2013 Student-Faculty Conference

Business, Economics and Management

Thursday February 14th, 20131:00 PM

153 Noyes

Committee Members

Faculty:

• Peter BossaertsWilliam D. Hacker Professor of Economics and Management and Professor of Finance

• Jean-Laurent RosenthalRea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics

Students:

• Misha RaffieeJunior, Student Chair

• Arjun ChandarSenior

• Michael PaluchniakJunior

• Benjamin RazonJunior

Discussion Topics• Identify issues within the BEM major

▫Overall option concerns▫Graduation requirements under new core▫Additional course topics

• Research and internship opportunities

• Option Considerations▫BEM club reestablishment▫Linde Institute of Economics and Management

Sciences▫Option Mentors

Overall Option Concerns

Primary Option Concerns

•Lack of student-faculty interaction▫Discussion indicates need for establishment of

a new faculty position

• Need more research opportunities in BEM▫Only 3 out of 33 survey respondents have done

economics SURFs▫No students have done research in any other

BEM areas (including finance)

• Few networking opportunities through Caltech channels

Curriculum Concerns

• Insufficient variety in elective offerings

•Large number of elective courses listed under BEM requirements are no longer offered

•Over half of the survey respondents indicate BEM coursework is too theoretical▫Major focus is too heavy on proofs of theoretical

finance▫Results suggest a larger focus on real data analysis

is needed

Faculty Concerns

•Not enough variety in graduation requirements▫Too heavy on finance▫Need for greater emphasis on competitive

strategy

•Inadequate faculty resources to offer more courses

•Too much dependence on a small number of faculty members to handle logistics

Graduation Requirements

Core Math Requirement

Ma 2 - Differential Equations

YesNo

Ma 3 - Probability & Statistics

YesNo

22/22 responders

fully support requiring Ma

314/20

responders, 70%

Undergraduate Recommendation: Require Ma 2 and Ma 3 as BEM graduation requirements

6/20responders,

30%

Programming Requirement

CS 1 – Introduction to Programming

YesNo

General Pro-gramming Re-

quirement

YesNo21/26

responders, 80.8%

Undergraduate Recommendation: Add CS1 or an approved programming equivalent as a

requirement

5/26responders,

19.2%

23/26 responders,

88.5%

3/26 responders,

11.5%

Elective Requirements

E 102 and E/ME 105

YesNo

22/22 responders

fully support requiring Ma

3

17/22 responders,

77.3%

Undergraduate Recommendation: Add E 102, E 103, and E/ME 105 as options to fulfill

graduation elective requirements

5/22 responders,

22.7%

• E/ME 105: Product Design for the Developing World

• E 102: Entrepreneurial Development

• Other course recommendations from survey: E 103 (Management of Technology)

Additional Course Topics•Respondents listed the following as topics

they would like to see included in BEM courses:▫ Consulting

▫ Strategy▫ Venture Capital▫ Marketing▫ Start-ups▫ Information systems▫ Web

marketing/Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

▫ Mathematical finance

▫ Sales▫ Analysis of

financial documents

▫ Institutional knowledge (knowledge of the finance industry)

Seminar Course – BEM 10• 20 of 21 responders (95%) recommend

offering a BEM seminar course• Directed towards freshmen and sophomores

▫ Aid in search for SURF projects and internships▫ Provide opportunity to meet professors▫ Give overview of BEM and help students select

major

• Survey recommendations:▫ Provide introduction to institutional knowledge

“Who are the players in finance? What are their roles?”

▫ Collaboration with the economics department▫ Bring in alumni and other outside professionals in

BEM fields

Research and Internships

BEM SURFs• All 3 of the BEM SURFs

done by undergrads were in Economics▫Interest expressed

about uncertainty around securing any type of SURF

▫Interest in other disciplines of BEM was mentioned

OtherBEM

13/16responders,

81.3%

3/16 responders,

18.8%

Undergraduate Recommendation: Expand research programs in BEM fields, encourage

BEM professors to take on SURF students, and educate undergrads about professors in BEM

areas other than economics

Internships• 14 of 30 have done

some internship▫Many responders

mentioned a very difficult time finding internships

• Recommendation:▫Stronger focus on

promoting and using connections to get BEM related companies to recruit on campus

Done a BEM/Fi-nance Related

Internship?

Yes

No25/30

responders, 83.3%

5/30responders,

16.7%

iNet Internship Network• Found online, other top universities are using

▫Exclusive▫Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, NYU,

Northwestern, Rice, Stanford, Penn, USC, and Yale▫Lists 1200 outstanding unique internship

opportunities as of 2/13

• Recommendation:▫Work closely with the Career Center to get

membership to this to expose students to many more opportunities being offered to other top students in the US

Additional Option

Considerations

BEM Club• Proposed club

responsibilities from survey results:▫Primary focus:

Networking▫Employment

opportunity announcements

▫Interview preparation▫Real-life trading

experience

YesNo23/29

responders, 79.3%

6/29 responders,

20.7%

Undergraduate Recommendation: Reestablish BEM Club through a possible partnership with

the Student Investment Fund

Linde Institute of Economics and Management Sciences

• Most undergraduates have never heard of the Linde Institute▫Even less have

utilized it

• Recommendation:▫Create email list for

all declared BEM majors Internship, research

opportunity, speaker, and networking event announcements

Awareness of the Linde Institute

Yes

No26/31

responders, 83.9%

5/31responders,

16.1%

Option Mentors

•Provide option related guidance▫Major requirements▫Course selection▫Advise undecided frosh

•Option socials▫Opportunity to meet people in your option, but

outside of your house and class

•Sign up▫Email any ARC rep (find us at arc.caltech.edu)

Recommendations

Graduation Requirements

• Have both Ma 2 and Ma 3 be BEM graduation requirements

• Add CS 1 or an approved programming equivalent as a requirement

• Add E 102, E 103, and E/ME 105 as options to fulfill graduation elective requirements

Improving Course Quality

• Emphasize more practical applications in course material

• Have additional office hours or opportunities for students to address questions

• Make use of Piazza as a resource for students to clarify problems

• Hire additional faculty to allow the possibility of offering a broader range of courses

Research and Internships• Expand research programs in BEM fields and

encourage BEM professors to take on SURF students▫ Creation of new faculty position▫ Advertisement of professors in BEM areas other

than economics

• Implement a stronger focus on promoting and use connections to get BEM related companies to recruit on campus

• Work closely with the Career Center to get membership to iNET to expose students to many more opportunities being offered to other top students in the US

Additional Recommendations•Reestablish BEM club with an emphasis

on networking

•Create email list for Linde Institute announcements for all declared BEM majors

•Option representative office hours

Closing Remarks

•Check out the new BEM website!www.bem.caltech.edu