UMSL Higher Education Student Services Learning Community
MGMTINC Triumph FINAL PWP
1.
2. Builds strong foundation of finance
Understanding of personal finance
BizCafe business simulation enhances
teamwork, leadership & public speaking
Greater opportunity for future success
3. Problem & Solution
Stakeholder Analysis
Force Field Analysis
Resistance & Programs to Combat It
Communication Strategy
Implementation Plan & Budget
Practicality
Assessment & Consolidation
4. College Students are expected to know
important financial basics
Most college students are lost in the practical
financial world
Nichols College students are held to a high
expectation level of business skills
5. Umass Amherst: Isenberg School of
Business
BUS-MGMT “Personal Finance for Business
Leaders”
They’re not the only ones…
6. Fills the knowledge
gap
Builds a strong
foundation
Gives vital early-on
experience
Provides a brighter
future
7. 1st order change
Relatively small
change
Incremental change
in daily activities
8. PROBLEM: There is a need for a course here at Nichols
College teaching financial basics & essential business
skills that college students are just assumed to know
Students
who
already
know the
material
RANK: 7
Low
Student
Interest
RANK: 2
Stakeholder
Opposition
(fear of
failure)
RANK: 4
Staffing
Issue
RANK:
8
RANK: 1
High
Student
Interest
RANK: 5
Higher
Retention/
Job
Placement
Rates
RANK: 3
Increase in
Competitive
Edge
RANK: 6
Better
School
Reputation
10. Decision Power Students
Bill Boffi's Office
Curriculum Committee
(CC)
Professor Westerling
(Assoc. Dean of
Business)
11. Student interest level
Fear of Failure
Practicality of the course
No professor willing to teach the course
12. Directly aligned with Nichols
mission & learning
objectives
Builds strong foundation for
future courses
Develops students with
career-focused experience
Preview of “Nichols
Experience”
13. Social Media
Info Session at Fels
Newsletter (Bison Beat) Ad
Flyers
Brochures
Surveys
14. 4 out of 7 said they lack an
understanding of basic finance
7 out of 7 said they would take this
course
Student Interest Level: High
Give the people what they want
15. Step 1: Obtain Faculty approval in
department (1 Day)
Step 2: Prepare a Curriculum Change
Form (1-2 Days)
Step 3: Department Chair signs proposal
and gives to the Curriculum Committee
(1-3 Days)
16. Step 4: The Curriculum Committee Chair
(Dr. Jay Price) schedules the proposal for
review by the committee (1-2 Weeks)
Step 5: The Curriculum Committee Chair
sends the approved proposal to the
Associate Dean of Business ( Professor
Westerling) (1-7 Days)
Step 6: Once Dean approves, then
sends 4 copies of the proposal back to
the Curriculum Chair (4-7 Days)
17. Step 7: The Curriculum Chair completes
the proposal and is sent for review by the
General Education Committee (1-9
Days)
Step 8: Once passed, is sent to the
Registrar Betin Robichaud (3-4 Days)
Step 9: The Registrar adds the new
course to the course catalog for students
to select (1 Day)
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
TIME:
23-48 Days
18. Emphasis to Stakeholders- course
objectives aligned w/ Nichols core
values
Promotions- ads, flyers, brochures, info
session, social media(twitter)
Spread the Word- increase interest by
telling other students about the course
19. Low impact & low
cost budget to fund
change
$100 for food at the
info session
$50 for supplies and
ink for brochures and
flyers
20. Besides promotion costs there is no cost
involved
Little funding required to cover
promotion costs
Adjunct professor if needed ($3000 per
course)
22. Student survey after course
Feedback from students (SIR’s &
supplement)
Group project, Final Exam, and Student
Reflection results
Effect on retention & placement rates
(Gap Analysis)
23. Review Assessment Results
Weaknesses of the course will be
addressed & improved upon
Student success & interest= future
student enrollment
Editor's Notes
Introduction
A new course at Nichols College (Beethoven)
Team Triumph
Each member introduces themselves ( Beethoven, Jeff, Tim)
“The conception of our idea” (Jeff)
Decided to do something different that we felt was missing here at Nichols
Made a course instead of a tradition
We saw a need for a course based on our needs as students
Course At a Glance
Is 1styear business course
Helps student growth by solidifying foundation of finance & business skills & knowledge necessary for future course & careers
Builds an understanding of personal money management for college years & future
BizCafe business simulation enhances team work, leadership, inter-personal, & public speaking skills while at the same time applying the learned financial and business knowledge
The knowledge & experience this course has to offer will be vital in student development & will allow a greater opportunity for success
Touches upon basics of core business fields: FINANCE, MGMT, HRM, & GENERAL BUS
Gives 1st year students a taste of the “Nichols Experience”
Key Highlights
(Read Highlights)
The Problem
Students are expected to know basic finance principles
The fact is, most students don’t have this knowledge
Can be very hard for students who struggle with math
(Beethoven tell math story)
Most students don’t have a strong grasp on personal finance(writing checks, balancing a checkbook, budgeting, saving, etc…)
(Jeff tell business story)
Students are expected to be able to effectively publically speak, work effectively in groups with other students, & be able to lead a team
These can be extremely overwhelming if no prior experience
Public speaking especially, can strike a huge amount of fear & anxiety in students with little experience
Loss of Competitive Edge
Umass Amherst: Isenberg School of Business has a course that address these needs
(Tim Story about brother) Brother went to Isenberg & was surprised Nichols did not have a course like this
BUS-MGMT “Personal Finance for Business Leaders
Teaches critical personal finance skills vital in life for financial stability and success
Helps improve career, personal life, & leadership
Other Schools: Boston University, Western New England College, & Gordon
These courses focus on the three main concepts of our course (finance, personal $ mgmt, & business skills)
Solution
Our course is designed to address these needs & fills the vital knowledge gap
Helps students prepare for the future courses
Builds a strong foundation of skills & knowledge in finance, business, & personal $ mgmt
Experience is vital for developing
Early experience in career=greater opportunity for success
Career-focused concepts help students envision a brighter future
Nature of the Change
Our change is a first order change
It is relatively small which makes it a 1st order change
It is an incremental change in daily activities carried out by Nichols College
Force Field Analysis
Student Interest= Most important
They are the bottom line
Positive Driving forces
Increases Competitive edge job
Can lead to higher retention & job placement rates
Negative Restraining Forces
Low Interest breaks us
Opposition from stakeholders due to FEAR of failure
How to Overcome Restraining Forces
Prove we have high student interest (SURVEYS)
Prove the practicality of the course to the curriculum
Directly aligned with Nichols core values
Stakeholder Analysis
Curriculum Committee (CC): ultimately decides if idea passes upon review
The CC holds the most power, they decide if a new course is approved/rejected
Students: their interest directly affects implementation & consolidation
They carry huge amount of power & make or break the idea
Professor Westerling (Associate Dean of Business): decides practicality of course after receiving approved proposal
Since this is a BUSINESS course it has to be approved by her
Bill Boffi’s Office: retention/placements rates are crucial to college
if course can increase, then critical in winning their favor
Stakeholder Calculated Decision Power
The CC holds the most power
Ultimately they accept or reject the course
Students also make break us
Their interest is our bottom line
Westerling is needed for approval because it is a business course
Carries significant decision power
Bill Boffi carries influence in the decision as well
Prove that our course will improve rates
Our course will do so by giving a preview of the “Nichols Experience”
Reasons for Resistance
If students are not interested this idea cannot even leave the runway
Through surveys we can prove the interest is high & eliminate resistance
This course idea has failed to take flight in the past so this fear is not irrational
Course is very practical to the current curriculum (explained in more detail next slide)
Trouble in finding a professor willing to teach
We actually have a professor willing to teach it currently: Professor Flemming
Practicality
NICHOLS MISSION- “Within a supportive community, Nichols College transforms today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders through a dynamic, career-focused business and professional education.”
Directly aligned with course objectives
This course helps prepare students for future finance and business courses by developing a core understanding of the subject
Gives a preview to the “Nichols Experience”
Course Initiatives: Career Focus, Interactive Classroom, Public Speaking, Teamwork, Leadership
Programs to Overcome Resistance
Social Media
Use twitter to promote the idea to students
Very effective channel of communication
Info Session at the Fels Student Center with free food & drinks
All faculty & students are encourage to attend & we can really get our point across to stakeholders by doing this & possibly raising interest
We will be posting an advertisement for the course in the school newsletter the Bison Beat
We will post flyers & brochures around various locations on campus (Fels, Davis, Academy, Lombard, Dormitories, & the Library) to promote our course idea
We will also conduct several surveys for students & faculty asking a variety of simple questions (Would you be interested in the course?) to get a general idea of the interest levels
This will help convince stakeholders to approve if positive results
Survey Results
4 out of 7 said they lack an understanding of basic finance
Identifies the PROBLEM
7 out of 7 said they would take this course
Proves there is a high student interest
In the past when a similar course idea was proposed, there was not enough student interest
This is a small sample size, but a good start
Future surveys with a larger sample size could prove furthermore there is student interest to back this idea
If the students want it, give it to them
The 9 Step Plan: Steps 1-3
We developed a simple 9 Step Plan to implement our idea
A timeline will also be provided after the step slides to show how long the implementation will take
(Read Steps 1-3)
9 Step Plan: Steps 4-6
(Read Steps 4-6)
9 Step Plan: Steps 7-9
(Read Steps 7-9)
If all goes according to planned then our course will appear on next fall’s course catalog
Total implementation time: 23-48 days
Some steps require more to implement and also have a degree of variance caused by any errors or delays
We provided as accurate of a timeline as possible
Communications Strategy
Our emphasis to stakeholders: our course’s objective are closely aligned with Nichol’s vision and core objectives
Promotional programs in place
Spread the word to students to build interest
MAIN GOAL: Gain stakeholder & student approval to help implement
Budget
As we had earlier discussed, we have provided a detailed budget
It is low impact & low cost to & funding for our idea is only needed to cover the promotional costs
$100 is needed to provide food & drinks at for students & faculty at our info session in Fels
$50 will be needed for supplies necessary
This covers the cost of color ink for the brochures & flyers
Financial Resources
Besides costs for promotions, there is no other funding required
Since our idea is a course, the college already accounts for a set number of courses each year, & if this makes the course catalog it is cover by Nichols
This leads into a huge selling point for our idea, the actual costs we have are very minimal
The only other cost the idea could possibly run into is if an adjunct professor is needed to teach the course
Around $3000 per course
Gap Analysis
This is our Gap Analysis pre-implementation & post-implementation (which is a projection our group came up with)
It displays Student Interest in red
Retention Rate in yellow
Job Placement in Purple
The scale on the y-axis represents each factor as percentage out of 100
This will give us a better idea of what prospects our course has to offer to the college
With successful promotion of our idea we project that student interest will start at 55%
Which will be enough to make the course a reality
Then after students experience with the course themselves, we project they will enjoy the experience & share this with other students & attract more attention, jumping the interest level up to 85%
The current retention rate of Nichols College Freshman is 63%
Our course is designed to greatly improve retention & we project that after our course is implemented it will jump to 82%
The rationale behind this is, by offering students a course that introduces them to what they will encounter over the next four years, it could potentially increase because students know what Nichols has to offer
The current job placement rate of graduating Nichols College Seniors six months prior to graduation is an impressive 93%
A main objective of our course is to improve placement rates by solidifying essential business skills that will be called upon in students future careers
This will raise the rate to 95% because employers will see how prepared Nichols students are for the working world
Nichols already has the great reputation for building career focused professionals & this will further prepare students, increasing the school reputation even more
These projections can be tested and further evaluated after utilizing our created assessment methods, which leads us into our next slide
Assessment Methods
Our first assessment method to gauge the success of our course will be a student survey conducted after the course has been completed
This will help get a sense of student interest level, retention, & practicality of the course
This can be later be graphed as an actual projection which will help consolidate the plan afterwards, but this will be discussed more in the next slide
Another Assessment we have put in place is direct feedback from students from mandatory SRI’s & and a provided supplement giving more in-depth feedback
Through these assessments we can accurate look at the progress of our course, if our projections prove to be right, then this course could be a vital addition to the Nichols College Curriculum
Consolidation
If our assessment results prove positive then it will consolidate our course into the curriculum & it could provide to a great resource to first year students both in their academic & professional careers
The assessments will also point out any weaknesses or flaws within our course, these will then be improved upon in order to improve the overall success of course & of the students involved
If students take the course & enjoy their experience, they will share this with other students, making them more likely to sign up next semester, in turn increasing the student interest level of the course itself
After the course has established itself in the curriculum, it only has room to improve even further to provide Nichols students with a practical career focused education
This leads to greater potential success of Nichols students and as a whole promoting Nichols great reputation as an organization even further
Potential Questions & Answers
How did you come up with your figures? (Gap Analysis)
We came up with projected figures based on the principles our course will teach, these are not set in stone, simply estimates & are subject to discussion. We believe this increase will be accounted for by strengthening students foundation of core knowledge & skills that could potentially affect the figures in way similar to our projections.
In what ways does the course have such an impact in these areas?
Our course is directly aligned with core values of Nichols College, which increases these by building a foundation & giving vital first year experience to students before they revisit this material & have to utilize these skills, we give them a greater opportunity for future success through the course.
How can you be so sure this will be attractive to students?
We will promote the idea to such an extent that it will gain a substantial amount of interest, if the students see this course as an important resource for their education, while still being interesting at the same time, then there will be enough student interest to add it to the curriculum. With all of our programs we will be able to prove this with concrete numbers to help prove our case.
Why would a stakeholder involved approve the idea?
As we pointed out earlier, this course is directly aligned with Nichols college core objectives, making it very suitable for the current curriculum, it is designed to improve prepare students for future course increasing student retention which will lead to higher retention rates, crucial to the college.
