The portrayal of Boston University’s School of Management and College of Communication in the article (‘COM, SMG cut minors’ services,’ March 4), as well as in the accompanying staff editorial (‘STAFF EDIT: More than a minor problem,’ March 4), is unfair. To suggest that these schools are somehow shortchanging minors by restricting career services to their own respective students fails to accurately assess the situation.
Much of what SMG’s Feld Career Center does is based upon corporate recruiting. The dedicated staff builds relationships with companies, often through SMG alumni, which seek out students who have gained specific knowledge and experience in areas such as finance, marketing, operations, etc. – that is to say, knowledge beyond that contained in the minor. Focusing efforts on preparing business students for the recruiting process, particularly as resources are more limited, is only fair to those who primarily depend upon them.
I hope my colleagues are aware of the Office of Career Services. This university-wide office provides much of the same information and many of the same services as the career centers of individual schools and colleges. Visit their website for guidance on resume and cover letter writing, visit their Deerfield Street office for in-person counseling and assistance, attend their many career fairs and information sessions, but please do not assume that SMG is hanging you out to dry because their targeted services are being focused on those to whom they most apply. As an SMG student, I make just as much use of many of the OCS’s services as I do my own school’s. To me, that is what President Robert Brown’s ‘One BU’ is about.
As for the argument that other schools ‘do the right thing’ and offer their services to students regardless of their status as a major or minor, I can only say from my own personal experience as a minor in the College of Arts and Sciences that I hope this is not the case. The extent of my advising was little more than a bureaucratic checkpoint, a form to be filled out with little more consideration or advice given beyond whether or not the classes I planned to take fulfilled the requirements set forth in the bulletin. If this is how CAS majors are treated, then I can understand the clamber to SMG’s valuable services.
Mark Caputo
SMG ’09
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