B.A. Business Administration Curriculum

NOTE: Admission to the major will be available for freshmen in fall 2008 and for transfer students in fall 2010.

The undergraduate Business Administration program at The Paul Merage School of Business educates students to understand and apply the theories and concepts of effective business and management and prepares students for a wide variety of careers and life experiences. Business Administration majors can pursue careers in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors or can proceed on to graduate school in several disciplines including business, economics, and law. The program provides a broad learning experience in a multidisciplinary and global context and focuses on the development of essential managerial skills, especially critical thinking, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and effective communication skills.

The Business Administration major at The Paul Merage School of Business offers a traditional business curriculum similar to those at top business schools in the country. The major is broad, drawing on the social sciences more generally to study organizations, interpersonal communication skills, individual and group behavior, leadership, strategy, financial and accounting issues, ethics, information technology, marketing, and a variety of other topics in the content of a rapidly changing global environment.

The faculty strongly encourages majors to create an educational program composed of courses within and outside the Merage School that provide substance and focus to their careers and enable them to pursue their own personal interests. While preparing students for careers in management, the Merage School, through academic advising, will help students fashion an undergraduate program that they can tailor to their own unique career objectives. Examples of programs of study that allow Business Administration majors to blend management education with specific industry areas include (but are not limited to) bioscience business, government service, international commerce, arts management, entrepreneurship in computer gaming, and other combinations. Through appropriate choice of courses, students can prepare to pursue a law degree, a master's degree in a variety of areas, or a doctoral program in business or related disciplines.

Students are required to complete 10 business courses that provide a foundation in essential core business competencies, followed by a minimum of 10 business electives selected from specializations. Students select a minimum of one of three specializations in Accounting, General Management, or Marketing. This program of study enables students to develop areas of focus as they pursue the Business Administration major. Because much business is conducted on a global scale, students are required to either participate in the University's Education Abroad Program or to take one of a number of designated courses that stresses the international dimension of a business area. Students interested in learning more about the full array of requirements for professional licensing in Accounting are encouraged to visit http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba and http://www.cpa-exam.org/.

While academic course content is crucial to an undergraduate business major, auxiliary noncurricular programs also are important to students' academic experience. The Merage School incorporates a cocurricular element into the classroom experience. Drawing from Merage School and University resources, students are exposed to opportunities to enhance communication and presentations skills, attend formal speaker events, and engage in informal mentoring. The Merage faculty is committed to ensuring that undergraduate majors have ample opportunity to enhance their writing and presentation skills through class assignments and a business communication elective. In addition, students can participate in a business writing program, where they can work with a writing consultant to further improve their writing skills.

Students are strongly encouraged to become involved with the clubs that comprise the new Alliance of Business Students. The Alliance consists of several student organizations. These high-profile student groups promote interaction between students and the surrounding business community through their Corporate Speaker Series, social activities, and student/employer receptions. Students with an entrepreneurial interest are invited to participate in the annual business plan competition.

Work experience is an important way to learn about business and management. UCI's Internship Program, sponsored by the Career Center, can assist students in finding opportunities to work in either voluntary or paid positions in business, nonprofit, or industrial settings. Students who plan to enter business or apply to a graduate school of business or management in the future will find it necessary to supplement their academic work with a variety of practical experiences.

Another opportunity is UCI's Undergraduate Administrative Intern Program, which offers selected students the opportunity to assume one-year positions under the guidance of University administrators. Students can choose from a range of offices in which they will be asked to undertake special projects specifically related to the management and administration of UCI and higher education in general. These internships are supplemented by a two-quarter management seminar and by field trips to administrative conferences such as meetings of The Regents of the University of California.

Admission to the Major in Business Administration

NOTE: The Merage School intends to enroll 150 majors per academic year, beginning in Fall 2008 with freshman enrollees. Applications for transfer students and change of majors will be accepted for the Fall of 2010, with approximately 8-10% of the 150 majors entering per year being transfer students or change of majors (totaling approximately 15 students).

In the event that the number of students who elect Business Administration as a major exceeds the number of positions available, applicants may be subject to screening beyond minimum University of California admissions requirements.

Freshmen: Preference will be given to those who rank the highest using the selection criteria as stated in the Undergraduate Admissions section of the Catalogue.
Transfer students: Junior-level applicants with the highest grades overall (minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0) and who satisfactorily complete lower-division courses in calculus (Mathematics 2A-B), economics (Economics 20A-B), and statistics and accounting (Management 7, 30A, 30B) will be given preference for admission. Management 10 may be completed at UCI.

Requirements For The Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration

University Requirements:
See pages 57-62 of the 2007-08 University Catalogue (http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/07-08Catalogue.pdf ).

Major Requirements:

Lower-Division: Mathematics 2A-B, Economics 20A-B, Management 7, 10, 30A, 30B.
Upper-Division Core: Management 101, 102, 105, 107, 109, 110.
Business Electives: 10 upper-division Merage School electives*, to be fulfilled by completing one of the specializations below:

Specialization in Accounting (10 courses*):
Requires Management 131A, 131B, 132A, and three accounting electives selected from Management 132B, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 194, 195, and four additional (four-unit) upper-division Merage School electives selected from Management 119-197.

Specialization in General Management (10 courses*):
Requires completion of four (4) two-course sets, selected from the following sets:
Course Sets (select four sets, selecting two courses from each of the four sets):
Accounting: Management 131A, 131B, 132A, 132B, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 194, 195
Finance: Management 141, 144, 147, 149
Marketing: Management 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159
Public Policy/Economics: Management 161, 162, 163, 164, 168, 169
Information Systems: Management 170, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179
Operations and Decision Technologies: Management 180, 182, 184, 189, 196, 197
Organization and Management: Management 119, 121, 122, 123, 125, 128, 129

and

Two additional (four-unit) upper-division Merage School electives selected from courses numbered Management 119-197.

Specialization in Marketing (10 courses*):
Requires six Marketing electives selected from Management 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, and four additional (four-unit) upper-division Merage School electives selected from courses numbered Management 119-197.
International Business Requirement:
Fulfillment of the International Business requirement by:
1. completing one course selected from Management 119, 121, 128, 135, 144, 154* (which may also be utilized for specified category C requirements above);

or

2. participating in select UC Education Abroad Program options, with prior approval of the Associate Dean.

* By exception, students may petition the Associate Dean to accept an upper-division elective that has business content equivalent to a stated Merage elective.

NOTE: Students majoring in Business Administration may not minor in either Management or Accounting, or double major in Business Information Management. Students may pursue more than one Merage School specialization; however, no more than two courses may be utilized toward requirements for more than one specialization outlined above.

For a complete list of course descriptions, please see the 2007-08 UC Irvine General Catalogue: http://www.editor.uci.edu/07-08/pmsb/pmsb.3.htm Those acceptable toward a specific program are outlined under the “requirements” section for the given major or minor.

Students with questions regarding the Business Administration major should contact:

The Paul Merage School of Business
Undergraduate Counseling Office
MPAA 226
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-3130
Telephone: 949-824-1609
E-mail: ugprograms@merage.uci.edu
http://www.merage.uci.edu/

Questions pertaining to UC Irvine admission should be directed to:

Admissions and Relations with Schools
204 Aldrich Hall
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-1075
Telephone: 949-824-6703
http://www.admissions.uci.edu/

For general campus information:

Telephone: 949-824-5011
http://www.uci.edu/
UCI General Catalogue

UCI Bookstore
Telephone: 949-824-2665
http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/