College of Business to raise GPA standards
The high demand for College of Business programs at Utah State University has called for a raise in standards.
For students to reach advanced standing (official major status), they must complete the College of Business Prespecialization Core and at least 52 total semester credits, both with a 2.5 minimum grade point average.
Clifford Skousen, senior assistant dean in the College of Business, said this GPA requirement will increase to 2.67 beginning Spring Semester 2002. Students must have at least a 2.5 GPA to take prespecialization courses.
The restrictions will eliminate the weakest students from the courses and reduce the number of students served, he said.
“Last year, over 30 percent of the college’s classes had over 50 students,” Skousen said.
The college can no longer try to serve all students who want a College of Business major, he said.
The student-to-faculty ratio in the College of Business is 27-to-1, Skousen said. USU’s peer institutions average 19-to-1.
Hunter Checketts, a junior in the College of Business, said, “There are so many students in the classes that we don’t receive the one-on-one attention from the professors as you do in some of the other colleges on campus.”
The increased GPA requirement is good because it will make students work harder and improve the college reputation, he said.
Skousen said, “Students invest a lot in their education, and they deserve to have the highest quality experience we can give them.”
The increase will enhance the reputation of College of Business degrees, he said.
“We want to attract students who want to have successful business careers, who want to be scholars in their discipline and leaders in their profession and community,” Skousen said.
High-quality students, those who are prepared and motivated to maximize their learning experience, allow for an enhanced curriculum pedagogy and performance standards, Skousen said.
To accomplish this, the college is moving forward with an enrollment management plan to help assure the delivery of high-quality instruction and other educational opportunities, he said.
The college goal is to reduce the student-to-faculty ratio over the next five years, Skousen said.
“This may require further increases in the GPA requirements or other restrictions on enrollment, depending on student demand and number of new faculty positions the university is able to fund,” he said.
-lindseyp@cc.usu.edu