Advising Advancements
Non-business majors to be affected by new Neeley School enrollment policy

By Julie Ann Matonis
Staff Reporter

A new enrollment policy, which will only allow students formally accepted into the M.J. Neeley School of Business to take upper division courses, may also have an affect on non-business majors.

Charles Williams, associate dean of undergraduate studies, said students in majors that explicitly require business courses in the current catalogue will still be allowed to enroll in upper division courses.

According to the 2000-2001 course catalogue, nutrition and dietetics and advertising/public relations majors are groups that may be affected by the changes.

Tommy Thomason, chairman of the journalism department, said about 150 or 200 advertising/public relations majors will be affected by the changes. Under their degree plan, they must select an 18-hour area of emphasis. Thomason said many choose marketing or management, which is not specifically listed in the catalogue.

“We will significantly devalue the advertising/public relations degree if we tell students they can’t take more than three hours of marketing,” Thomason said.

No one in the nutrition and dietetics department was available for comment.

Beginning with summer and spring 2001 enrollment, accounting, finance, decision science, management and marketing courses beyond 30153 level will be restricted to students who meet the prerequisites and are business majors or minors. Non-business majors and minors can be added to courses if space is available after regular enrollment.

All 1000 and 2000 level business courses, except e-business 20813, will still be open to students who meet prerequisites.
Williams said the changes were necessary because of high demand for business courses.

“We’ve gone from 900 to 1600 majors in the last five years,” Williams said. “Plus, we’re serving at least 450 non-majors a semester in our courses. Growth has occurred so quickly that more than half of our undergraduate classes are taught by adjuncts. We’re stretched so thin that we’re beyond the limits recommended by our accrediting agency on three of seven basic measures.”

Thomason said he sympathizes with the shortage in faculty that the business school is facing because the journalism department is in a similar situation.

“The way the university has asked us to address this is by managing enrollment, which means to make do with what you have instead of expanding faculty and offerings,” Thomason said.

Williams said the changes are estimated to reduce students in upper division classes by 10 percent.

Kimberly See, coordinator of the Neeley Student Resource Center, said a few students have come and voiced their concern over the changes. See said students have also been double-checking their major and minor declarations.

“We’re seeing both positive and negative (responses) to the change,” See said. “In the long run, it’s a good move to give business students first priority to complete their degrees.”

See said students should make necessary changes before enrollment begins and before they are shut out of upper division courses.

Julie Ann Matonis
j.a.matonis@student.tcu.edu