Innovation basis of Trent business degree

by Kathryn Campbell

Trent University has earned a national and international reputation for innovative program development in Environmental Studies, Native Studies and Canadian Studies. Less well known is our groundbreaking programming in the field of business studies.

In the late 1970's, Trent faculty from a remarkable range of departments (politics, sociology, history, economics, and mathematics) designed a "business" degree which boldly challenged the curriculum of conventional commerce programs. In addition to the standard coursework in accounting, economics, finance, marketing, human resource management etc., the founding committee insisted that all "business" students be immersed in the liberal arts environment which distinguishes the undergraduate experience at Trent. As our marketing slogan of some years later declared, at Trent, students would have the opportunity to earn "more than just a business degree". In short, the committee envisioned a radical, new approach to business studies.

Unfortunately, the committee had difficulty finding an appropriate name for this new program and, in the end, compromised on the descriptive but awkward title, Administrative and Policy Studies Program. Almost instantly, we became known as the A&P department and had to endure an unending barrage of very bad jokes about the grocery business. The name was later shortened to the Administrative Studies Program but that title also did not describe the distinctive features of the degree. Finally, in 1999, the degree was renamed the Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) so that we are now clearly positioned within the family of undergraduate business schools and have the opportunity to market our unique brand of business education.

While it is possible to train a student for the present marketplace, it is impossible to predict the precise skills needed for a lifetime career. Rather than focusing on procedural techniques and narrow specializations, we encourage students to develop critical analytical skills, communication skills and teamwork skills - the essential building blocks for flexible, creative and successful careers. As the values of the business world have become increasingly complicated, we have made Business Ethics a compulsory course for all our business graduates. We provide our students with the fundamentals necessary to work in any organizational setting but also require them to take courses in other fields so that their knowledge of business is more widely grounded in other disciplines such as politics, or history, or cultural studies, or environmental studies. In fact, students are free to choose their complementary program of study from any department at Trent, thereby giving them the opportunity to select courses which build on their personal strengths and interests. The business degree is thus customized to each student's goals and aspirations. This freedom to mix-and-match courses is possible because Trent's undergraduate courses are not rigidly segregated into separate faculties.

To achieve this more rigorous curriculum, our students benefit from the small group teaching environment and close student/faculty interaction which are hallmarks of Trent's outstanding undergraduate environment. As the first fulltime faculty member of the Program, I have watched the Administrative Studies Program grow from its inaugural graduating class of 7 in 1981 to an average of more than fifty graduates each year. But we are still a very small program, especially in comparison to other universities!

Since I teach required courses (accounting and budgeting), I have worked with most of our graduates and it is a particular pleasure to hear about their many and varied successes. Trent business graduates find world everywhere. In the municipal government in Nunuvat, the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, or the famine relief camps in Africa, Administrative Studies graduates are engaged in caring, compassionate management. Trent business graduates have gone on to earn professional designations in accounting and human resource management. They work in large firms in New York and Hong Kong and in small Ontario family businesses.

Recently, it was noted in the Globe & Mail that the University of Toronto will fund a Chair in Integrative Management to begin to break down the barriers that have been built up between highly specialized management functions. At Trent, we have been offering a degree in integrative management for more than twenty years.

Trent business graduates are working all over the world. And Trent is bringing the world to Peterborough. Students in the International Program are adding a global perspective to our classroom discussions. At Trent, a student will get "more than just a business degree".

Professor Kathryn Campbell is Past Director of the Administrative Studies Program.


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Last updated May 7, 2001