All students hope to have a strong and uniform learning experience when they attend College .... and students deserve to know how this can be guaranteed. In this spirit all courses in the School of Management academic programs conform to a common template entitled the "Master Syllabus." This document is designed to ensure the highest quality learning experience for our students.

The Master Syllabus for each course is utilized by each instructor for all sections of that course instructed, regardless of campus location or semester. This helps to ensure a uniform learning experience for our students in each section of each course. This uniformity includes the statement of the course overview, learning goals, required submissions for the students (titled "validations"), course content and coverage, textbooks utilized, and timetable.

As the learning goals and core portfolio of student submitted validations (e.g. student projects, assignments, ...) are common across each section, the school can then systematically measure each student's attainment of the program and course learning goals by scoring the validations. This is a key contributor towards assessing the impact of the program courses on the overall quality of the student learning experience. It also strengthens the school's ability to dynamically modify curricular elements to further improve student performance. Finally, it also permits for monitoring where there are discrepancies in the quality of student learning so that those discrepancies are addressed as a part of its continuous improvement.

The Master Syllabus for each course also includes a Contextualized section, which is created uniquely at each campus location. This section includes a learning goal and associated student validation (e.g. project) that is localized to the business environment surrounding that campus location and/or supporting how globalization impacts on the business environment. For example, students in Abu Dhabi will have course content on Islamic Finance while students in New York will better understand the New York Stock Exchange.

In general , each course at each campus, in addition to the common/invariant elements, reflects those topics and issues germane to business concerns and priorities in their local area. In this way the courses are relevant to the business domain that exists at the campus location. Developed jointly by the school's local business advisory board and employers at each campus location and the School of Management faculty, the conceptualization of each course strengthens the school's ability to place students successfully in the job market following graduation - due to the local relevancy of the curriculum. 

Finally, all faculty are free to create a unique "Instructor Specific" learning goal in the sections of each course that they teach. It is in this way that each faculty member can leverage their own scholarship and research in a way that impacts positively on the student learning experience. This also adds a personal touch to each course as each professor will inject elements of their own research into their pedagogy.

Overall, the School of Management Master Syllabus initiative results in a curriculum that permits the school to:
 

• Address discrepancies in learning between sections of any course;
• Strengthen its curriculum dynamically;
• Measure the impact of its curriculum and courses on student learning against uniform program and course learning goals;
• Develop courses that have both common elements that are core foundations in addition to localized elements relevant to local business priorities;
• Integrate faculty research and scholarship into the teaching so as to impact positively on the student learning experience; and
• ensure overall high quality.

... All in the spirit of our guaranteeing student success upon graduation and throughout the course of their career and professional life!

For more information on the School of Management portfolio of assessment instruments and processes, please click here.