As students finalize spring term course schedules, over 120 upperclassmen have enrolled in one of the Tuck School of Business’s termly undergraduate classes. Since the program was established five years ago, the three available courses have taught undergraduates practical business skills. As the courses grow in popularity, however, some interested students find themselves shut out due to course limits.
The annual spring term course, “Business Management and Strategy,” was first offered in 2009 and examines topics like corporate goal-setting and global competition. “Financial Accounting” is taught each winter, and “Principles of Marketing” is offered in the fall.
The classes are open only to upperclassmen and, though all have two sections and accommodate up to 130 students per term, they are often full or over-enrolled.
“Demand outstrips supply,” said Tuck professor Robert Resutek, who teaches “Financial Accounting.”
This winter, 146 students initially enrolled in Resutek’s class, with priority given to seniors. After the add-drop period ended, Resutek said there were still around 20 students on the waitlist who could not take the class.
Connor Noon ’16, who took Resutek’s accounting course, said he believes the competition for spots stems from Tuck’s prestigious academic and professional reputation.
Undergraduates who nab a spot get a taste of what the finance and business fields are truly like, fellow course member Cecelia Shao ’16 said. Though straightforward, she said, accounting is initially difficult to learn. She recommended that students take the class only if interested in entering financial fields after graduation.
Shao is a former member of The Dartmouth staff.
Charles Lalumiere ’17 said he would have appreciated the chance to take the class as a freshman.
Resutek said Tuck faculty members have talked extensively about adding more classes to meet the demand. Resutek said he found undergraduates to have receptive and engaging attitudes toward the material.
“It is fun to see the students grow, not only in their accounting skill, but also in the sophistication of their business thought,” Resutek said.
Tuck professor Yaniv Dover, who teaches “Principles of Marketing,” said he also found great satisfaction in watching students learn about intricate scientific theories of marketing applicable to real-life situations.
Shao said she observed a difference between her Tuck and College professors, noting that because her class had three teaching assistants, the professor did not interact with students as much as a seminar professor would.
Noon, however, said he felt that Resutek’s teaching style was similar to what he would expect from most of his undergraduate professors.
Resutek and Dover both said that they had not seen a significant difference in the abilities and performance of undergraduates and MBA students.
“Talent and motivation are plenty in both groups and it is a different kind of fun to teach each group,” Dover said.
Students in these classes, which do not fulfill any major or distributive requirements, can opt for the non-recording option.
Noon said students in his accounting class could elect to take an “alternative final” that tested them only on the material up to the midterm, though the highest course grade possible for students who chose this option was a C+. Some students decided to take the alternative final if they were using the NRO for the class.
Fischer Yan ’14, a geography major who has taken all three classes Tuck offers, said that “Principles of Marketing” was her favorite.
“The professor taught the class in a way that made marketing, branding and advertising relevant to all aspects of life,” Yan said.
Maggie Fiertz ’15 said she took the class last fall to better understand the industry before her public relations and marketing internship in the winter.
Fiertz is a former member of The Dartmouth business staff.
Business education could enhance any Dartmouth undergraduate’s education, Dover said.
“Even if you’re thinking of a career as an artist, an author or working for a non-profit social-impact organization,” he said, “business savviness is priceless.”
