Newswise — CANTON, N.Y. — St. Lawrence University has a new business major to offer its students, and faculty and administrators say it's a little different than the typical business-degree program.
The New York State Education Department recently approved the University's Business in the Liberal Arts major, allowing students to begin working toward the new degree as soon as this fall semester. However, unlike most business majors who earn a bachelor of science degree, St. Lawrence University students majoring in the new business-degree program will earn a bachelor of arts degree instead. Valerie Lehr, vice president and dean of academic affairs for St. Lawrence, said the new liberal arts business program is "unique" in several ways. "The program is actually a double major, meaning it's a major that requires another major in order for students to graduate with it," Lehr said. "Economics might be the most obvious degree program students would pair with it, but other complementary degrees might include philosophy, government, history, even performance and communication arts. The interdisciplinary nature of the program will provide students with a well-rounded background in the liberal arts, which will be useful for them as they set out to begin their careers." According to the program proposal, "leadership in business is rooted in one's ability to bring multiple ways of thinking to bear on a question, circumstance, or challenge." The major is rooted in the premise that "a liberally educated individual will bring to bear multiple perspectives and deploy multiple strategies in solving a wide variety of problems." Brian Chezum, associate professor of economics at St. Lawrence University and author of the program proposal, said that a typical business program is rooted in management, marketing, accounting, finance and economics. The marketing and management training, while not explicit in the new liberal arts business degree, are achieved in other ways. "We develop these fundamental skills through other courses already taught on campus, such as psychology, communication and sociology," Chezum said. "The best aspects of the program come from things we have already been doing here and do quite well." Chezum said that liberal arts focus of the new business degree program allows students to confront issues from multiple perspectives. "All of the things we do to teach students here at St. Lawrence are done to help them develop critical thinking skills," he said. "As we say in economics, we all have a comparative advantage. And so we try to develop the best skills in you, so you – the student – can find out what you do best." In addition to required courses, the Business in the Liberal Arts major will have a required experiential learning component, such as an off-campus internship or approved off-campus study, and students will need to complete elective courses that emphasize social responsibility, global citizenship, analytic thinking and social contexts.
About St. Lawrence University:
St. Lawrence University is a private, independent liberal arts institution of about 2,400 students. The educational opportunities at St. Lawrence inspire students and prepare them to be critical and creative thinkers, to find a compass for their lives and careers, and to pursue knowledge and understanding for the benefit of themselves, humanity and the planet. Through its focus on active engagement with ideas in and beyond the classroom, a St. Lawrence education leads students to make connections that transform lives and communities, from the local to the global.
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