Undergraduate Education

As part of its ongoing planning project, the college has convened a task force to study its undergraduate education program.  Despite our high rankings, we recognize the need to re-examine our curriculum on a regular basis to be sure we are meeting the current needs of business and our students.  The past year has been spent in preliminary exercise.  This fall, the curriculum review began in earnest.

Advising services provided by the Office of Undergraduate Affairs have been reshaped and enhanced this past year.  Placement services, reported in detail in another section of the report, enjoyed an extremely successful year.  More students are reporting multiple offers than in the last several years, one indication that they are eagerly pursued by recruiters. And we know that our figures under-report, because we do not have complete information from students.  The feed-back we get from recruiters is that our students are extremely well prepared, both academically and in interview skills.

ALUMNI SURVEY
The University of Illinois conducts extensive surveys of its alumni one year after graduation.  The following statistics compare 1995 graduates of the College of Commerce with the Urbana campus.
	Commerce	Campus
Employment
Full Time	87.3%	72.6%
In a field related to major	89.9%	85.2%
Satisfied with jobs	87.7%	89%
Additional Education
Full or part-time student	15.9%	32.6%
% in degree programs	85.5%	84.5%
Attitudes & Perceptions
Positive toward UI	93.7%	91.9%
Positive about major at UI	90.4%	86.8%
Would choose UI again, same campus	90%	88.1%

Freshman orientation, run by the university, brings enrolled freshmen and their parents to campus for two days during the summer to help familiarize them with the campus, the college they will be entering, and to answer questions of all kinds about life on campus-college programs, faculty, financial aid, placement services, and social life.  This program is designed to make the transition from high school to "the big U" a little easier.  As part of the orientation, in groups of about 30, freshmen and transfer students admitted to Commerce, and their parents, spend part of each day at the college learning about the various academic programs, the services provided by the undergraduate office, career options, and support services,   Perhaps the  two most important things they do while at the college are meet with an advisor to plan their curriculum for the first semester and then actually enroll in classes using the U of I Direct  computerized system.  By the time they leave campus, their fall class schedules are set.  The pandemonium that used to take place in the Armory is a thing of the past.

Career advising begins during Freshman Orientation.

Harold F. (Bill) Williamson, associate professor of economics, has succeeded Morgan Lynge as associate dean for undergraduate affairs.  No stranger to undergraduate advising, Bill Williamson was the LAS economics advisor from 1981 until last fall when he accepted his new position.  Williamson joined the college in 1964.  He received the college-wide Excellence-in-Teaching Award in 1990 and the Emerson Cammack Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Students Award in 1992.  He holds a doctorate (1969), master's (1959), and bachelor's (1958) in economics from Yale University.

CBA ENROLLMENT 1996

	FR	SOPH	JR	SR	OTHER*	TOTAL
Accy	173	164	289	342	9	977
BA	120	105	223	276	1	725
Econ	23	5	13	15	2	58
Fin	65	93	206	242	2	608
Unassn.	303	193	30	2	39	567
TOTALS	684	560	761	877	53	2,935
*non-degree or second bachelor's

ADVISING

Although formal advising is required only for freshmen, the Office of Undergraduate Affairs encourages all student to talk to the advising personnel before selecting class schedules. They strongly believe that it is better to get advice before a problem arises than to put out fires later. To increase and improve advising services, the Office of Undergraduate Affairs has added several new professional staff this year.

Doris Howard continues as the head academic advisor. Marsha Biddle, formerly the college's admissions and records officer has become an academic advisor. A Champaign native, Marsha earned a master's from the UI College of Fine and Applied Arts, and a bachelor's in art & design from the University of Colorado.

Chanda Dowell, who earned a B.S. in marketing in 1994 and an M.S. in sports administration, both from the UI, has also joined the advising staff.

These two new hires represent a major departure from former practices. Instead of relying on graduate students, who did not always have personal experience in the college, there are now three permanent advisors, plus an assistant and associate dean, to help students with their advising needs. It is expected that these changes will result in greater efficiency and better service for our students. Permanent staff can provide greater continuity and the higher level of expertise needed to meet increased student demand.

Rounding out the professional staff is Cynthia Faullin, the new admissions and records officer. Cynthia earned a B.A. in English Literature and Women's Studies from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She has worked at the university for several years with both the DARS and U of I Direct registration system.

Marsha Biddle

Chanda Dowell

Cynthia Faullin

STUDY ABROAD

One hundred and twenty-three Commerce undergraduates took the opportunity to study abroad last year, either during the academic year or summer. The numbers have increased each year since the college hired a study-abroad coordinator in 1992-93. The steady grouth in participation reflects our students' increased awareness of and preceived long-term benefits of international study, and most importantly, the valuable services offered by Jane Nathan, the director of the college Study Abroad Program. These services include extensive counselling about programs and curriculumsn. In aprticular, the study abroad coordinator helps each student choose a prgram and arrange their schedule so they can study abroad and still graduate on time. During the past three years, study abroad has also been an option for MBA students. This coming year seventeen MBA students plan to study overseas.

Christine Flores, a senior in accountancy, spent spring semester 1996 in Austria. Although her time there was not trouble free -- she experienced housing difficulties and a nuniversity shut-down in response to the government's threat to reduce student benefits -- her comments about the experience make it clear that this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Christine (right) and Karen Schnobel, also a U of I student, taking time out to sight-see in Granada.

"When I left for Europe, I had many expectations. However, nothing prepared me for what I actuall experienced. During my time in Vienna I learned more about people, culture, and life than I ever have in my 21 years. I realized there is so much in this world to see; an endless amount of possiblities instantly seemed available to me. I alos learned to appreciate family, friends, and the ducational system in the United States, Going abroad made me realize I took a lot of things for granted. No Words could encompass all of my experiences. I gained enormous independence from the experience and will carry my memories of Europe with me, alsways. An opportunity to study abroad is an opportunity to learn, experience, and live. It should not be passed up."

Christine Flores