Data-Based Decisions (Continuous Improvement)

Undergraduate

Entrepreneurship

In MGT 3520, the students are given a financial analysis assignment that is specific to entrepreneurial ventures. Based on the data from that assignment, we have been able to pinpoint a number of weaknesses in the Entrepreneurship students’ analytical abilities. A new Entrepreneurial Finance course is being developed to address these needs and will be required, starting Fall 2010.

Human Resource Management

In 2004, the MHR 4630 class curriculum was revised based on an assessment project supervised by the MHR faculty and conducted by a graduate student. Greater emphasis was given to employee and labor relations, compensation and HR laws, where low performance was noted. In 2005, bi-weekly practice sessions were added to aid retention. In previous years pre-post test assessments were conducted, in 2009 these assessments will be conducted again.

The results from the Team and Leadership Roles Assessment were used to enhance the curriculum for MHR 3710 course. Because team and leadership roles were associated with better team performance, greater emphasis was placed on teaching the students how to engage in those role behaviors.

Graduate

Master of Science in Human Resource Management

After receiving feedback from the 2005 Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) exam, Troy Mumford modified specific portions of the course. The proportion of correct answers improved from 70 percent to 83 percent on the 2006 exam. As of 2009, we consistently find that our Master Students are approximately 15% above the national average passage rate for the HRCI, our overall passage rate has declined over the past three years. We will take steps in the coming year to try and reverse this trend.

In an early application of the behavioral HR simulation referenced above, it was observed that student skills in research and statistical analysis were below the level expected of graduate students. As a result, the expectations and rigor in the Applied HR Research class were elevated.

The Department of Management has worked aggressively over the past year to strengthen recruitment for the Master of Science in Human Resources (MSHR) program. The strategy has been to start close to home and expand outward into the region, and in time extend our recruiting efforts nation-wide. Key initiatives for FY 2009 included:

• Movement of recruitment, advising and program administration from the MBA Office to the Management Department.
• Megen Ralphs was hired as Program Administrator and has brought a focused energy to our recruitment efforts.
• Integrated business acumen courses into the program, thus removing a barrier to entry for students coming from non-business disciplines.
• We have updated our program brochure and web page to better present the program to prospective applicants.
• More active recruiting on campus through communications with advisors and career placement officers, including a luncheon held for advisors on campus to introduce our program, career opportunities, and admissions standards. 16 advisors attended.
• Intensified recruitment at instate graduate fairs: USU, UU, Westminster, Weber State, UVU and BYU. Also recruited at U of Montana.
• Developed collaborative recruiting relationship with BYU-Idaho

As can be observed in Table 1, we have met and exceeded our recruiting goals for Fall Semester 2009.

Table 1: Recruitment Goals and Performance

As a result of these initiatives were able to increase the number of applicants to the program from 32 to 53 (up 66%), with an entering class of 23 students (up 53% from last year’s class). By integrating the business acumen courses into the program, as opposed to being prerequisites, we have enhanced the attractiveness of the program for non-business undergraduates. 70% of this year’s class is coming from non-business undergraduate majors. 83% of this year’s class is coming from Utah Schools – we would ultimately like to reduce this number down to about 50%, but this will take time to develop our non-Utah channels. We are excited also to have our first two Western Regional Graduate Program students, both residents of Oregon.