The College of Commerce and Finance and The Wall Street Journal Form Strategic Partnership

Strategic thinking is a key element for both educators and students in Villanova University’s College of Commerce and Finance (C&F). In order to give business majors an edge on the business world as they pursue their education, the college has entered into a strategic partnership with The Wall Street Journal. In the fall 2000 semester, all students in C&F were required to subscribe to the Journal. As a result, all undergraduate and graduate business students, receive online access to the Journal via WSJ.com, as well as complementary print copies.

Dr. Thomas F. Monahan, dean of the College and professor of accountancy, chose the Journal for several reasons. "The Journal will enhance the professional development of our students and keep them up to date on current events," said Dr. Monahan. The decision to partner with the Journal underscores the College’s commitment to creating an integrated curriculum, a feature consistent with its mission. The mission of the business college is to foster a learning environment that enables students to develop knowledge, experience, capabilities and values that they can apply in today’s new and changing business environment. The College’s integrated approach to education originates in the distinguished co-educational institution’s overall mission. Founded in 1842 and directed by the Order of St. Augustine, Villanova has always offered a strong, well-rounded liberal arts foundation consistent with the moral vision of St. Augustine. The integrative Christian intellectual and moral perspective extends to the education provided the College of Commerce and Finance, which was founded in1922.

"The partnership with The Wall Street Journal is helping us to achieve a more highly integrated curriculum for all business students," said Monahan. "Our overall goal is to develop a creative learning environment that will help students become adaptive problem solvers by the time they graduate." The Journal adds dimension to this type of creative learning environment that help educate students to look beyond the textbook and classroom. "Cross-functional education, i.e., an integrated curriculum, is a major goal of our strategic plan," Monahan said. "We want our students to be able to think critically and link what they learn in their various academic subjects to a specific problem such as how to look at the energy crisis in California through a multitude of disciplines, for example." To ensure students gain technological competence, the College has already incorporated technology, through laptop computers, as a tool into its classrooms. All of Villanova’s business students receive laptops, which are covered through their tuition. In addition, the College’s classrooms provide connectivity and power at every student’s seat, providing students with the capability of accessing WSJ.com in every business class.

"We’re using technology as a tool to give students an awareness of the value of an integrated curriculum, and I think this initiative with The Wall Street Journal is a very important step in developing a more fully integrated the curriculum."

To maximize the classroom uses for the Journal, Monahan appointed Dr. Victoria McWilliams, associate dean of the college and associate professor of finance, to chair The Wall Street Journal Integration Committee. Staffed by faculty members from each department, the committee is responsible for the task of identifying how the Journal can be used as a resource in the various business disciplines such as accounting, economics, management, marketing, among others. According to McWilliams, the Journal has a framework that makes it easy for faculty to incorporate it in their courses. "Faculty can set up their own on-line account through WSJ.com to receive breaking updates for global and technology issues, as well as receiving Educators’ Reviews to assist them with integrating the Journal," McWilliams said.

Online access to the Journal provides business professors and students with a broader academic base for reference, as well as a more timely and practical approach to business studies. As a tool, the Journal provides instantaneous access to resources such as databases and other electronic references. Professors receive weekly articles that can be used for specific discussions in the classroom. Briefing books offer investment information, while global editions and small business sections offer global and entrepreneurial skills.

The WSJ benefits business students, offering features such as the Personal Journal, which personally notifies students from specific companies they choose to follow. The 30-day journal archive and Career Journal, respectively, provide information databases of WSJ articles as well as job and career advice.

Villanova has a reputation for producing quality students endowed with a firm liberal arts background, no matter what subject they major in. The Journal is expected to enhance the College’s resources by providing faculty and students with real-time data, as well as a thorough analysis of the issues and breaking news that affects world business.

In reviewing ways to merge the Journal into the business classroom, the College’s Wall Street Journal Integration Committee chose objectives from the College’s strategic plan to use as themes for study in specific level courses. While focusing on each theme, faculty members were free to decide on innovative ways to teach different courses, using the Journal. For example, freshmen courses focus on social responsibility; sophomore courses, on ethics in business decision-making; junior courses, on a global perspective; and the senior capstone course addresses issues that could be integrated across different disciplines. MBA courses center on specific topics such as e-business as it relates to all business disciplines.

Freshmen business majors get a hands-on introduction to the WSJ online in the Computer Applications and Accounting course taught by Dr. James Borden, associate professor of accountancy. Focusing on the topic of social responsibility, Borden requires students to set up a portfolio of investments on five socially responsible funds and track their performance over two months. Students compare their performance to general stock market performance. Finally, students create a website that summarizes what they’ve learned, including the website links to the WSJ online articles used.

Dr. James J. Clarke, associate professor of finance, who teaches the required course on financial markets for junior finance majors, has used The Wall Street Journal printed copy as a classroom tool for many years. Clarke believes it is critical to combine textbook theory and the real world and uses WSJ to illustrate markets. Now that WSJ.com is available, he makes constant use of the electronic version, which he feels is an advantage because students do not have to remember to bring the print copy to class. "Using both the print and electronic Journal is valuable," said Dr. Clarke. "It allows intellectually curious students to understand the linkages in the domestic and international markets. Moreover, daily references to the Journal encourage business students to develop the habit of using this valuable source of news and information as they begin their careers," Clarke added.

Jennifer Tirado, a junior finance major in Clarke’s class, commented that " Using the WSJ everyday in class, whether to track money rates, bonds or even the basic yield curve, not only made class more interesting, but also provided us, as business students, the time and venue to absorb, process and really understand the financial world, giving us an edge over other business students." Junior finance major Jason Oleese, also a student of Clarke’s, observed: "I appreciated the tangible illustrations of theoretical concepts through daily use of the WSJ. This approach to learning allowed me to see the connection between the textbook and the real world."

In the MBA Database Management course taught by Dr. Janice Sipior, associate professor of DIT, students use the Journal to integrate technology with globalization issues. MBA students read articles on recently enacted U.S. legislation and global initiatives to assess the impact of these events on the finance and health care industries, for example. Jackie Dougherty, a senior programmer/project leader with Omnicare Clinical Research, who made a presentation focused on the pharmaceutical industry, expressed appreciation for her WSJ subscription. "I was able to quickly access the WSJ online to obtain timely information about the industry within which I work," she said.

Dr. Alexander Ellinger, assistant professor of marketing, uses the WSJ to broaden the global perspective of students in his marketing principles course. He requires students to read the Journal every day to scan environmental issues. The Journal relates analysis of cultural/social, political/regulatory, technological and competitive trends and factors which identify domestic and global marketing opportunities. During the semester, each student must also cite 10 business opportunities that emphasize the managerial, financial and operational aspects of the opportunity as well as the marketing implications. "The objective is to utilize the WSJ’s broad business perspective to help students move from a functional silo approach to business opportunities to a more holistic view of business opportunities as they occur in a firm’s environment," said Dr. P. Greg Bonner, associate professor and chair of marketing.

The College’s initial phase of using the WSJ to facilitate integration is very successful, and the College has additional plans to make the initiative even more successful. Business undergraduates take at least 50 percent of their courses outside of their business majors. Therefore, the next step is for the College to coordinate with non-business disciplines at Villanova to use the WSJ to also integrate concepts. Through this effort, the College will further strengthen its business education in a manner that supports the Augustinian vision of a well-rounded liberal arts education for all students. As part of the College’s overall assessment process, it will develop an assessment program for the WSJ partnership to ensure that goals of the partnership are met and continue to be consistent with the College’s strategic plan.

"I am pleased that so many faculty have embraced it (WSJ), and subsequently their students, and that we are making progress this first year," said Monahan. "The WSJ is a learning concept that our students can take beyond the classroom. Outside of the classroom, the WSJ becomes a tool with which our graduates can enhance their professionalism and ability to operate in the business community." All of these outcomes are an integral part of the College’s mission to help students become adaptive problem solvers and valuable participants in the workforce of the 21^st century.