Boston University’s Questrom School of Business announced in an email to its students last week it is adjusting its Core class schedule next semester.
Questrom’s SM323 class will hold sections three times a day instead of two, according to the email. Classes will be in 3-hour blocks instead of 4-hour blocks, and they will meet for the full duration of the academic semester, including finals week.
SM323, known as “Core,” is required curriculum that consists of four courses covering marketing, operations, information systems and finance, according to Questrom’s website. The cornerstone of the course is the “Core New Product” project, which has students work in teams to develop a business plan.
Frederic Brunel, assistant dean for the Questrom undergraduate program, wrote in an email the new schedule should benefit both students and the administration.
“[Students] will be able to make better use of the full duration of the semester and better spread out their workload,” Brunel wrote. “This will provide teams with more time between the start and the end of the core project.”
This schedule also makes it easier for students to take an additional class, Brunel wrote. The school will have more flexibility, he wrote, and make better use of the semester schedule.
Palash Jain, a senior in Questrom, said he took Core last semester and only had 14 weeks to complete it instead of the normal semester schedule with 16 weeks.
“[That schedule] forces students to work in a stressful environment with nine other team members for a week of continuous conflicts and difficult practical applications,” Jain said. “I am very happy for students who will have a chance to approach this requirement in Questrom with this new approach.”
Santiago Uribe, a freshman in Questrom, said he hasn’t taken Core yet, but from what he knows about it, he thinks the changes made are good.
“What I’ve heard is that it’s super intensive,” Uribe said. “So to have a lot of different time periods and making it more comfortable sounds pretty nice.”
Brendan Aziz, a senior in Questrom who already went through Core, said he thinks this is an improvement to the program.
“A lot of students, they work, and they have other obligations outside of school, so I think it’s beneficial for them,” Aziz said. “ …And there are a lot of team meetings also outside of class, so that takes up some time, as well, so it makes sense dividing it up to shorter periods.”
