01.2014 25


A. Information Systems in

Business and Society Wade 390 Smith 290

1. Information management in

a global societyWade 390

2. Security, privacy and ethical

issuesWade 390 Smith 290

B. Information Technology

ConceptsSmith 290

1. Hardware technology Smith 290

2. Software technology Smith 290

3. Database management

systemsWade 390 Smith 290

4. Network and internet

technologySmith 290

C. Business Information

Systems Smith 290

1. Automation and support

systemsWade 390

2. Transaction processing

systemsWade 390

3. Management information

systemsWade 390

4. Decision support and

expert systemsWade 390

5. Enterprise systems (ERP) Wade 390 O'Connor 475

D. Systems Development

1. Systems investigation and

analysisWade 390

2. Systems planning

development and

implementation

Wade 390


Information Systems (~10%)



JCBE 10.01.2014 26


A. Corporate Finance Reback 363

1. Time value of money Reback 363

2. Capital budgeting Cipriano 333 J Smith 471 Reback 363

3. Working capital

managementJ Smith 471

4. Financial statement

analysisJ Smith 471

5. Cost of capital Reback 363 J Smith 471

6. Capital structure Reback 363 J Smith 471

B. Investments

1. Risk and returns Reback 363, 365

2. Valuation of securities Reback 363, 365

3. Financial markets and

environmentsReback 363, 365

C. International Finance Word 303

A. Identifying attractive

markets

1. Strategic marketing

planningJ Smith 471 Stuart 350 Paige 351, 452

Duesterha

us352, 459

2. Scanning marketing

environmentOuzts 398 Stuart 350 Paige

351, 452,

457

Duesterha

us

350, 352,

459

3. Marketing research and

information technology toolsJ Smith 471 Stuart 350 Paige 452, 457

Duesterha

us

350,352,

459

4. Consumer and

organizational buyer behaviorOuzts 398 Stuart 350 Paige

351, 452,

457

Duesterha

us

350, 352,

459

B. Serving Selected Markets Ouzts 398

1. The marketing mix

(Product, Price, Place and

Promotion)

Stuart 350 Paige351, 457,

452

Duesterha

us

350, 352,

459

2. Segmenting consumer and

organizational marketsOuzts 398 Stuart 350 Paige

351, 452,

457

Duesterha

us350, 352

3. Marketing services Stuart 350 Paige 351Duesterha

us350, 459

4. Marketing for not-for-profit

organizationsOuzts 398 Stuart 350

Duesterha

us352

5. Marketing of social causes Ouzts 398 Paige 351, 452Duesterha

us352

C. International Marketing Stuart 350Duesterha

us350 Paige

351, 452,

457


Finance (~13%)

Marketing (~13%)



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A. Legal environment

1. Courts and legal systems Routman 347

2. Constitution and business Routman 347

3. Administrative law Routman 347

4. Tort law Routman 347

5. Crimes Routman 347

B. Regulatory environment

1. Employment law Routman 347

2. Labor law Routman 347

3. Antitrust law Routman 347

4. Consumer protection Routman 347

5. Environmental and

international lawRoutman 347

6. Security regulation Routman 347 Cipriano 435

C. Business relationships

1. Contract and sales law

(UCC)Routman 347

2. Business organizations Routman 347

3. Law of agency Routman 347

4. Intellectual property Routman 347

D. Ethics and Social

Responsibility

1. Ethics Harrington 371 J Smith 471 Routman 347 Cipriano 435

2. Social responsibility Ouzts 398 Routman 347 Cipriano 435 Cipriano VITA


Legal and Social Environment (~10%)



JCBE 10.01.2014 28

Recommended Actions Based on Current Report

Faculty made several catalog changes (effective in the 2011-2012 catalog), below. JCBE will continue to monitor MFTB results as more students enroll under catalogs with the new requirements.

BADM 478 prerequisite change: require C or better in each 300 or 400 level core course

BADM 478 prerequisite change: require international course. In spring 2013, the international course was made a pre-or co-requisite to BADM 478.

The economics/finance concentration added ACCT 333 as a required course instead of an elective.

The management concentration added a requirement of either ACCT 333 or ECON 326 to the management concentration. Management also made MGMT 390 a required course instead of an elective.

Accounting and marketing concentrations changed some elective courses. The Dean has created an ad hoc faculty committee to investigate the recent decline in MFTB performance. The committee is looking at issues concerning student quality, faculty deployment, and curriculum. The committee will report to the faculty during the fall semester, 2014. To address the decline in performance in the MFT international section, the Dean is recruiting a new faculty member (faculty deployment). The USC Upstate Literature, Language, and Composition department developed a course for the business school, SPCH 398 Business and Professional Communication, focused on professional communication. The JCBE Curriculum Committee is reviewing the core curriculum classes for consistency across sections and will develop guidelines for each class.


JCBE 10.01.2014 29

Appendix B Learning Goal #2: Students will be able to communicate effectively in standard business English. Objective 2.1: Students will prepare and deliver a professional oral presentation (BADM 478). Leaning Goal #5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use information technology in modern organizational operations. Objective 5.3: Students will demonstrate the ability to use common presentation software (e.g.: PowerPoint) (BADM 478). Assessment Criteria and Goal Due to the size of each section in this Spring semester, there was not enough time for all students to do full individual presentations. Instead, students were assigned into groups of three or four for presentations. Groups collaborated on researching a business and conducting a presentation accordingly. Based on the completed report for Fall 2013, the assessment rubric was expanded from two to eight areas. Students were rated as a group in six of the rubric areas (Problem Identification, Diagnosing Problem Sources, Opportunities, Alternative Actions, Recommendations, and Impacts) and as individuals on two rubric areas (Verbal Style and Slide Content). The professor’s rating of the student’s presentation (on a 10 point scale) is categorized as Exemplary (8-10 points), Acceptable (5-7 points), and Unacceptable (1-4 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Exemplary and Acceptable categories.

Assessment Scores from Presentations in BADM 478 Business Policy Spring 2014

# % # % # % # % # % # % # % # %

Exemplary 37 42.50% 34 39.10% 33 37.90% 19 21.80% 23 26.40% 11 12.60% 8 9.20% 5 5.70%

Acceptable 46 52.90% 53 60.90% 55 63.20% 63 72.40% 55 63.20% 59 67.80% 68 78.20% 53 60.90%

Unacceptable 5 5.70% 1 1.10% 0 0.00% 6 6.90% 10 11.50% 18 20.70% 12 13.80% 30 34.50%

Average 7.2 7.1 7 6.5 6.4 5.6 5.9 5.2

Presentation StylePresentation

Content

Problem

Identification

Diagnosing

Problem SourcesOpportunities Alternative Actions Recommendations Impacts

# % # % # %

Exemplary 36 40.8% 17 18.9% 21 24.4%

Acceptable 50 56.9% 59 67.6% 57 64.9%

Unacceptable 3 3.4% 13 14.6% 10 11.8%

Average 7.2 6.1 6.4

Presentation Analysis

Rubric Categories

Overall


JCBE 10.01.2014 30

Historical Analysis

Analyses - % of Students

Category Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Spring 2014*

Excellent 22% 35% 70% 57%

Not Rated

19%

Acceptable 50% 51% 28% 37% 68%

Unacceptable 28% 15% 2% 6% 15%

Presentation - % of Students

Category Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Spring 2014*

Excellent 35% 40% 58% 51% 41% 41%

Acceptable 50% 49% 40% 49% 53% 57%

Unacceptable 16% 11% 2% 0% 7% 3%

*A new rubric was implemented Spring semester that expanded the assessment rubric to include additional categories to allow for finer grained analysis of results included additional sections regarding the students’ ability to analyze and discuss strategic issues.

Discussion

Almost all students were rated at the acceptable or exemplary level for both Presentation Style (94.3%, average = 7.2) and Presentation Content (98.9%, average = 7.1). This stayed about the same or improved from Fall 2013. In this semester, additional class time was devoted to discussing and practicing desirable presentation skills, getting students used to speaking in front of their peers. A new rubric was implemented Spring semester that expanded the assessment rubric to include additional categories to allow for finer grained analysis of results included additional sections regarding the students’ ability to analyze and discuss strategic issues. Students also generally rated well (acceptable or above) at identifying problems (100%, average = 7.0), diagnosing problem sources (93.1%, average = 6.5), and identifying opportunities (88.5%, average = 6.4). Students rated the poorest at developing alternative strategic actions (79.3% acceptable or higher, average = 5.6), arguing in favor of recommended actions (86.2% acceptable or higher, average = 5.9) and discussing potential impacts on the firm (65.5% acceptable or higher, average = 5.2). The poor performance on the later sections of the project (developing strategic alternatives, making recommendations, and discussing impacts) may result from several sources. First, students might be performing poorly because they do not understand the expectations. Second, students might not be learning how to develop strategic alternatives as well as they are learning to identify problems and problem sources. Finally, students may not be investing the time and effort necessary in the later parts of the project. This may be a particular problem since these projects were group projects, and the students who worked on these sections may have had a more difficult time.


JCBE 10.01.2014 31

Recommendations

The instructor is spending additional time clarifying what is expected from the project with special emphasis on the sections regarding alternative actions, recommendations, and impacts. He is also providing activities and exercises that focus on developing the students’ ability to think through alternative strategic paths and how implementing different initiatives will impact the firm. He will also be encouraging and motivating students to invest more time in their projects and to begin working on them earlier in the semester. Finally, even though the majority of students rated at the acceptable level or higher for most of the presentation and project components, there is still significant room for improvement. At best, the performance rated, on average, a 7.2 out of 10, with the lowest average a 5.2. Therefore, the instructor will continue trying to develop methods to improve students’ presentation skills and the quality of their analysis.

Assessment Rubric

Verbal Style: The student’s ability to communicate confidently and clearly.

Content: The quality of content displayed on the screen and discussed during this student’s portion of the presentation. This includes characteristics such as displaying the right amount of content (e.g. not too much/too little text), showing the appropriate type of content (e.g. graphs, figures, images, text) and being free from errors (e.g. typos, grammar errors, formatting problems).

Problem Identification: Identifying the critical problems facing the business.

Diagnosing Problem Sources: Identifying and analyzing the sources causing the problems that were identified.

Opportunities: Researching and brainstorming new opportunities that the business could capitalize on.

Alternative Actions: Using strategic frameworks to develop various strategic initiatives that the business could activate to potentially solve problems and/or act on opportunities in the pursuit of sustained competitive advantage.

Recommendations: Arguing in favor of which strategic initiatives, identified above, should be implemented.

Impacts: Identifying and discussing the impacts of the recommended strategic initiative on the firm. For each of the eight areas, students were rated on the 1-10 scale, and categorized into Exemplary (E), Acceptable (A) and Unacceptable (U).


JCBE 10.01.2014 32

Appendix C Leaning Goal #3: Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize and analyze business problems, using a variety of quantitative tools. Objective 3.3: Our students will formulate and analyze problems related to inventory models (MGMT 372). Assessment Description

The student is asked to complete six tasks. 1. The student must construct and label a graph showing the relationships among ordering cost, carrying cost and total inventory cost versus order quantity for a given situation. 2. The student must then perform numerical calculations to obtain the following values for the given situation: the economic order quantity, the expected average inventory, the

expected annual ordering cost, the annually carrying cost, and the reorder point.

Results

Question

Q1

Graph Q2

EOQ Q3 Avg

Inv Q4

Order Q5

Carry Q6

ROP Average # E # A # U E & A Total #

Maximum points: 5 1 1 1 1 1 10

Semester

Fall 13

Average 4.87 0.97 0.97 0.83 0.93 0.97 9.5 28 1 1 29 30

Percent 97% 97% 97% 83% 93% 97% 93% 3% 3% 97%

Spring 13 Average 4.44 0.94 0.94 0.97 0.78 0.81 8.9 25 4 3 29 32

Percent 89% 94% 94% 97% 78% 81% 78% 13% 9% 91%

Fall 09 Average 3.01 0.92 0.74 0.96 0.78 0.77 8 41 12 37 53 90

Percent 80% 92% 74% 96% 78% 77% 46% 13% 41% 59%

Spring 09 Average 3.82 0.94 0.91 0.61 0.94 0.91 8.1 17 9 7 26 33

Percent 76% 94% 91% 61% 94% 91% 52% 27% 21% 79%

Fall 08 Average 4.53 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.96 0.81 9 67 20 4 87 91

Percent 91% 89% 89% 89% 96% 81% 74% 22% 4% 96%

Fall 07

Average 4.51 0.96 0.98 0.96 0.91 0.85 9.2 42 7 4 49 53

Percent 90% 96% 98% 96% 91% 85% 79% 13% 8% 92%

Spring 07 Average 3.95 0.97 0.85 0.92 0.77 0.76 8.3 38 8 16 46 62

Percent 79% 97% 85% 92% 77% 76% 61% 13% 26% 74%


JCBE 10.01.2014 33

Question

Q1

Graph Q2

EOQ Q3 Avg

Inv Q4

Order Q5

Carry Q6

ROP Average # E # A # U E & A Total #

Maximum points: 5 1 1 1 1 1 10

Semester

Fall 06

Average 3.86 0.93 0.88 0.83 0.74 0.81 8.0 25 7 10 32 42

Percent 77% 93% 88% 83% 74% 81% 60% 17% 24% 76%

Spring 06 Average 3.05 0.55 0.3 0.45 0.45 0.5 5.3 7 1 12 8 20

Percent 61% 55% 30% 45% 45% 50% 35% 5% 60% 40%

Fall 05 Average 2.93 0.83 0.86 0.83 0.76 0.79 7.0 9 9 11 18 29

Percent 59% 83% 86% 83% 76% 79% 31% 31% 38% 62%


JCBE 10.01.2014 34

Conclusions and Discussion

There has been a steady increase in the percent exemplary over the past four assessments. The goal of 70% exemplary and acceptable has been met the last two semesters. It was not met in the semester prior to that. Prior to that it was met for five consecutive assessments. The assessment method is effective at assessing the ability of the student to conduct and graph inventory problem analyses. Since student performance has been largely exemplary in the last two assessment semesters, there is no need for corrective action. Since the goal was not met three periods ago, it is premature to consider these results stable. Action Plan

Continue using the assessment as currently designed.

Implementation and Results of Prior Action Plan

There have been no action plans since the 2009 – 2010 school year.

Assignment and Rubric

The nationwide annual demand for a certain Operations Management textbook is 36,000. Amazon.com keeps a supply of these textbooks in their warehouse. The order cost to order a batch of books is $300 per order and the annual inventory holding cost is $2.00 per book. Assume that demand in known and constant, and that lead time is known and constant. 1. Draw and label the annual ordering cost curve (OC), annual holding cost curve (HC) and the annual total cost curve (TC) for these conditions. Use order quantities

ranging from 2000 to 5000 in increments of 500 to develop the curves. You may do this in the space below or provide a computer output. 2. What is the economic order quantity of books? 3. What is the average inventory of books using the EOQ? 4. The usage rate is 3,000 books per month. Calculate the reorder point (ROP) assuming there are 30 days per month and a 15 day lead time. 5. What are the annual holding costs that Amazon will pay for these books? 6. What is the total inventory management cost (ordering and holding) associated with this plan?

There is no rubric. Question 1 is evaluated on a five point scale, with one point given for each of ordering cost curve correctly drawn, carrying cost curve correctly drawn, and total inventory curve correctly drawn, curve labeled correctly, and axes labeled correctly. Questions 2 – 6 are assessed versus the correct answer, with one point awarded if the answer given is correct, zero otherwise. Assess the Assessment Method

The assessment is effective as assessing students’ skills in conducting a Basic EOQ inventory model because it presents them with a problem and requires them to calculate and graph all relevant EOQ inventory metrics.


JCBE 10.01.2014 35

Appendix D Learning Goal #4: Students will recognize and analyze ethical issues in business and choose and defend appropriate measures to deal with problems in business in an ethical manner.

Objective 4.2: Students will recognize ethical dilemmas (MGMT 371).

Assessment Description

Questions were posted on the course discussion board, three questions were included in a quiz, and four questions were included in an exam. Results

n = 37

Spring 2014 Spring 2013 Fall 2012 Spring 2012 Fall 2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2010 Spring 2010 Fall 2009

Percent Correct 78% 79% 72% 83% 80% 77% 76% 73% 76%

Discussion

The discussion board answers were not formally graded. Students were only required to participate. The quiz and exam questions were formally assessed. These particular quiz and examination items were used for the first time in Spring 2014, and they will serve as benchmark measures to review future treatment of ethics and ethical decision making in future course section offerings.

Action Plan

Since the goal was met, and because the these quiz and examination items were used for the first time this spring (2014), they will serve as benchmark measures to review future treatment of ethics and ethical decision making in future course section offerings.

Quiz/Exam Question

Correct Response

Percentage

Q1 75%

Q2 96%

Q3 68%

Q4 59%

Q5 59%

Q6 93%

Q7 93%

Overall 78%


JCBE 10.01.2014 36

Prior Action Plan

No actions have been planned in recent cycles. Assessment Questions

Discussion Board Questions 1. Chapter Summary Essay Two “How Does Nintendo use the public health issue to obesity to its competitive advantage in the marketplace” 2. Discussion Board Prompt 3.1 “How can companies influence their ethics environment”? 3. Discussion Board Prompt 3.2 “What are the most important issues surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR)? 4. Discussion Board Prompt 8.1 “What are the differences between affirmative action and managing for diversity”? 5. Discussion Board Prompt 9.1 “What are some potential sources of power in an organization”?

Ethics Quiz Questions 1. Which of the following statements regarding corporate behavior is TRUE regarding employee behavior?

a. When corporations behave badly, only the top executive suffer

b. When corporations behave badly, only the rank-and-file employees suffer

c. When corporations behave badly, it is usually not the problem of top executives or rank-and-file employees

d. There is not evidence that corporations today behave badly

2. Which of the following helps prevent a business climate conducive to potentially unethical behavior?

a. Excessive emphasis on short-term revenue

b. Failure to establish a written code of ethics

c. A desire for “quick fix” solutions

d. Clear procedures for handling ethical problems

3. The text provides many examples of “danger signs” that might be found within an organization that create a climate that encourages unethical behavior. Describe five of them. Exam Questions 1. Use the following information to answer the three questions below the paragraph. You face a question regarding how to handle a defective piece on a scooter that your toy company sold. To tell the customer and issue a recall would cost you a substantial amount of money but if the toy fails, it could lead to serious injury of the child using it. You are choosing between three options presented by colleagues: Option 1: Keeping quiet about the defect. Option 2: Review company policy, toy industry practices and advice from colleagues. Option 3: Disclose the defect and suggest alternatives to eliminate the risk of injury.


JCBE 10.01.2014 37

Option 3 employs which ethical approach? A. Egoism B. Utilitarianism C. Relativism D. Virtue ethics E. Life-cycle analysis

2. Use the following information to answer the three questions below the paragraph. Two executives are discussing possible options to improve profitability for their toy company, Rankin Limited. Shareholders have been unhappy with recent declines in earnings, and stock prices have fallen sharply. Lian has advocated moving toy production offshore to dramatically lower costs and has obtained some samples made in a foreign location. But she is worried that tests show the toys may not meet US standards for lead content. Jerome is concerned about another issue; the business with whom they are negotiating has a history of using child labor, which is not illegal in its nation, and he has heard about angry parent groups getting involved in these issues. Considering the levels of corporate social responsibility, Lian's concerns would best be described as Rankin's

A. sustainability responsibility. B. ethical responsibility. C. philanthropic responsibility. D. legal responsibility. E. economic responsibility.

3. Whistleblowing is an easy thing for employees to do, taking little courage. FALSE 4. Which of the following goals of a transcendent education is described as ‘thinking not just in terms of "don'ts" (lie, cheat, steal, kill), but also in terms of positive contributions'?

A. Empathy B. Generativity C. Mutuality D. Intolerance of ineffective humanity E. Civil aspiration


JCBE 10.01.2014 38

Appendix E Learning Goal #2: Students will be able to communicate effectively in standard business English. Objective 2.2: Students will prepare written work of professional quality. (MGMT 371).

Assessment Criteria and Goal

A research project paper with a minimum of 10 pages not including five references, typed and double-spaced following proper APA suggestions for style and format. Each student must be able to write coherently using correct syntax, grammar, and spelling. Papers will be scored as follows: content 70%, APA style and format 20%, and grammar, spelling, etc. 10%. Paper scores are categorized by Excellent (90-100 points), Good (80-89 points), Acceptable (70-79 points) and Unacceptable (<70 points). The goal is to achieve ≥ 70% of students in the Excellent, Good and Acceptable categories.

Assessment Scores

Unacceptable Acceptable Good Excellent

Spring 2013 (n = 19)

10.5% 47.3% 42.2% 0%

Fall 2014 (n = 38)

13.2% 47.3% 34.2% 5.3%

Overall (n = 57)

12.3% 47.4% 36.8% 3.5%

Overall results combining acceptable, good and excellent categories = 88%.

Historical Analysis

SLO 2.2 has not been assessed recently enough for a meaningful comparison.

Discussion

While we met the goal for this learning outcome, in general, student writing in Management 371 is mixed. Few students’ writing was graded to be excellent and nearly half were only acceptable. The grading rubric for the required writing assignment stresses content over structure. Although there are specific directives relative to style and format, student ability to follow APA stylistic guidelines vary considerably. Furthermore, there are modest difficulties for students, across the board, with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It is apparent that many MGT 371 students struggle to construct a coherent research paper.

Recommendations

Future sections of this course will be modified to require students to submit one or more working drafts of the research paper in order to provide oversight, corrective guidance, and additional learning opportunities in their writing. While not formally graded, this approach will ensure that the students are following a good writing process.


JCBE 10.01.2014 39

Assessment Rubric

(Daniel Tullos at Harding University is acknowledged for the basic structure of this form.)

CATEGORY Unacceptable (Below Standards) Acceptable (Meets Standards) Good (Occasionally Exceeds) Excellent (Exceeds Standards)

Subject Matter

10 points 20 points 30 points 40 points

Introduction does not convey topics, subtopics and thesis statement.

Paper is not logically organized and lacks transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Sources are non-existent or not considered scholarly in nature.

Conclusion does not reiterate and support thesis statement.

Introduction conveys a topic, vague subtopics, and a general thesis statement.

Paper discusses topics and subtopics but may be poorly organized; student attempts to provide transitions.

Sources are not peer-reviewed but are generally acceptable.

Conclusion does reintegrate key concepts and reinforces the thesis statement.

Introduction clearly conveys topic, subtopic, and a general thesis statement.

Paper discusses topics and subtopics and is well organized with clear transitions.

Sources contain some elements of research that support the thesis statement.

Conclusion reflects a strong review of key ideas that clearly relate to the thesis statement.

Introduction strongly conveys topic, subtopics, and specific thesis statement.

Paper clearly discusses topics and subtopics; it is strongly organized with transitions linking all topics.

Sources contain only peer-reviewed research.

Conclusion strongly reflects key points and integrates these ideas is the thesis statement.

Grammar and Mechanics

7.5 points 15 points 22.5 points 30 points

Grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and spelling errors significantly interfere with reading the paper.

Few grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors occur in the paper and do not interfere with reading the paper.

Grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors occur rarely in the paper and do not interfere with reading the paper.

The paper is virtually free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

APA Style, Citations, and

References

7.5 points 15 points 22.5 points 30 points

APA style errors with page format interfere with the reading of the paper.

Paper is informal in tone and word choice.

Errors with in-text citations and Reference page citations significantly detract while reading.

APA style errors with page format are noticeable.

Paper is occasionally informal in tone and word choice.

Two sources are incorrectly written in either the in-text citations or on the References page.

APA style errors with page format are rare.

Paper is written in a scholarly style.

One source is incorrectly written in either the in-text citation or on the References page.

No APA errors are seen with page format.

Paper is written in a scholarly style.

All sources are correctly written in the in-text citation and on the References page.


JCBE 10.01.2014 40

Appendix F Learning Goal #5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use information technology in modern organizational operations. Objective 5.2: Students will demonstrate the ability to use common statistical software (e.g., Excel). (ECON 291)

Assessment Criteria and Goal

The student was asked to complete four tasks using Excel. 1. The student must construct a bar chart. 2. The student must construct a pie chart. 3. The student must construct a scatter diagram. 4. The student must use Excel’s descriptive statistics to create a table of summary statistics.

This assignment is a homework assignment. For the Spring 2014, 22 of the 44 students (50%) completed this assignment. Students have approximately 24 short graded homework assignments during the semester and are allowed to drop the lowest six. This may explain why half chose not to complete this assignment (in spite of the promise of adding two extra points to the first test grade if the student scored ≥ 70 on the assignment). Students must print the output to submit the assignment for grading. Students were expected to

Include titles for all graphs

Label the axes, bars, and pie chart slices

Have correct data (frequencies, summary statistics, etc.)

The total point value for the assignment was 100 points. A similar instrument has been used in previous years. This particular instrument was created during the spring of 2011 for general education assessment of the Information Technology Literacy (CAT 5). Students demonstrate the ability to use information technologies to communicate information to others.

Results

Individual Components

Bar Pie Scatter Summary Statistics

Maximum 25 points 25 points 25 points 25 points

Average Score 22 points 20 points 21.8 points 22.5 points

% Correct 88% 80% 87% 90%


JCBE 10.01.2014 41

Overall Results

Score Category Number of Students

Percent of Students

Percent of Students

Less than 70 Unacceptable 3 14% 14%

70 to 94 Acceptable 10 45% 86%

95 to 100 Exemplary 9 41%

The average score for the exercise was 86%. 86% of the students scored at the acceptable or exemplary levels. The results fall in the acceptable range for each of the four tasks. The students have little difficulty doing this assignment.

Historical Analysis

Individual Components: Spring 2012

Bar Pie Scatter Summary Statistics

Maximum 25 points 25 points 25 points 25 points

Average Score 23.3 points 22.8 points 23.6 points 19.6 points

% Correct 93% 91% 94% 78%

Overall Results: Spring 2012

Score Category Number of Students

Percent of Students

Percent of Students

Less than 70 Unacceptable 1 3% 3%

70 to 94 Acceptable 16 44% 97%

95 to 100 Exemplary 19 53%

Recommendations

Continue to use the measurement instrument and track progress for general education assessment and JCBE learning goal assessment.

Continue to emphasize the value and use Excel with class discussion and homework.


JCBE 10.01.2014 42

Appendix G Learning Goal #4: Students will recognize and analyze ethical issues in business and choose and defend appropriate measures to deal with problems in business in an ethical manner. Objective 4.1: Students will identify and describe ethical standards and tests (MKTG 350). Objective 4.2: Students will recognize ethical dilemmas (MKTG 350). Objective 4.3: Students will discuss the consequences of ethical choices (MKTG 350). Objective 4.4: When presented with an ethical dilemma, students will select (and justify) an ethically-sound solution (MKTG 350).

Assessment Description

Students were given in-class instruction on ethics through discussions of multiple discipline related topics. Students’ competence in the ethics learning objectives were evaluated via a short case analysis that included multiple choice questions related to the four learning objectives. The questions were specific and were modeled after prior homework and classroom discussion. This case was presented as a part of students’ mid-term examination.

Results

We first looked at the results by learning objective. The results ranged from 52 to 77 percent correct for each of the four objectives. Thus over half of all students were able to accurately respond to questions for each objective.

Learning Objective % Correct

Identify and describe ethical standards 77

Recognize ethical dilemmas 61

Recognize consequences of ethical choices 61

Select ethically-sound solutions 52

The data provided below show the average scores for the students included in the assessment. Student performance generally shows not only a clear understanding of the ethical dilemmas faced in business but the additional Learning Objectives.


JCBE 10.01.2014 43

In previous semesters, we had voiced a concern that the number of students enrolled in MKTG 350 from other majors might bias the results. Therefore, we compared the results of business majors against students from other majors. While there may be a larger percentage of non-business students in all sections of MKTG 350, in this one, there were only five. The results shown below indicate just the opposite of our predictions. Non-majors on average scored higher than business majors. While this sample size is too small for conclusions to be drawn, it does point out the importance of such comparisons in the future.

Number Correct Business majors Other majors

# of Students % of Students # of Students % of Students

0 3 9.7 0 0

1 5 16.1 0 0

2 13 41.9 1 20

3 7 22.6 4 80

4 3 9.7 0 0

Total 31 100 5 100

Average Correct 2.1 2.8

Discussion

The student performance generally shows an understanding of the ethical dilemmas faced in business and also indicates that most students have an acceptable level of understanding of the other ethics learning objectives.

Number Correct # of Students % of Students Rating Percentage

0 3 8.3 Unsatisfactory 22.2%

1 5 13.9

2 14 38.9 Acceptable 69.5%

3 11 30.6

4 3 8.3 Exemplary 8.3%

Average Correct 2.2


JCBE 10.01.2014 44

During the academic year, a variety of unusual circumstances (all three full-time marketing faculty members were in administrative positions and only teaching part time) resulted in our only conducting the assessment in one section of MKTG 350, resulting in an assessment that is obviously less than satisfactory. We will be more conscientious and remedy this situation during the next assessment period. This year, we decided to use multiple choice questions for analysis of the learning goals rather than essay questions to remove subjectivity in the evaluation process. Therefore we cannot compare these results to prior ones. This year we will evaluate the use of this new format versus the prior format. We recommend that the chosen format be implemented in the future consistently to enable meaningful longitudinal comparisons. If we determine to use short answer questions, we again recommend that only a sample of the written student responses be evaluated and that the measurements be conducted by faculty other than those teaching the course. Regardless of the question format, we think that the use of case analysis with questions developed specifically from the standards gives students an opportunity to provide answers more indicative of their understanding. Action Plan

We recommend we evaluate the assessment instrument question format choice between essay and multiple choice and choose one to implement in the future consistently to enable meaningful longitudinal comparisons. We recommend that we continue to evaluate the performance of business majors versus non-business majors on the assessment.

Prior Action Plan

Last year we recommended that the revised essay-format procedure be used in the future consistently to enable meaningful comparisons, and recommended that only a sample of the written performance be evaluated and that the evaluation be conducted by faculty other than those teaching the course. However, this year we decided to use multiple choice questions for analysis of the learning goals rather than essay questions to remove subjectivity in the evaluation process. This year we will evaluate and choose between the formats for future use. Last year we recommended that more instruction on ethics be given to students and that ethics assignments and performance measurement related to this course content be required of all students so that we could have better measures of learning. We recommended that the voluntary nature of homework and bonus question on the test should be discontinued and these be incorporated into the course as mandatory for grading. This was implemented. Additional instruction was provided and the assessment was given within the midterm exam. We identified a potential problem with the use of MKTG 350 for measurement because many students who take this course are not business majors and may have no exposure to the remainder of the business curriculum. We recommended that the results include only those students who are business majors. However, rather than exclude non-business majors, we evaluated their scores versus business majors’ scores. We found no evidence that the scores of non-business majors were lower on average than the business majors. However, the sample sizes were small and this will be evaluated in future reports.

Assignment and Rubric

The case and corresponding multiple choice questions are included below. Note that the questions shown below the case are presented along with the corresponding learning objectives which were not provided in the students’ exam.


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Read the following case and answer the questions following. In the 1960’s, France and West Germany placed tariffs on the importation of lower-priced U.S. chicken in order to encourage domestic agricultural production, a move that caused the U.S. to lose 25% of their sales of chickens in the European market. In 1964, the U.S. retaliated by initiating the “chicken tax,” a 25% tariff on the import of a variety of products including delivery vans. As a consequence, Ford, along with other U.S. auto makers, began producing passenger vans (which were not included in the chicken tax) in other countries, importing them to the U.S. and tearing out the windows and seats to convert them to passenger vans. The conversion cost Ford 2.5 percent of the selling price, significantly less than the 25% import tariff. While the tariff has been removed from other products, it still remains on delivery vans and other light trucks thanks to the lobbying of American automobile manufacturers. Objective #1: Identify and describe ethical standards

Would you describe Ford’s actions in converting passenger vans as a. Totally ethical b. Totally unethical c. Following the letter of the law but not totally ethical d. Being a good corporate citizen e. None of the above.

Objective #2: Recognize ethical dilemmas What alternatives does Ford have to consider in this situation a. Continue the conversion process and avoid the tariff b. Lobby for the law to be repealed c. Stop the conversion plan and produce delivery vans in the U.S d. Continue as is e. All of the above

Objective #3: Recognize consequences of ethical choices Who do you think gains the most from this practice of conversion? a. Consumers b. The U.S. government c. Foreign governments d. U.S. automakers e. None of the above

Objective #4: Select ethically-sound solutions

If you were the CEO of Ford, what would you recommend that Ford should do? a. Continue this process and avoid the tariff because it helps U.S. automakers b. Lobby for the law to be repealed c. Stop the conversion plan and produce delivery vans in the U.S d. a and b above e. b and c above


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Appendix H MGMT 290 Introduction to Business Information Systems Leaning Goal #5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use information technology in modern organizational operations. Objective 5.1: Students will demonstrate the ability to use common spreadsheet software (e.g., Excel) (MGMT 290). Assessment Description

Students were assigned twelve Access and Excel projects of equal weight and eleven Teach/Show/Try lessons. Each project was a unique assignment with its individual grading rubric. The lessons represented 4% of the students’ overall grade and the projects represented 21%. Application work was in the form Microsoft Access and Excel assignments. Database skills covered included creating and populating database tables, adding fields to existing tables, import/export operations, designing and editing database queries using QBE, naming cells and ranges, forms, and reports. Excel skills covered included data entry and formatting, functions, formulas, nested formulas, two-dimensional references (cells and formulas), charts, what-if analysis, goal-seeking, data tables, pivot tables, conditional formatting, array functions (VLookup), and absolute vs relative references. The computer science department, which teaches the prerequisite (CSCI 138) for this course, also uses Mcgraw Hill’s Simnet/Simgrader platform. This was a major consideration when the decision was made by the MIS faculty in 2011 to adopt Simnet/Simgrader for application work. It was thought that students would benefit from the extension of the assignment environment and a possible reduction in licensing fees. When a student purchases a Simnet/Simgrader license for CSCI 138 that license is good for one year from the date of purchase and it may be transferred to the College of Business’s domain by McGraw Hill support personnel for use with the MGMT 290 course as long as the course finishes within that year. Students have, however, incurred some difficulty with these transfers in the past. In order to streamline the transfer process the two departments will merge their domains in Fall 2014. As an administrator for the common domain MIS faculty will now be able to transfer student licenses between courses without McGraw Hill’s assistance while maintaining separate curriculums from the computer science department. Results

Lessons Lessons are server-centric and performed in a simulated environment. Students could attempt the lessons as many times as needed until a perfect score was achieved. The average lesson score was 82.6%. Fifty (71.4%) students earned 90% or higher (Exemplary), four (5.7%) students earned 70-89.9% (Acceptable), and 16 (22.9%) students earned a lesson score < 70 (Unsatisfactory). Projects Students were given two attempts to do each project. The average project score for Fall 2013 semester was 79.9%. Twenty-five (35.7%) students earned 90% or higher (Exemplary), 29 (41.4%) students earned 70-89.9% (Acceptable), and 16 (22.9%) students earned a project score < 70 (Unsatisfactory). Combined Scores The difference between project and lesson averages was not statistically significant with P=0.198. The combined average score for Fall of 2013 semester was 80.5%. Thirty-one (44.3%) students earned 90% or higher (Exemplary), 26 (37.1%) students earned 70-89.9% (Acceptable), and 13 (18.6%) students earned a score < 70 (Unsatisfactory).


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Longitudinal Comparison

Fall 2013 Fall 2012 Fall 2011

Cum Projects Lessons Cum Projects Lessons Cum Projects Lessons

Exemplary 44.3% 35.7% 71.4% 43.2% 40.9% 76.1% 31.8% 31.8% NA

Acceptable 37.1% 41.4% 5.7% 30.7% 42% 1.1% 35.2% 35.2% NA

Unsatisfactory 18.6% 22.9% 22.9% 26.1% 17% 22.7% 33% 33% NA

Exemplary + Acceptable

81.4% 73.9% 67.0%

Note: In 2011 students were encouraged to do lessons but were not required to do them. In 2012 and 2013 students were required to do the lessons, but were given unlimited attempts to do them within a given time period. Mandating the lessons has resulted in an increase in the exemplary and acceptable totals.12

Discussion

The students’ cumulative percentage Exemplary and Acceptable continues to increase.

Action Plan

Because of the success of the students with these assignments, the projects will be more rigorous and detailed this year. The projects will have significantly more detail, the number of skills covered will be greater, and there will be more rubric items. In a nutshell, they are tougher exercises.

Prior Action Plan

While the primary reason for moving to the Simnet platform was to increase volume of work and repetition, the Simnet projects emphasize skill acquisition with little focus upon model interpretation and what-if analysis. In the future the Simnet projects will culminate in a semester project that includes model interpretation and problem analysis. In Spring of 2014 students were given a project which involved the preparation of a pro-forma income statement in Microsoft Excel. The exercise required the design of a spreadsheet with input and information sections, properly formatted and constructed. Students were required to perform a what-if analysis. This exercise extended beyond the relatively simple skill-based Excel exercises provided in McGraw Hill’s Simnet environment to projects which assume an understanding of basic business concepts. The Excel pro-forma financial statement was to be used to analyze the potential renovation of a building which would be partially financed. Students were asked to answer questions based upon their interpretation of the pro forma income statement. They were then required to alter input data reflecting changes in the decision environment and interpret the outcome of those changes. There was a relatively small number of variables to consider. This type of business analysis ultimately proved too difficult for the majority of students in spite of the fact that the financial and accounting concepts in the problem were relatively simple. The exercise was downgraded to an extra-credit, non-mandatory assignment. The students’

1In year 2011 two students were excluded from the student data set due to extraordinarily low or zero participation rates, in year 2012 three students, and in year 2013 four

students. 2Simnet/Simgrader was not used prior to 2011. Therefore the type and number of application exercises assigned to each student was exceptionally different in previous years. As a

result including years 2009 and 2010 in the Table 1comparison was not possible.


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difficulty interpreting and analyzing the business scenario with the model was most likely exacerbated by the fact that a minority of the students had not taken accounting (ACCT 225 and 226) yet and most had not taken the finance course (FINA 363). The prerequisite for MGMT 290 is CSCI 138 meaning students can take MGMT 290 as early as their second semester. This limited prerequisite and our high number of transfer students results in a MGMT 290 student mix which is highly varied in terms of the amount of business coursework taken by the students prior. Because the level of student business knowledge is so varied business analysis projects such as the one above are, in my view, inappropriate for MGMT 290. I have used these types of projects in the past in MGMT 390 with much greater success primarily because most of those students had already gone through much or all of the business core before taking said course. I am not specifically recommending MGMT 390 for this type of work but I do recommend that such application work be offered in a course later in our students’ business curriculum. Assignment and Rubric

The assignment and rubric are automated on McGraw Hill’s Simnet/Simgrader spreadsheet software.


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Appendix I – Five-year Assessment Schedule

Learning Goal Objective

Assessment

Method Course Coordinator

Fall

09

Sp

10

Fall

10

Sp

11

Fall

11

Sp

12

Fall

12

Sp

13

Fall

13

Sp

14

Fall

14

Sp

15

Demonstrate knowledge of current

business practices and theory.MFTB BADM 478 x x x x x x x x x x x x

Use correctly the language of

business.MFTB BADM 478 x x x x x x x x x x x x

Prepare and deliver a professional

oral presentationClass Presentation BADM 478 x x x x x x

Communicate effectively in standard

business English—written

Course-embedded

writing assignmentMGMT 371 x x x x x

Correlation / RegressionCourse-embedded

assignment ECON 292 x x x x x

Exercise in financeCourse-embedded

assignment FINA 363 x x x x

Inventory modelsCourse-embedded

assignment MGMT 372 x x x x

Identify and describe ethical

standards and tests

M.C. questions &

written assignmt.

ACCT 347,

MKTG 350x x x

Students will recognize ethical

dilemmas

M.C. questions &

written assignmt.MGMT 371 x x x x x x x x x x x

Consequences of ethical choices.M.C. questions &

written assignmt.

ACCT 347,

MKTG 350x x x

Select (and justify) an ethically-

sound solution

M.C. questions &

written assignmt.

ACCT 347,

MKTG 350x x

Spreadsheet software Course-embedded MGMT 290 x x x x x x

Course-embedded

assignment ECON 292 x x x x x

Course-embedded

assignment ECON 291 x x x

Presentation software Class Presentation BADM 478 x x x x x x

1. Students will demonstrate an

understanding of the Business Core

curriculum.

Rook

Rook

Paige

2. Students will be able to

communicate effectively in

standard business English.

O'Connor

Long

3. Students will demonstrate the

ability to recognize and analyze

business problems, using a variety

of quantitative tools.

4. Students will recognize and

analyze ethical issues in business

and choose and defend appropriate

measures to deal with problems in

business in an ethical manner.

5. Students will demonstrate the

ability to use information

technology in modern

organizational operations.

Statistical software / Excel or

MegaStat

academic program: johnson college of business and

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