Feature Stories |
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Business and Society in the New SOM Core Curriculum By John Zembrowski |
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A Charter Effort: Case Writing for the New Curriculum By Fawzia Ahmed, SOM’07 |
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Summer Internship Roundup |
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Service Learning Roundup |
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A New Face at the CDO: Kristen McKee |
News and Events |
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| Global Social Enterprise Trip | |
| Economic Development Conference | |
| Education Conference | |
| Arts & Culture Trek: Long Wharf Theatre | |
By John Zebrowski
The new SOM curriculum is designed to support the integration of traditional business disciplines in order to create a learning experience that better prepares students for the problems facing management executives today. An important component to the new courses is the continuation of the school’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and environmental issues.
A study performed by a committee of staff, faculty, and students found that the level of social and environmental material presented to first-year students is greater under the new core curriculum than the traditional MBA coursework that preceded it. According to Julie Koo, executive director at Yale’s Program on Social Enterprise, the data from the study show that there is greater depth to the social content in the new core curriculum.
“In the past, there were a few courses that discussed these issues extensively, a great many that touched upon them, and a few that did not mention them at all,†she said. “In the new core, social and environmental issues have been integrated into the curriculum in a broader, deeper way. Rather than segregating discussion on these topics into one or two courses, they are discussed in depth throughout the core.â€
By Fawzia Ahmed, SOM’07
This year, I had the privilege of composing one of the school’s first social enterprise cases, on Achievement First (AF), a New Haven-based charter school management organization with schools in New Haven and New York.
My unexpected foray into case-writing began with an e-mail from Sharon Oster while I was a summer intern at AF, providing support to the organization’s leadership team on budget and strategic issues. In designing the capstone course for the new core curriculum, Integrated Leadership Perspectives, Professor Oster was including a module on nonprofit organizations. She had chosen Achievement First as her case, and wanted me to write it. Writing the case presented a great opportunity for me to probe deeper into a fascinating organization and to crystallize my thoughts on school reform issues, such as replicating high performing schools, political and funding challenges, and expansion that I had been thinking about all summer. My response to Prof. Oster’s e-mail was an enthusiastic yes.
