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

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PROBLEM: There is a need for a course here at Nichols College teaching financial basics that college students are just assumed to know

Students who already know the material

Low Student Interest

Stakeholder Opposition (fear)Staffing Issues

RANK: 1 RANK: 5

Higher Retention/Job

RANK: 3

RANK: 6

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.

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STRENGTHS

- Directly aligned w/ Nichols objectives

-Need for the course

WEAKNESSES

-previous failure

-limited curriculum space

OPPURTUNITIES

-increases competitiveness

-improve retention & job placement

THREATS

-Low student interest

-Failure to meet objectives

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

OBJECTIVESI. 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

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