This document proposes a new course at Nichols College called "Essentials of Business & Money Management" to address gaps in students' financial knowledge. The course would have two parts: 1) teaching practical financial skills like checking accounts and taxes, and 2) a business simulation where students work in mock companies. The proposal analyzes stakeholders like students and faculty who would be impacted. It finds student interest is crucial, and that offering this course could increase Nichols' competitiveness compared to other schools with similar courses. The change would be incremental but aligns with Nichols' objectives. An analysis of impacts notes it could provide more course options for students and teaching opportunities for faculty.

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A New Course at
Nichols College:
Essentials of Business & Money
Management (BUS-104-01)
Team Triumph: Beethoven Phadeal, Jeff
Brown, & Tim McHugh

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Executive Summary
A Need for Change
Our initial idea as a group was formulated from a similar need, as college students there
is an expectation that we already know certain things. The most common assumptions are; we
know personal money management, we thoroughly understand basic concepts of finance, and we
know how to give an effective presentation. The reality is most of us do not have even a basic
understanding of this knowledge.
Recommendation for Change
In order to address this need, our group came to the decision of proposing a new course to
fill this gap in knowledge.
Key Reasons for Implementation
I. Address the needs of students
II. Practical to the curriculum due to alignment with Nichols objectives
III. Provide students with a greater opportunity for success
3 Key Points from Each Segment
I. Segment I
a. Addresses the needs of students
b. Increase in competitive edge
c. Practical for Nichols Curriculum
II. Segment II
a. Greater opportunity for future success

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b. Minimal impact on functional activities (1st order change)
c. No cost to implement (except if adjunct professor teaches it $3000)
III. Segment III
a. Programs developed for overcoming resistance
b. Processes developed for overcoming resistance
c. Communications Strategy in place to raise interest
IV. Segment IV
a. Clearly defined 9 Step plan for implementation
b. Positive impact on Nichols vision & mission
c. Message to stakeholders: practical & high interest
V. Segment V
a. Consolidation Plan for continued success
b. Assessment methods for feedback & improvement
c. Importance to stakeholders: practical foundation for future success

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Segment I
Section A
A New Course at Nichols College
Our group, Triumph, was asked to come up with a change at Nichols College. Instead of
creating a new tradition or fixing something currently in place, we decided to make a new course
to be available for students.
Part I
Our group felt that as a college student there are many important things financially
speaking that we are just assumed to know. This includes: writing and depositing checks
properly, balancing a check book, applying for student loans, filling out tax forms, and much
more vital financial basics. These are all fairly difficult tasks if you have no prior experience
doing them or at least having some knowledge about them. Most students are lost in the world
of practical finance; this is where we saw the need for a course that would teach basic everyday
financial skills essential to a college student. Having a solid foundation of basic financial skills
is important for any student to have even if they know how to do some functions; this course will
help those ahead of others to expand on their current knowledge, while providing a base of
information for students with no prior knowledge or experience.
By creating a solid foundation of knowledge, our course will help students in future
financial courses, as well as in everyday life after and during college. A key to retention of
information is to develop and learn from a well developed foundation of core knowledge. This is
the basis for our course we are looking to create; by giving students a first look at information
they will be dealing with in college and in their own lives. The course also features a second part
to it that is closely aligned with the mission here at Nichols College.

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Part II
The second part to the course is a real world business simulation in which students will
be divided into companies and learn all the basic functions of a workplace environment while at
the same time gaining helpful experience in this simulation. Most classes have group projects
that touch upon this idea by giving this same experience, except in this new course the whole
second part is dedicated to a full business simulation that gives students the closest experience to
the workplace as possible. This simulation will have students assigned into different company
roles carrying out different functions working collaboratively. There will be real world factors
that come into play as well that include: company promotions, terminations, recruitment, and
hiring. Each week companies will have new situations to handle and new challenges to face.
This component of the course will; develop and hone students’ interpersonal skills,
teamwork skills, communication skills, and public speaking skills. Part II will help create a
strong foundation for many skills that will be practiced here at Nichols and used every day in
students’ careers after college. Almost all courses here at Nichols involve group projects and
public speaking, which can be two very difficult tasks if a student has no prior experience. This
part will give students a chance to practice and hone these skills before having to utilize them in
future courses during their time at college. For example, a student walking into a public
speaking class for the first time can be extremely overwhelmed, so by giving them a taste of this
vital skill and many others it will better prepare them for growth and success here at Nichols.
Just like with anything practice makes perfect and our course provides extra practice of basic
skills before having to use them, which will provide students with a vital head start. This two

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component course will provide students with both real-world practical financial knowledge, a
basic understanding of finance that will be helpful for future courses, and a foundation for
essential business skills through the simulated business experience.
Section B.1
Environmental Pressures
Environmental pressures greatly affect a business decision to implement a change in an
organization. There are many external pressures that can force a change to occur and sometimes
can be a mix of a few. Our change is driven by fashion pressures of other colleges and
universities. This market is constantly changing and in order to attract new prospective students
each year colleges and universities adapt to market trends similarly to what other companies do
to stay on top of their competition.
After doing extensive research our group has found out that several other colleges have a
course similar to what we have created. It was surprising to see how many schools offered this
type of course. Some colleges that we found had this course were: Babson College, Boston
University, Fisher College, Simmons College, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of
Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst College, and Western New England College. The list goes on
further but these are just a few specific examples our group found that offered the type of course
we plan to create. Umass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Business has a course that is almost
identical to ours, called “Personal Finance for Business Leaders”.
If all of these institutes offer this type of course, finding it to prove very practical, then
why has this course not appeared at Nichols yet? This course was provided as a general course
in finance and based off of our research; these schools seem to think that a course such as this is

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vital for students. With so many schools already offering this type of course, Nichols needs to
adapt to the trend to stay competitive. Adaptability is crucial for any organization to thrive in its
market and maintain a competitive edge.
Section B.2
Internal Organizational Pressures
An environment can play a huge role in causing an organization to change, but it can also
have internal pressure within the organization to cause a change as well. An internal pressure
causing this change is the need for a course of this type, which does not already exist. Our group
feels there is a great need for this course and there are other faculty members of Nichols who
also think the same.
In order to gauge our idea and see if it was practical and if there was a need for such a
course, we reached out to Executive Director of Studies Kerry Calnan.
Section C
Stakeholder Analysis
The stakeholders involved in our change include: the curriculum committee, the students,
professor Westerling, and Bill Boffi.
Curriculum Committee (CC)
The CC holds the most power because they decide if a newly proposed course is either
approved or rejected. The two main concerns for the CC is; the practicality of the course within
the current curriculum and if there is enough student interest to make it worthwhile. A similar
course in the past was rejected because it failed to meet these two requirements. Our course is
practical in the curriculum because the course objectives are directly aligned with the mission

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and objectives of Nichols. Assessments implemented after the course completion in a semester,
could further support this statement. To prove there is enough student interest, we have
programs in place that will give us an accurate indication of the student interest level.
Students
Among the list of major stakeholders in this particular change, are the students here at
Nichols College. The students are the heart of this new course implementation and have a huge
impact to this decision. The point being, students are directly affected by implementing a new
course at Nichols because they will be the ones in class learning the material from the new
course. Their approval and interest in this course will be a major driving force in the
implementation of it into the curriculum. With students holding this much power as a
stakeholder in the decision, it is vital that our group finds out the student opinion of the course
idea.
In order to get an accurate sense of if students would want to actually take such a course,
a few steps would need to be taken to figure this valuable information out. This could be done
through surveys, information sessions and even simply just asking random students their quick
thoughts on this idea. Our group has not yet released a survey or held an info session on the
topic, but we have asked a few students each if they would be interested and the general
consensus has been there is a student interest in the course. Beyond just word of mouth; our
group’s next step would be to get validation of this interest, this way we can show that the
students (a major stakeholder) would be in favor of this change to the curriculum.

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Professor Westerling
Given she is the Associate Dean of Business, she decides if the course is practical within the
curriculum. She is an important part of the implementation process and she holds the power to
accept or reject the proposal. Since our course will be listed as a business course, it has to be
approved by her or else it cannot be added. Her concerns would be the same as the curriculum
committee. Likewise, we would diminish this doubt with the same explanation. Our course
objectives are directly aligned with Nichols objectives and we can prove a high level of student
interest.
Bill Boffi
Retention and placements rates are crucial to the success of Nichols College. If we can
prove after assessment that our course can help increase these rates, then this would be a critical
factor in winning their favor. Our course objectives will eventually translate into increasing
these rates, if they are accomplished.
Section D: 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. Since it is
not a character change, it is too small to be a second order change. It cannot be a mid-range
change either, an example of a mid-range change for Nichols would be the construction of a new
building on campus. The normal implications will be in place for change managers affected.
Courses are added to the curriculum frequently, so the change does not carry severe implications.

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Segment II
Section A
Force Field Analysis
Most Important Force
Student interest is by far the most important force; their interest level is our bottom line,
without it our idea will not be successful.
Key Positive Driving forces
• Increases Competitive edge because other schools already have a similar course
• Can lead to higher retention & job placement rates if course objectives are achieved
Key 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 through assessment (surveys, etc.)
• Prove the practicality of the course to the curriculum because it is directly aligned with
Nichols core values
(Force Field Analysis chart below)

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RESTRAINING FORCES
DRIVING FORCES
SWOT Analysis
The following is a SWOT analysis of our change. One of the key strengths of our course
is its objectives are directly aligned with Nichol’s mission and objectives, making it a practical
addition to the program. Another key strength is the need for a course like ours in the current
PROBLEM: There is a need for a course here at Nichols College teaching financial
basics that college students are just assumed to know
Students
whoalready
knowthe
material
RANK:7
Low
Student
Interest
RANK:2
Stakeholder
Opposition
(fear)
RANK:4
Staffing
Issues
RANK:8
RANK:1
High
Student
Interest
RANK:5
Higher
Retention/Job
Placement
Rates
RANK:3
Increase in
Competitive
Edge
RANK:6
Better
Reputation

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curriculum, by addressing the needs of students. A potential weakness is there was a previous
rejection of a course similar to ours a few years ago. In addition, curriculum space is extremely
limited, so the curriculum committee needs to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt the course
will be a success. There are some great opportunities for this new course that can be very
promising for Nichols if they choose to implement the change. The addition of this course can
increase the school’s competiveness over the schools who do not offer a similar course. This in
turn, can attract more potential students to invest in an education through Nichols College. Our
course can also possibly improve future retention and job placement rates, if the course
objectives are accomplished. A major threat to our proposal is low student interest in the course.
Student interest is our bottom line, if we cannot gain their interest, then our idea is not possible.
Likewise, if our course proves to fall short of meeting its own objectives, then it will prove to be
non-essential to the curriculum and will be dropped.
STRENGTHS
- Directlyalignedw/Nichols
objectives
-Needforthe course
WEAKNESSES
-previousfailure
-limitedcurriculumspace
OPPURTUNITIES
-increasescompetitiveness
-improve retention&jobplacement
THREATS
-Low studentinterest
-Failure tomeetobjectives

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Section B
Analysis of Change
Adding a new course here at Nichols is an incremental change that requires a great deal
of attention to all the fine details of the several components of the change itself. An important
component to analyze is the stakeholders in this situation and how they are affected by the
change. This new course will greatly affect students at Nichols College because they are the
ones that will experience it first-hand by signing up for the course. The faculty is also affected in
several ways by adding a whole new course to the curriculum. By analyzing all of the functional
areas of the change it brings clarity to how realistic this change really is and outlines possible
outcomes, both positive and negative.
Affect on Student Body
The stakeholder who is most directly affected by the addition of a brand new course at
Nichols is the student body. The student body ultimately fuels the college itself because without
any students means there is no college. This being said, the student body holds a large capacity
to influence the change. With the addition of a new practical course to the curriculum, students
have more options to customize their education and gain the knowledge that they want to gain.
Diversifying the course list allows students to pick a course they actually want to take, instead of
them picking a course they are stuck with and do not wish to take. If a student is stuck in a class
like that then they will most likely give minimal effort and receive a lower mark. Not only are
current students affected by this change, but prospective students could see that this type of
course is offered and it could potentially affect their decision to attend Nichols College. With
more course options offered other courses that would normally be filled have more availability.

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No student wants to be left out of a course and course availability is important to the student
body.
Affect on Faculty
The faculty at Nichols is another important stakeholder in this analysis because without
any faculty to teach the new course, then there will not be a new course. After talking with a few
professors each our group found out that some professors would actually like to teach more
classes. This answer was not across the board a yes, but there is a good enough faculty interest
in picking up a new course to fuel this idea further. A new course also gives the opportunity for
a brand new professor to land a job and gain experience as a professor. A current professor also
could diversify their own knowledge by stepping out of their comfort zone and teaching a course
they have never taught before. A new course however, can also be detrimental to some
professors if they are losing students to a new course, then they could be potentially dropped
from teaching a course.
Affect on Facilities
Coupled with a new course arrival is the need for a classroom the class will take place in,
there are several options available in order to deal with this problem. Currently a new academic
building is being built on campus next to Davis hall. This could potentially be perfect because if
they have some empty rooms they need to fill with all the extra space then the new course is
extremely helpful by filling the void. And since this course is offered for any year student; if a
freshman takes it and have class in a brand new building they will have a better experience than
if they were stuck in an old classroom, making them more likely to come back the following

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year. If there is no room in the new building then the next options down the line are to hold the
new course in either Academy or Davis, the main academic buildings on campus. Space is
limited in these buildings but there could potentially be a few open time slots for a new course.
If all else fails and all three of those buildings are unavailable, then there are still plenty of
options left on the table. There is classroom space in Conant, the Library, and in the Fels
Student Center. The great part about our change is that it will not require the building of any
new facilities, which takes the cost right out of the equation. This is a huge selling point to our
argument and makes the change much easier to implement.
Cost of Change
The cost of a change is perhaps one of the most crucial components of the analysis
because ultimately if a change costs a lot of money to implement then regardless of how good
the idea is, it will not be accepted. Fortunately, our change has very low costs attached to it. A
major expense is avoided due to the fact that no new facility needs to be built in order to
accommodate for our change. Another crucial point to keep in mind is that if a full-time
professor at Nichols takes the new course to teach, then that means there is no cost for the
course. This is due to the fact that a full-time professor is paid based on a previously negotiated
yearly salary with benefits and not paid by the amount of courses that they teach. If however, a
new teacher is needed then the college can hire an adjunct professor that is much less expensive
than hiring a full-time professor. An adjunct is a part time professor who is paid by the course.
They are paid anywhere from around $2,000 to $5,000 per course, whereas a full-time professor
with tenure is paid around $80,000. Colleges hire adjunct professor to save a lot of money
because it is much cheaper for them to hire three or four adjuncts, rather than one full-time
professor. So if an adjunct was hired to teach the new course it would not cost the college much

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beyond a few thousand dollars. If a current full-time professor taught the course then there
would be no additional costs involved with the change.
Funding the Change
A huge obstacle with most plans for change is finding sources of fundraising for the
project. What makes our change unique is that, there is no outside fundraising required. For
example, most sources of funding consist of; alumni donations, fundraisers, and grant money.
Our change has no additional costs if an adjunct professor is not teaching the course.
Technically, the change is funded through generated through yearly college revenue as is any
other course and is part of regular yearly expenses. This change then comes with no additional
cost to the college to implement.
Affect on Programs
When an incremental change is introduced to an organization, it is followed by several
other changes resulting from making the change. Nichols College is made up of a system of
cooperating programs that are all affected by one another. Day Student Academics are affected
directly by this change. Since a new course is being added some changes need to take place
within the program in order for it to operate functionally. An assigned classroom for the course
needs to planned, as well as finding a professor to teach it. A time needs to be chosen and
reserved in the daily schedule. This could cause other courses to change their time or move their
classroom location. GPS on the other hand is not directly affected by the change. The course is
an undergraduate course and it’s time slot will not affect graduate studies that take place later on
in the day. Athletes will be affected if the course falls at a later time, due to the fact they cannot
schedule late classes because of conflicting practice schedules. Some clubs her on campus might

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see some of the affects of this change. It is another time and scheduling issue, if they have a club
meeting and the class falls at the time or uses the classroom they meet in, then some issues may
arise. Most all of the programs are affected because of timing, location, and scheduling issues.
Not all programs are affected negatively by the change, some actually benefit from the
change and others are unaffected by it. Student Services such as the ARC could potentially be
affected by this change. If a student has an ARC appointment and this class meets at that time
then it has to be scheduled around. If this class has a high level interest then Admissions will see
a rise in incoming students by building the college’s academic reputation.
Segment III
Section A
Reasons for Resistance
With any change brought into any organization there will always be some type of
resistance to it. There can be many factors that fuel this resistance ranging from plain human
nature to fear. It is not just limited to these factors, even personal self-interest of the employees
within the organization and many others are enough to build up a resisting force to the change.
However this resistance is caused, it is still a hurdle in the road for implementation and needs to
be addressed for further understanding. In order to move forward into the implementation stage
this resistance will be clearly outlined, then a plan to overcome it needs to be formulated to get
this change on course for implementation.
Human Nature Factors

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Change is the act of becoming different, with this break from the norm comes the
common reaction of resistance. It is in human nature to resist change and this is precisely why a
change no matter how big or small can be a challenge for an organization to implement. People
like to stay in the same habits and on the same schedule that they normally perform. This is why
change becomes such a red flag because it interferes with the comfort of normal operation. This
being said, not all changes cause as big as a problem because smaller changes have a smaller
area of impact within the organization. It is the second order changes that cause a much bigger
resistance due to the magnitude of the change. Incremental changes such as first order changes
do not affect as many members within an organization, but even though they are relatively small
changes they still will have affected stakeholders that will be in favor or against.
Self-Interest Factors
Resistance can stem from an organization consensus about the change and can sometimes
be a conflict of self-interest between some employees within the organization. Decisions should
always be made for the good of the organization, but it does not always happen that way. This
conflict of interest is more likely to occur in bigger organizational changes. Since the change
packs a bigger punch, those on the bad end of scenarios will undoubtedly fight the change
fiercely. This can sometimes even divide a company, for example when a merger or divestiture
occurs within an organization, some of the higher up employees will benefit from the change but
lower employees in the hierarchy could experience a lot more negatives than positives. This is
not as much of an issue with a smaller first order change. By adding a new course at Nichols
there will not be any conflicts of interest. New courses get added frequently and the

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repercussions are not as severe as a second order change would be. This will not be a problem
for this change but some other factors will have a stronger effect on resistance.
Fear Factor
Fear is a major factor in any change; there is always a fear of the unknown when
predicting the outcome a change will have on the organization. The bigger the risk, the bigger
the fear will be in making the change. Fear of failure can cripple an idea and cause a great deal
of uncertainty, causing a much stronger resisting force. There is a fear of failure coupled with
implementing a new course. There is fear of low student interest in the course and if it did not
have enough interest it would be dropped from the curriculum. In addition to that, there is a fear
of a low retention rate after implementing the course.
Retention rates are vital to the college and this can determine if the school receives more
funding or not. Retaining students generates more revenue for the college because the returning
students are paying for an education at Nichols and not at another school. Our current freshman
retention rate is 63%, which is considered fairly low. With the implementation of a new course,
it is unknown if students will like it or not. Having a course that lacks student appeal can cause
this rate to drop even more, which generates this fear.
Section B
Plan to Overcome Resistance
In order to deal with resisting forces a plan of action needs to be formulated to overcome
some factors. This can be done through a number of potential programs or procedures. Each
stakeholder in this process will be taken into account this way there is minimal resistance,
making implementation more of a reality.

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Programs
Our group brainstormed and then refined a list of potential programs that could be put
into action to cut down resistance greatly. The first potential program is creating a web page
with full information on the course idea and then advertising the course in the school newsletter
the “Bison Beat”. This would create much needed exposure to the idea and could potentially
attract a successful interest level. Just by knowing how many students have visited the webpage;
this can provide vital data to get a barometer of the level of interest, before making any
implementation decisions. Social media will also be a vital program for the course success
because it is an extremely effective tool for reaching out to students.
The other approach we could take on this would be to hold a presentation of the idea in
the Fels Center that explains the concept of the new course and could reach out to potential
students willing to sign up. It would also give faculty, enrollment/retention office, and
curriculum committee members to gain insight on the situation. The presentation would explain
the general concept of the course and emphasize the fact that learning this foundation could help
each student have greater success in their future courses and employment by retaining more
information. This could address each stakeholder in the process all in one sitting, making this
potentially a valuable resource in evolving this plan into the implementation stages.
Processes
A few processes that go hand-in-hand with the previously mentioned programs were
developed by our group to have a more data-driven approach. Conducting a student survey is a
free and could given an actual number of students interested in the new course. This survey
should be conducted after a presentation or web page has been produced because there will be

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more feedback than giving a blind survey. Students would be more apt to participate in the
survey if they were previously interested; otherwise most students would most likely ignore the
survey.
Along with a student survey, there needs to be a faculty wide survey sent out to
determine if the course is practical. In addition, our group will have to contact important
stakeholders yielding high power such as William Boffi and the entire Office of Enrollment and
Retention. Their feedback paired with survey results will further cut down even more resistance
in the process.
Communications Strategy
Communication between our group and the stakeholders involved is vital in order to
progress even further with the course idea. There are plenty of strategies our group can adopt to
get the idea exposure and will have zero cost at all. Each group member can reach out to friends
with information about the course. If each member can get at least one person interested enough
to sign-up as well as recruit more students, then the idea will have no problem growing into a
reality. This is great networking practice for not only our group but all the other students
involved as well. This concept of hands-on application of business skills is aligned directly with
Nichols vision for student experience.
If the course becomes implemented then more hands-on skills will be learned and
practice with the business simulation portion of the course. By gaining valuable experience
before even entering the workplace, this would put Nichols college students at an advantage over
students from other colleges that do not offer the same experience. This helps job placement

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rates because a reputation of graduating experienced and prepared students spreads throughout
companies. This in turn could attract more companies into recruiting from Nichols and by more
companies recruiting means that more students will be hired, increasing job placement rates.
This rate is extremely important because this can lead to more funding, leading to further
improvement and advancement for Nichols College as a whole.
Communication plays a huge role in cutting down resistance because reaching out to all
the stakeholders involved will provide clues to whether or not the idea will be practical to
implement. Receiving direct feedback from stakeholders carrying the most power combined
with statistical data to back up our proposal for change will carry this idea finally into the
implementation stage of the process.

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Segment IV
Section A
Implementation Strategy
In order for our proposed course to become implemented into the curriculum, there is a
specific process that our group needs to undergo to make this a reality. We have formulated a
nine step plan that, if all steps go as planned, and then would add our course to the course
catalog. The course would most likely be listed as a General Education course, but if one of the
officials involved in the process feels it necessary to be categorized as something different then
that is a possibility. The name of the course that would appear in the catalog would be BUS202-
The Real World of Business.
Our Nine Step Plan
Step 1
The first step in implementing our plan is to obtain approval in the respected department of the
course. Our group plans to has this offered as a General Education course, but could also be later
changed to a Finance course. This approval would need to be a signature from a current
professor in the course field. This would take no longer than one day to accomplish this step.
Step 2
The second step would be to prepare a formal curriculum change form. In order to prepare this
form, we would need to present the approval signature in order to be granted access to a proposal
form. This step would take approximately one to two days to complete, depending on the length
of the form.
Step 3

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Once the proposal has been completed, two more important actions need to happen to carry the
implementation to the next step. First, the department chair would need to approve and then sign
the completed proposal. Then once this is done, the approved proposal form is then passed on to
the Curriculum Committee for review. This could take anywhere from one day to three days
depending on how fast it is signed and delivered to the Curriculum Committee.
Step 4
Once the proposal makes its way to the Curriculum Committee, the Curriculum Committee Chair
(Dr. Jay Price) officially schedules a time and date for it to be reviewed and later determined as
passed or rejected. The time it could take for this step to be implemented would all depend on
how busy the Curriculum Committee is and could take anywhere from one week to two weeks
depending on how long it takes to get processed.
Step 5
If the course proposal is approved then the Curriculum Committee Chair (Dr. Jay Price) sends
the approved proposal to the Dean for review. This step would take anywhere from one to seven
days to implement.
Step 6
If the proposal is approved by the Dean, then four copies of the proposal are sent to the
Curriculum Manager for review. This would take around a week for the Curriculum Manager to
accurately review and make any revisions necessary.
Step 7

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After the proposal has been checked for completeness by the Curriculum Manager, then the
Curriculum Manager forwards the proposal to the faculty senate office for review by the
Committee to Oversee General Education. Then once it is approved, the proposal is sent back to
the Curriculum Manager for a final review. This step could take anywhere from one to nine days
to implement.
Step 8
Once the final review has taken place and the proposal is revised and edited of all errors, then it
is sent to the Catalog Editor. This step will take anywhere from three to four days to implement.
Step 9
The Catalog Editor finally adds the course to the course catalog to be available to students for
selection for the next semester selection. This step will only take one day to complete the course
addition procedure.
This nine step plan if all approvals are passed successfully at each step, would take from
a minimum of 23 days to complete or a maximum of 48 days to successfully implement. This in
approximation and can fluctuate depending on factors such as; busy agendas, delays in
communication, and depending on what time of the year this plan is set into action.
Section B
Impact on Vision and Mission
The vision and mission statements of Nichols College are aligned with the core goals and
objectives of our new course. In order to better understand how this course aligns with the
mission of Nichols College, it is important that we first take a look at the current mission
statement of Nichols.

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Mission Statement
“Within a supportive community, Nichols College transforms today’s students into tomorrow’s
leaders through a dynamic, career-focused business and professional education.”
Our course is directly aligned with the mission of Nichols College. The second
component of our course is a real-world business simulation that better prepares students for not
only their prior courses, but for their business career as well. This is a major team project that
builds very critical foundation skills such as teamwork and public speaking. These skills are
critical for a student’s success here at Nichols because almost every single course offered
requires a student to be able to speak publically and work efficiently with a team. This was the
whole idea behind the initial creation of the course; our group saw it necessary to develop these
critical skills, by building a solid foundation before they were needed in other courses.
Vision Statement
“Nichols College is a college of choice for business and leadership education as a result of its
distinctive career-focused and leadership-based approaches to learning, both in and out of the
classroom.”
The vision of Nichols College is to prepare students the most possible for the business
world. What better way to prepare students than to put them in a simulated business
environment in just their first year at school. It builds a strong foundation for every other
experience after their course. Such as, giving them a taste of what the Nichols experience is,
preparing them for group projects to come in later courses, and preparing them for the
atmosphere they will be working in after their four years are up. When asking Kerry Calnan
(the Executive Director of Graduate and Professional Studies) about how the course aligned with

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Nichol’s mission, she said it appears to fit nicely with the mission statement. Kerry handles
graduate and professional studies, but is an important official here at Nichols and provided vital
feedback and insight on the course idea. William Boffi the Associate Vice President of
Enrollment and Retention also thought the idea was a good one due to it’s close alignment with
the school’s vision.
Section C
Communication Plan
Our group strategy in communicating our plan to stakeholders, our group will emphasize
that our course has objectives that closely align with Nichol’s vision and core objectives. The
purpose of our new course “The Real World of Business” is to develop a course that teaches first
year students practical financial information, engages students in a real-world business
environment to build a strong foundation of both skills and knowledge to better prepare students
for their future courses as well as later on in the professions. Nichols College has a strong focus
on offering a career-focused education and our course adds to this notion by reinforcing career
skills early on.
Now let’s consider some important statistics of Nichols College that reflect this focus.
Nichols College is ranked 9th in U.S. News and World Report 2014 Best Colleges in the north.
Nichols is also ranked 7th nationally among business schools for ROI (Return on Investment) by
Payscale.com. 93% of Nichols 2013 graduates were employed or in a graduate program six
months after graduation. Retention and placement rates are also vital to the college and can
determine how much yearly funding is added. These rates are also huge selling points when

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advertising for the school, and higher rates means more students applying. Our course will help
achieve higher retention and placement ratings by giving students the knowledge and skills
needed for the professional world early on in their academic career.
Nichols also has a strong focus in building business leader, as well as holding a good
reputation for developing leaders for tomorrow. 4 in 10 Nichols graduates become a president,
CEO or business owner. Believing that leadership is vital and should be discovered, cultivated,
and celebrated, Nichols College encourages the leadership potential in all of its students through
experiential learning, hands-on opportunities, and individualized mentoring. Our course will
give aspiring leaders a vital opportunity to put their leadership skills to the test through the
business simulation in our course. By building this foundation of important firsthand experience
of leadership skills our course will hone skills early on and cultivate it to allow students to reach
their highest potential in both their courses and their careers.
Message to Internal Stakeholders
Our group’s message to the internal stakeholders would be addressed to; the faculty at
Nichols College, the Curriculum Committee, the Curriculum Committee Chair (Dr. Jay Price),
the Curriculum Manager, the Dean of Students, the Catalog Editor, all professors involved, and
the respected Department Chair. Our message is simply that our course proposal is closely
aligned with Nichol’s College vision and mission statement and has core learning objectives and
values that are the main focus of the educational experience here at Nichols. It will build a
strong foundation that will better the retention and placement of students at Nichols College both
in their education over the course of four years, as well as in their careers.

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Message to External Stakeholders
The message we will get across to the external stakeholders will be very similar. The
external stakeholders in this situation are both the current students at Nichols College and the
prospected future students of Nichols College. Our message to the students will be our course
provides both practical financial knowledge, and hands-on experience in the business world that
will prove to be vital for them in both their years at Nichols and their careers after.
Media Tools
In order to reach out to stakeholders both internal and external, our group will aid the
implementation of our course idea by utilizing a few media tools. We will advertise an
information session to be held in the Fels Center with free food, it will describe the objectives
our new course and raise awareness and an early interest level in the course. To further spark
student’s interest and find out the practicality of our course we will also implement two separate
surveys. One will go out to students, the other to the faculty at Nichols College. This way we
can get a greater sense of interest level from students, while at the same time, getting a sense of
how much of the faculty is in favor of the idea. We will advertise the info session through the
school newsletter (the Bison Beat), as well as create a web page with any information regarding
the new course idea. This will all help once our course is in the implementation process and
brought before the Curriculum Committee for review. This will help argue in favor of our case
and could be a vital part of the implementation process. Another media tool we could use is
creating flyers and brochures to be offered in various locations all over campus. They will be
placed in the library, Lombard, Conant, Academy, Davis, and the Fels Center. This will build
student interest and inform students that would potentially sign up for the course.

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Budget
Our course proposal has a low budget to implement. The main cost of our proposal
comes from our media tools that will be used to reach out to stakeholders. Here is a bulleted
breakdown of the costs our group will encounter:
 $100- for food that will be provided at the info session in the Fels Center
 $50- for five months of having a published web page
 $50- for material and ink costs for creating brochures and flyers
Total Cost: $200

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Segment V
Section A
Consolidation
In order to consolidate our course after implementation, our group will need to prove the
practicality of our course and why it should remain in the curriculum. To do this, we came up
with a consolidation plan (see below) that includes a timetable of action steps taken. Once we
have proved that the course is practical, the focus shifts towards improving the course as much as
possible. It is crucial that we maintain a high level of student interest to be able to solidify the
course each semester, so continual promotion will be a vital component of success in
consolidation. By addressing and improving upon weaknesses after each semester, it improves
the efficiency of the course and increases the chances of it remaining within curriculum. Our
assessments, which will be talked about in more detail in the next section, will provide us with
necessary feedback to be able to make needed adjustments to the course.
Consolidation Plan
I. Review Assessments: approximately 1 week (this step takes place upon completion of
course for the semester)
a. These assessments include: surveys, SIR’s & supplement, final exams & projects,
& student reflections
b. The results provide vital feedback & point out weaknesses
II. Address Weaknesses:approximately 1 week
a. Point out areas of weakness and needs of the course
III. Make Necessary Revisions: approximately 1-2 weeks
a. Adjust the course where necessary

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IV. Promote the Course: approximately 1 week
a. Promote the course to Nichols students through current programs
b. Develop new methods of promotion to better reach students
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION TIME: 4-5 weeks (winter break is 5 weeks long)
Plan to Avoid Pitfalls
With any plan of action, unexpected pitfalls can occur and can cripple an idea if there is
not a backup plan in place to deal with these setbacks. Our group has come up with some
anticipated pitfalls and have come up with a backup plan, in the event of a pitfall occurring. If
the current assessments are either not helpful or unclear, we plan on implementing more
effective assessment methods. This can include new surveys or assignments and can even be a
completely different approach to assessment. Another possible pitfall would be having a
tremendous amount of revision required. To combat this, we assigned this step a larger time
cushion for precisely this reason. Even if revisions exceed the allocated time period, it is the
most labor intensive step and leftover time from previous steps can be added to the duration.
Finally, if our promotions are ineffective and fail to reach out to students, we can add new
promotional programs, or change our promotional strategy. Having these backup plans in place
is vital because there will be problems faced along the way, so by preparing for the worst we can
handle pitfalls and adapt to move past them.

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Section B
Assessment
Assessment of Course Objectives
OBJECTIVES
I. Build foundation of
knowledge/skills in Business &
Finance essentials by cementing
important concepts, terminology, &
skills
ASSESSMENT METHODS
 MID-TERM & FINAL EXAMS
 TERMINOLOGY QUIZZES
 INDIVIDUAL FINAL PAPER
II. Offer practice, reinforcement, &
expertise early on valuable for
student growth & development
 CHAPTER QUIZZES
 INDIVIDUAL FINAL PAPER
 CRITICAL CASES
III. Increase college retention & job
placement rates by preparing
students for future courses &
careers
 GROUP PROJECT (BizCafe)
 MID-TERM & FINAL EXAMS
 INDIVIDUAL FINAL PAPER
IV. Cultivate student talent & help
develop/strengthen student needs to
transform students into career-
focused professionals
 GROUP PROJECT (BizCafe)
 GROUP ASSESSMENTS
 CRITICAL CASES
V. Provide a non-
threatening/nurturing learning
environment that empowers
students to gain confidence, skill,
& knowledge
 GROUP PROJECTS
 GROUP ASSESSMENTS
Method Descriptions
I. Student Surveys
a. Important feedback on course
II. SIR’s & Supplement

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a. Important feedback on course
III. Chapter & Terminology Quizzes
a. Reinforces important course concepts
IV. Mid-Term & Final Exams
a. Reinforces course concepts
b. Solidifies foundation of knowledge & skills
V. Group Project
a. Reinforces course concepts
b. Cultivates talent
c. Provides nurturing environment
VI. Group Assessments
a. Provides nurturing environment
b. Feedback for students
VII. Critical Cases
a. Reinforces course concepts
b. Cultivates talent
VIII. Individual Final Paper
a. Important feedback on course
b. Solidifies foundation of knowledge & skills
c. Reinforces important course concepts

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Developed Assessment Instrument
Self-Assessment Instrument
An instrument our group has developed to further assess the success of our course is a
self-assessment questionnaire. This simple quiz will assess their level of knowledge on concepts
taught in the course. It will also assess their ability level of business skills practiced throughout
the semester. If the results prove students gained an adequate level of knowledge and
improvement, then our course can be considered a success. By achieving course objectives, it
proves that the course is practical and deserves to remain in the curriculum.
Importance to Stakeholders
I. Curriculum Committee
a. Course Success= practical addition to curriculum
II. Students
a. Course Success= foundation for future courses & development of skills
III. Professor Westerling
a. Course Success= practical addition to business program
IV. Bill Boffi
a. Course Success= improvement of retention & job placement rates