Columbia Business School has announced that it has updated core curriculum requirements for this fall’s incoming class. In a press release published yesterday, CBS Dean Glenn Hubbard explained that the curriculum changes are designed both to keep Columbia at the forefront of global business education and to put CBS students in the entrepreneurial mindset regardless of specialization.
According to CBS there will be four fundamental changes to the curriculum. The required leadership course will now take place during orientation rather than during the student’s first semester and the Decision Models course will now include big data to acknowledge the heightened significance of big data in the professional realm. Students will also be allowed to take more electives (an increase from 12 courses to 13.5) their first year, a change intended to help them pursue career goals and summer internships from the outset.
Additionally, first-year courses will utilize more standard course reading and material online, opening up class time for discussions between students and professors. Finally, entrepreneurship will be incorporated into a number of classes, making an appearance in new and unexpected ways.
Initially, CBS will only offer statistics and accounting courses in a partially online format, and, depending upon their success, CBS plans to expand the online structure to other courses within its many specializations. The mixed online/in-class structure is known as “flipped classroom” and has already made appearances at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina.
First year CBS MBA students began their orientation August 18, and are already engaged in the leadership course that will set the tone for their two years at Columbia. CBS invites prospective students to check out these videos elucidating the curriculum changes.