The following general business courses are offered to all students in the School of Business Administration.
Lower Division
This introduction t o business class is designed for first-year students who wish to explore the majors and concentrations available in the School of Business, to examine careers in business, to learn more about business education in a Jesuit tradition, and to begin preparing for a career.
This course introduces students to an integrated set of software tools to solve business problems and to communicate results. Students learn the tools available in the Microsoft Office Suite to enter, manipulate and analyze data in spreadsheets, database systems, presentation software, Internet facilities to help improve problem-solving skills and enhance productivity. Additionally, students will learn about file management systems and operating systems. Classroom lectures and hands-on computer use are employed to enhance learning.
Topic to be decided by faculty.
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces new Gonzaga students to the University, the Core Curriculum, and Gonzaga’s Jesuit mission and heritage. While the seminars will be taught by faculty with expertise in particular disciplines, topics will be addressed in a way that illustrates approaches and methods of different academic disciplines. The seminar format of the course highlights the participatory character of university life, emphasizing that learning is an active, collegial process.
This course introduces business students to the terminology, uses and underlying theory in the areas of data summarization and description, basic probability concepts and distributions, sampling methods and sampling distribution, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, regression and correlation, and nonparametric methods. The course improves the student's awareness and ability in incorporating statistical considerations into the decision-making process and provides them with experience in using statistical software to assist in the quantitative analysis of business problems. Fall and Spring.
Prerequisite:
BUSN 111 Minimum Grade: D
and MATH 114 Minimum Grade: D
These one-credit special topics courses teach students skills for thriving inside and outside the workplace. The courses are typically taught on weekends several times a semester.
This course addresses the legal fundamentals in running a business with particular attention to contracts, partnerships, corporations, property, commercial paper, securities, and the regulatory environment. Fall and Spring.
DECA conferences provide opportunities for students to grow both personally and professionally through leadership development, competitive events, and community involvement. DECA conferences challenge students to incorporate leadership and problem-solving skills in four career clusters: Marketing, Business Management, Finance, and Hospitality. This course is designed to prepare student for the regional (PNCDC) conference, by integrating the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom into real world experiences.
Topic to be decided by faculty
Upper Division
Topic to be decided by faculty.
The course will examine the emerging practice of Sustainable Business. Coverage begins with an investigation as to why the "standard" business model may not be sustainable, including such topics as market failures, externalities, agency problems, short-termism, and the commons problem. Spring.
Prerequisite:
ECON 201 Minimum Grade: D
The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) engages the Year Four Question: “Imagining the possible: What is our role in the world?” by offering students a culminating seminar experience in which students integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the Core, and their disciplinary expertise. Each section of the course will focus on a problem or issue raised by the contemporary world that encourages integration, collaboration, and problem solving. The topic for each section of the course will be proposed and developed by each faculty member in a way that clearly connects to the Jesuit Mission, to multiple disciplinary perspectives, and to our students’ future role in the world.
This is a project-based course designed to give hands-on, real world experience on one or more projects for businesses in our community. These projects could include developing a branding strategy, designing a compensation system, or evaluating a new idea or opportunity. The projects cross all areas of organizational life and will require student teams to bring a variety of skills and knowledge bases to the work.
This 3-credit course, to be taken during the student's senior year, is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of addressing ethical issues which arise in all aspects of business and in the interface between business activity and institutions, and the larger society which they serve. The theme of the course is that "business" is an inherently ethical practice, one which is governed by moral norms that shape the very purpose and nature of business activity and institutions, not an "add on" or a "second bottom line." Fall and Spring.
A capstone course that introduces strategic management concepts and practices and integrates functional areas in a broad systems-perspective approach to organizational challenges. The primary instructional tool is case analysis. Consideration is given to the international context of strategic management and to the ethical dimensions of decision-making crucial to effective strategy formulation and implementation. Fall and Spring.
DECA conferences provide opportunities for students to grow both personally and professionally through leadership development, competitive events, and community involvement. DECA conferences challenge students to incorporate leadership and problem-solving skills in four career clusters: Marketing, Business Management, Finance, and Hospitality. This course is designed to prepare student for the international (ICDC) conference, by integrating the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom into real world experiences.
Topics and credit by arrangement.
This course focuses on integrating advanced topics and/or best practices from different disciplines. The course content varies over time to reflect leading-edge concepts and practices (e.g., business ethics, quality management and international standards, technology infrastructure, e-business strategy, etc.). Courses often involve a large-scale team project. May be repeated up to a maximum of six credits.
Directed study requires completion of an application form and departmental permission. Zagweb registration not available. Summer only.
This course integrates business principles with business practices. Topics include assessing industry attractiveness, environment analysis, market segmentation, demand forecasting, product development, operations, financial analysis, control mechanisms, contingency planning, and implementation strategies. The preparation of a business plan is also a required component of the course as well as weekly written assignments. This course may be used to satisfy three credits of Integrative courses.
Prerequisite:
BFIN 320 Minimum Grade: D
and MGMT 350 Minimum Grade: D
and MKTG 310 Minimum Grade: D
and OPER 340 Minimum Grade: D
Practicum in providing management assistance to businesses and non-profit organizations in marketing, management, finance, accounting, information systems operations and related case problems. The course will also examine the management of the consulting process and the role of the consultant as an agent for organizational change. This course will satisfy three credits of the experiential major requirement. Permission required. Zagweb registration not available.
Work experience directly related to the student's major and area of concentration. Guidelines are available from the Internship Director. Zagweb registration not available. Fall, Spring, and Summer.
In addition to their major and minor areas of study, all undergraduate students follow a common program designed to complete their education in those areas that the University considers essential for a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal, and humanistic education. The University Core Curriculum consists of forty-five credits of course work, with additional designation requirements that can be met through core, major, or elective courses.
The University Core Curriculum is a four-year program, organized around one overarching question, which is progressively addressed through yearly themes and questions. Hence, core courses are best taken within the year for which they are designated. First year core courses encourage intellectual engagement and provide a broad foundation of fundamental skills. Second and third year courses examine central issues and questions in philosophy and religious studies. The fourth year course, the Core Integration Seminar, offers a culminating core experience. Taken at any time throughout the four years, broadening courses intersect with the core themes and extend students’ appreciation for the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Finally, the designation requirements (writing enriched, global studies, and social justice) reflect important values and reinforce students’ knowledge and competencies.
Overarching Core Question: As students of a Catholic, Jesuit, and Humanistic University, how do we educate ourselves to become women and men for a more just and humane global community?
Year 1 Theme and Question: Understanding and Creating: How do we pursue knowledge and cultivate understanding?
- The First-Year Seminar (DEPT 193, 3 credits): The First-Year Seminar (FYS), taken in the fall or spring of the first year, is designed to promote an intellectual shift in students as they transition to college academic life. Each small seminar is organized around an engaging topic, which students explore from multiple perspectives. The FYS is offered by many departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of FYS courses).
- Writing (ENGL 101, 3 credits) and Reasoning (PHIL 101, 3 credits): The Writing and Reasoning courses are designed to help students develop the foundational skills of critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing. They may be taken as linked sections. Writing (ENGL 101) carries one of the three required writing-enriched designations (see below).
- Communication & Speech (COMM 100, 3 credits): This course introduces students to interpersonal and small group communication and requires the application of critical thinking, reasoning, and research skills necessary to organize, write, and present several speeches.
- Scientific Inquiry (BIOL 104/104L, CHEM 104/104L, or PHYS 104/104L, 3 credits): This course explores the scientific process in the natural world through evidence-based logic and includes significant laboratory experience. Students pursuing majors that require science courses will satisfy this requirement through their major.
- Mathematics (above Math 100, 3 credits): Mathematics courses promote thinking according to the modes of the discipline—abstractly, symbolically, logically, and computationally. One course in mathematics, above Math 100, including any math course required for a major or minor, will fulfill this requirement. MATH 100 (College Algebra) and courses without the MATH prefix do not fulfill this requirement.
Year 2 Theme and Question: Being and Becoming: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?
- Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201, 3 credits): This course provides students with a philosophical study of key figures, theories, and intellectual traditions that contribute to understanding the human condition; the meaning and dignity of human life; and the human relationship to ultimate reality.
- Christianity and Catholic Traditions (RELI, 3 credits). Religious Studies core courses approved for this requirement explore diverse topics including Christian scriptures, history, theology, and practices as well as major contributions from the Catholic intellectual and theological traditions (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses) .
Year 3 Theme and Question: Caring and Doing: What principles characterize a well lived life?
- Ethics (PHIL 301 or RELI, 3 credits): The Ethics courses are designed to help students develop their moral imagination by exploring and explaining the reasons humans should care about the needs and interests of others. This requirement is satisfied by an approved ethics course in either Philosophy (PHIL 301) or Religious Studies (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- World/Comparative Religion (RELI, 3 credits): Religious Studies courses approved for this core requirement draw attention to the diversity that exists within and among traditions and encourage students to bring critical, analytical thinking to bear on the traditions and questions considered. These courses carries one of the required two global-studies designations (see below) (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
Year 4 Theme and Question: Imagining the Possible: What is our role in the world?”
- Core Integration Seminar (DEPT 432, 3 credits). The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) offers students a culminating core experience in which they integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the core, and their disciplinary expertise. Some CIS courses may also count toward a student’s major or minor. The CIS is offered by several departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of CIS courses).
The Broadening Courses
- Fine Arts & Design (VART, MUSC, THEA, 3 credits): Arts courses explore multiple ways the human experience can be expressed through creativity, including across different cultures and societies. One approved course in fine arts, music, theatre, or dance will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- History (HIST, 3 credits): History courses are intended to develop students’ awareness of the historical context of both the individual and the collective human experience. One course in History (HIST 101, HIST 102, HIST 112, HIST 201, HIST 202) will fulfill this requirement.
- Literature (3 credits): Literature courses foster reflection on how literature engages with a range of human experience. One approved course in Literature (offered by English, Classics, or Modern Languages) will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Social & Behavioral Sciences (3 credits): Courses in the social and behavioral sciences engage students in studying human behavior, social systems, and social issues. One approved course offered by Criminal Justice, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women and Gender Studies will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
The Designations
Designations are embedded within already existing core, major, minor, and elective courses. Students are encouraged to meet designation requirements within elective courses as their schedule allows; however, with careful planning students should be able to complete most of the designation requirements within other core, major, or minor courses.
- Writing Enriched (WE; 3 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the WE designation are designed to promote the humanistic and Jesuit pedagogical ideal of clear, effective communication. In addition to the required core course, Writing (ENGL 101), which carries one of the WE designations, students must take two other WE-designated courses (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Global-Studies (GS; 2 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the GS designation are designed to challenge students to perceive and understand human diversity by exploring diversity within a context of constantly changing global systems. In addition to the required core course, World/Comparative Religion (RELI 300-level), which carries one of the GS designations, students must take one other GS-designated course (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Social-Justice (SJ; 1 course meeting this designation): Courses carrying the SJ designation are designed to introduce students to one or more social justice concerns. Students must take one course that meets the SJ designation (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
Major-specific adaptations to the University Core Curriculum
All Gonzaga students, regardless of their major, will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements. However some Gonzaga students will satisfy certain core requirements through major-specific programs or courses. Any major-specific adaptations to the core are described with the requirements for the majors to which they apply.