News Scrapbook 1980

G METHODS DEBATED ess Schools

et Criticism ·

SAN DIEGO UNION

DAILY TRANSCRIPT JUL J 1 1980

the !acuity and the quality of the college facilities. It is a "shocking suggestion," said Dean· Allan R. Bailey, head of the respected San Diego State University School l f Business. 'It 1s a proposed change of traumatic proportions," said Dr. Hobert I<'. O'Neill. acting dean of the newly acered1ted College of Business Admmistration at the Un,ver 1ty of San Diego. :--latlord.l University grants a large number of business degrees bu, 11.., ourses are not accredited by AACSB. 'The ACSB guldelines are very rigid and steeped in tradit1011, and we are not seeking accreditation," said R.• J. Robert Evans, dean of undergraduate studies. AACSB officials insist they are responding to growing t'rtt1 ism from other business school academicians and from the business world. They say employers .contend that graduates often arnve without the skills to do a job, but exp€ t to be made chairman of the board after their fu st full month (Contlnuefi on B-5, Col. I) There are 1,157 schools in the nation that grant business degrees. More than 50 percent of the degrees are granted by the 217 schools accredited by AACSB, according to Rich Wine, assistant director for accredita• lion at AACSB in St. Louis. Accreditation is seen not only as a mark of excellence in the academic world Clf business schools, but also is used by federal and other government agencies in deciding whether a school should have access to public . monies. In grantmg accreditation, AACSB checks the academic standard of the entering freshmen; the quality of the faculty as measured by the degrees held, the articles they write and the experience they have; the school's curriculum; physical resources such as the library and other buildings, and the autonomy of the school in controlling its programs. Now AACSB is questioning its procedures. "Why measure the quality of students as they enter a program and ignore their capabilities as they leave?" the assembly's report asks after a survey of business leaders and business school deans. "How does the size of the library or physical plant relate to the ability of the school to offer quality programs? "Why should the amount of resources, rather than their effectiveness, govern a school's right to accredita- tion; why does the number of degrees the faculty hold constitute quality while their level of practical experi- ence is given little credit ; how useful is the educational program offered in terms of the demands of the profes- sion?" Business school graduates must manage cv.... ..~s producmg goods and services that must meet consumer demand. Why, ask critics, shouldn't thP business schools be judged by the same rule and forced to turn out graduates that meet the needs of the business world in which they are to work? Both the SDSU and USO deans conceded that there is some "frustration" in the relationship among business schools, graduates and the business community. "But that is because there has never been any real agreement between the schools and the business world on exactly what the graduate should be able to do," Bailey said. "We are training students for the jobs they will hold 10 or more years down the road, when they are running companies and corporations," he said. But, Wine said, "Maybe sometimes the business schools put too much emphasis on the skills it takes to be a chief executive officer or a top-level manager, especial• ly when graduates do not enter the work world at that level, and many of them will never make it to the top." "We must be careful to avoid turning business schools into vocational schools which turn out graduates with technical skills but no management ability," O'Neill said. "It is a quantum leap to talk about throwing out everything that has been achieved so far," Bailey said. He argued that any form of test can only judge the student's ability on a given problem. "The problem is that in ousiness you never face precisely the same problem twice. If that were true, we could train a technician to handle business affairs. "But managers have to be flexible; they must have ·good analytical powers; be able to think things through carefully to a conclusion in an issue that might have a dozen different variables. Technicians don't do that, and I don't believe tests can be devised to check on that type of ability," he said. Giles H. Bateman, executive vice president and head of personnel for the Price Co. in San Diego, agreed that it would be difficult to test management skills. Bateman, a Harvard Business School graduate, said, "Business people have enormous problems evaluating the quality of students coming from business schools, but I don't think anyone could devise a set of tests to solve that problem at present. "You are trying to test the person's emotional response to circumstances and ability to adjust to different types of people and situations." But he also spoke of the frustration business managers experience when confronted by business school gradu- ates. "I am totally unimpressed with the graduates I see and their ability to relate to reality." He criticized business schools for accepting students who have little or no practical business experience. "Surveys show that most senior executives spend about 10 minutes on a major problem before reaching a yes or no answer. That is the real world. But in business school they debate it for three hours, then go home and think about it overnight, and then come back for another debate before reactiu,g a conclusion," he said. Graduates arrive on the job thinking that is the way things are done, but the "cruel reality" soon hits them, Bateman said. "Their degree might get them a job, but if 1c• :.o·"t't produce, they don't last." a • • e5t Shumway is chief executive officer of Signal

ICHAEL SCOTT-BLAIR

Busme graduates have become the hottest thing m the employment market. Th y draw top dollar 1n the job Mrld, and the best of them can claim more than $40,000 a year m th ir fir t position But there arc ncgat1\'e rumblings in the businPss world and m busm s school academe on how well-prepared business graduates are, shculd be or even can be. And the question is being asked from the top - the Amerlran Ass mbly of Collegiate Schools of Business ( ACSB), the national accrediting body for all business schools An "evolving skepticism'' about the method:; used to as ss the xcellence of busmess sehools has been growln mce 1971, according to an AACSB report. As a result, the assembly has launched a nationwide studv ll: 1f bu. mess sctiool accreditation - the official seal·of excellence - should b<' based on the test results of gradual s m ad of on tlie number of degr s held by

JUL 1 3 1960

Women Meet Tuesday The San Diego Chapter of Executive Women International will meet Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Camino Student Lounge at the the University of San Diego. The speaker will be retired Lt. General Victor H. Krulak who will discuss the "University of Third Age," a new concept combining younger and older students in the university at- mosphere. /

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Founders' Gallery: Paintings and sculpture by Neil Boyte, through Sept. 9. University of San Diego. Mon.-Fri., 1 D-4. 291-&180.

SAN DIEGO UNION

JUL 1 2 1900

BODY USED CONSTRUCT/VE£ Y

Creation Spiritualists Emphasize Life By RITA GILLMON In his writings Fox said s1a11wrfler, Tilt~ 01ego Union that redemption-oriented

ituaLty, the body JS used and not denied It IS used 1n creatmg dance, pottery, music or anything else that involves the whole person. "You are spirit and body and both must be redee ed," Fox said. "The Hebrew word for rejoice means dance." "There Is an awful lot in people's hearts that wants out, and it won't lead to chao either " he said. Sister Jose described how the Indian dances are a way of everyone participat- ing in praise together in an 1rderly way, yet with re- SJ>E:Ct for each one's capaci-

ties. "The old, weak and the blind dance in the center where they are protected. The strong persons dance at one speed and the weak- er ones half time. The real- ly energetic can dance dou• ble time. But there is a place for everyone and all dance to the beat of the same drum," she said. The duo said that as peo- ple explored and developed this style of spirituality, the structures they live with will change.

When people come to cer- spirituality is ascetic and emonies and leave un- denies the body to turn to changed lt is a sign the thP. sprrit within. Creation- church is dead, according oriented spirituallty af- to theologians oriented to f!I'ms the goodness of the creation spirituality world as God created it, "I would guess 95 percent including m?n, and works of Catholic and Protestant from that pomt. churches are dead in that . "We don't deny that sense," said Franciscan JS sm ln the world, buL the Sister Maria Jose Hobday good ~w.~ comes first," who, with the Rev. F_o~ said. We see the tele- Matthew Fox a Franciscan v1s1on preachers on the priest, taught a seminar UHF channels. telling peo- thls week on the subject at pie ~hey are smner~., Well the University of San thats not news. And 1t snot Diego. good." Sister Jose js half Seneca In creation-centered spir- Indian, teaches for the Diocese of Tucson and

"You can't dance on a ladder. You have to have a (Continued on B-8, Col. I)_ Spiritualists Stress Life (Continued from B-7) celebrate with those who le~el space," Sister Jose are not their equals. There- sa!~- fore, celebration requires The a_bundant lif~ is the justice," Fox said. "This is opport~1ty for praJSe and the heavenly banquet here celebration. People don't and now."

works with the Chica~o and Indian people there. Fox is the cllrector of the Institute for Creation-Centered Spir- ituality at Mundelein Col- llt~ Chicago Fox explained in an mter- view that the Indian cere- monies described by Sister Jose fit m well with his orientation. "The second Vatican Council encouraged us to learn from the ceremonies of other religions. Indian ceremonies have a great respect for persons and their place OP I he <>arth," he said. Sister Jose described a sweat ceremony and ex-. plained how it was a drying out in preparation for new moisture "You go to the desert to meditate on water. In the sweat house you sit for a half hour at a time with seven or eight other women. You pray, chant and sit m silence. U is a rhythm of sound and si- lence," she said. In the sweat house, the people sweat out what they ate, thought or did that was not in harmony, so they can prepare for new moisture and a new beginning. "You sweat the hell out of yourself," Sister Jose said. "Today we can't stand our own body smell or the taste of earthy language, so we try to wipe it out of existence."

EVEI\IING TRIBUI\JE JUL 1 4 911 Education idea will be aired Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak will dis- cuss a new concept in edu- cation - University of the Third Age - at the monthly meeting of Executive Women International at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the University of San Diego's Camino Student Lounge. Krulak said the education experiment, which he brought to USO from Toulouse, Fr;rnce, com- bines younger and older students who are mentally and physically challenged.

SAN DIEGO NEWSLINE

JUL 1 6 l'J80

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CHINA LECTURE

The Rev. Josep_h Spae of Belgium, an expert on the Far East, will speak on China at 7:30 p.m.

Sentinel

Wednesday, July 16, 1980

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Thursday at the University of San Diego's Camino Lounge. Spae, the founder of a theological institute in Tokyo and a member of two Vatican secretariats, is presently stationed al the University of Chicago's Theology Center The speech is open lo the public and admission is free.

Sunday, July 13, 1980

B-5

THE SAN DIEGO UNION

problems with such subjects as performance stability, including tolerance of uncertainty; work motivation, including energy l:::vel; interpersonal skills, including leadership; values in business, including ethics, and general mental ability. "Those are tough to test," agreed Wine. The AACSB has hired two consulting companies to try to develop a test that would be submitted to business schools and, if considered successful, would be put into operation.

still drawn from the top schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Michigan and Chicago, and the fact remains that those are the campuses with the best faculties, libraries and other resources - it seems to be a good measuring stick so far," Shumway said. The first part of AACSB's study, financed largely by a $66,000 grant from the Exxon Corp., identified 123 attributes of a good manager. Those were then reduced to 19 qualities in six different categories. The categories immediately highlighted the testing

Companies of Los Angeles, one of the 10 largest corpora• hons in the state. • "I never went to business school, but I don't think they could devise a test to assess a person's management quality," he said. ''I have heard a lot of people criticize the business schools and their approach to training business leaders, but I have never heard anyone suggest an improved method yet. "The fact remains that the best business leaders are