Weber State University   

Business Administration 

Results of Assessment

Introduction and Background

This report’s purpose is to describe the recent activity in the Business Administration Department relative to the assessment of the department’s success in meeting school and department goals and objectives. The Business Administration Department houses six different areas of emphasis: Management, Human Resource Management, Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Business Administration.

Assessment of Specific Goals and Objectives

The educational goals and objectives that are sought after in the education of our Students, while aimed at the general goals and objectives of the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics, are tailored to fit the six individual areas of emphasis. For example, our intent for management and finance areas of emphasis is as follows:

Management - Prepares students to apply the knowledge and skills needed to design and maintain a productive work environment. This includes the study of leadership, team effectiveness, employee empowerment, communications, and other subjects associated with interpersonal and organizational effectiveness.

Finance - Students will learn to acquire, allocate, and control financial resources. This will include such topics as investments, portfolio theory, and security analysis.

Assessment of Skill Proficiency

The management faculty have developed a course that has a focus on eight managerial roles and twenty four managerial competencies embedded within those roles where some level of capability is necessary for success as a manager within any given organization over time. Each student is given an assessment exam at the beginning and end of each semester that evaluates their pre- and post-competency levels for each of the managerial roles and competencies focused on in the course. Following the post-assessment exam, each student develops and turns in a managerial competency development plan for evaluation.

The finance faculty members have implemented a plan for students pursuing a finance emphasis. They have identified nine skill areas in which they believe all students taking finance courses should have a basic level of proficiency. The faculty have developed a number of problem sets in each of the skill areas that are used to assess all students taking the financial management course. Each student is required to successfully complete a problem set in each of the nine skill areas. A student who is unsuccessful in completion of a problem set is given feedback about how to improve their performance and given an additional opportunity at successfully completing a similar problem set. Students are not allowed a passing grade in the course until they have successfully completed problem sets in all nine skill areas.

National Examinations

One of the most important assessments of goal and objective achievement in the Business Administration Department is national field exam developed by ETS that the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics gives every few years to its graduating students in the capstone course - BUSADM 4780. This assessment examination measures student competency in a number of business related areas that include management, legal environment and social issues, finance, marketing, and international business, all course areas taught within the Business Administration Department. ETS reports scores by percentiles indicating our students percentile rating as compared to all university business students in the United States taking the exam in a given year. This usually provides a comparison of approximately 500 schools each year.

The ETS percentile scores for individual subject area for 2001-2002 and 2006-2007 are as follows:

• The 2006-2007 ETS exam report used a five-point indicator with the 95^th percentile being the highest reported percentile level in the exam.

Placement

Another assessment that relates to goals and objectives within the Business Administration Department has to do with placement data on starting salaries of our graduating seniors. The following table provides beginning salary information for the last four years. Overall, the trend in starting salaries for our graduates is good.

Area of Emphasis	July 2007	July 2006	July 2005	July 2004
Finance	$36,000	$38,361	$47,286	$31,671
Human Resource Management	$37,933	$37,920	$37,400	$33,468
Supply Chain Management	$46,333	$46,829	$37,300	$45,006
Management	$40,375	$32,558	$37,188	$34,901
Marketing	$43,125	$38,256	$49,800	$35,457
Business Administration	$40,967	$36,000	$38,857	$38,308

Graduating Outcomes Survey Profile

A survey is administered to each graduating class by department. The students are asked to rate their experience overall with the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics. The results for students graduating with Business Administration degrees are very positive overall.

How would you rate the GSBE overall?	Excellent	Good	Average	Below Average
2006-2007	45.0%	53.3%	1.7%
2005-2006	42.3%	55.1%	2.6%
2004-2005	60.5%	39.5%
2003-2004	48.6%	46.7%	4.7%
2002-2003	34.6%	55.3%	8.8%	1.3%

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