Proposal to create a new Honours Minor in Business
School of Administrative Studies
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
1. Context of Proposal
a. Statement of Purpose
This is a proposal to create a new 30-credit minor in Business. It is intended that the
program will be offered effective September 2009 by the School of Administrative
Studies (SAS) through the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS).
The School of Administrative Studies (SAS) is a unit that offers undergraduate business
degree programs and certificates through the Atkinson Faculty. It will be housed in the
new Faculty of LA&PS effective July 2009. SAS undergraduate courses address a wide
range of business subject matters with attention to bridging interdisciplinary research and
business practices. SAS now seeks to expand its undergraduate program through the
creation of a new, 30-credit minor in Business. The proposed minor is consistent with the
initiatives proposed by the Strategy Process Committee at SAS and the strategies
suggested in the Business Programs at York University 2006 document.
The field of business (also known as commerce, management, or administrative studies)
covers a variety of disciplines, including accounting, finance, marketing, management,
and management science. This field emerged in the mid-20th century and has experienced
tremendous growth with respect to research activity and student demand in the past two
decades in North America, Europe, and Asia. Today, many Ontario universities,
including the University of Guelph, Brock University and Carleton University, not only
offer majors and joint-programs with other fields, but also minors in the field of business.
The success of such programming signifies that knowledge about business has come to
be valued in professional domains such as law, health care, economics, computer science,
biotechnology science, political science, engineering, and fine arts. This proposal has its
roots in this demand for business education and responds directly to the requests of other
York faculties to develop joint-programs.
The teaching and research activities of York faculty, and of SAS in particular, provide the
expertise underpinning this proposal. SAS has attracted more than 30 faculty members
with interdisciplinary academic training and diverse work experiences since 2002. Today,
approximately 60 SAS faculty members pursue academic excellence in the field of
business. Such rich and diverse academic activities within SAS provide the foundation to
help students connect business knowledge and relevance with their respective majors.
The value of understanding and appreciating how business operates in their chosen fields
will enhance their success in careers in diverse fields such as health care, computer
science, public policy, engineering and the arts.
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York University has a long tradition in the pursuit of bridging research, teaching, and
practice through its interdisciplinary academic communities. The York Mission
Statement emphasizes the pursuit of professional knowledge and accessibility of
education. The minor in business will allow York University enhance this tradition and
fulfill its mission. It not only helps students prepare more specifically for their intended
careers, but allows them to acquire varied business skills, which is consistent with the
SAS mandate specified in the Business Programs at York document. Accessibility to the
Minor is also enhanced through a choice of delivery modes including on-line courses.
As outlined below, the proposed Minor in Business will require students to complete a
30-credit program through courses that are already offered by SAS. Accordingly, the
minor in business will require only very modest operating budget/administrative support.
b. Learning Objectives
The program is designed to provide students with:

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge
o The courses included in the minor have been selected to provide students
with a general understanding of business principles such as organizational
and managerial theories, economics principles, finance and accounting
theories, marketing practices, as well as individual behaviors and group
dynamics within organizations.
o Additional depth in the areas of accounting, finance, management, and
marketing will be offered to provide students with advanced knowledge of
business and management practices in the real world.

Knowledge of Methodologies
o Analytic skills related to financial and accounting analyses, marketing
practices and strategies, and enactment of varied business situations.
o Skills associated with appreciation of varied managerial practices

Application of Knowledge
o Experiential exercises and case study analysis in the context of finance,
accounting, marketing, organization, and management policy.

Communication Skills
o Oral and written skills related to varied business practices such as
presentations of financial and accounting data, marketing plans,
interpersonal communication and group dynamics, and business plans and
strategies.

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge
○ All courses appreciate the effectiveness of varied business practices and
limitations and boundaries of theories.

Autonomy and Professional Capacity
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o All courses aim to develop the students’ ability to evaluate specific
business situations and to substantiate arguments for a particular course of
action in attempts to enhance the success of students’ future careers in
their professions.
c. Relationship of the Proposal to Academic Plans
University Academic Plan
Both the University Academic Plan and the York 2020 Vision stress the importance of
interdisciplinarity, York’s commitment to accessible education, and enhancing the
success of York graduates in academic and career placements. The proposed minor in
business serves all these purposes. Specifically, a minor in business is, by nature,
interdisciplinary. Students will have access to academic resources in both their home
faculty and SAS, which will broaden their knowledge in both fields. This, in turn, will
prepare them better for success in future academic and career placements. More
specifically, a minor in business can contribute to success during the graduate study of
business. Finally, the modes of knowledge delivery developed at SAS further enhance the
accessibility of education. Students can choose between traditional in-class sessions,
online learning modes or hybrid offerings to complete their degree requirements.
The minor in business will also serve the goal of comprehensiveness indicated in York’s
2020 Vision. This Vision emphasizes the need to increase resource efficiency by
recombining existing program elements to enhance comprehensiveness. Building upon
existing program elements in SAS, the minor in business will serve to further enhance the
broader York academic community’s commitment to comprehensiveness and accessible
education.
Faculty Academic Plan
In July 1, 2009, SAS will become part of the new Faculty of Liberal Arts and
Professional Studies (LA&PS). The minor in business will provide a valuable addition to
LA&PS programming as it enhances the “extra-ordinary choice, creative learning… and
most comprehensive range of programs in social sciences, humanities and related
professional programs in Canada” [presented as part of the rationale for the creation of
such a Faculty]. Further, the minor in business will allow “many programs to offer double
majors and major-minor options so students can be inventive with their choices”.
Offering a minor in business option will allow many non-business programs to realize
this vision.
Business Programs at York University
The proposed minor in business is consistent with the recommendations contained in the
Business Programs at York document [2006]. One solution highly recommended by
Vice President - Academic was the “development of Honours Minors to be taken in
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combination with Majors in other degrees”. The minor in business directly builds upon
this solution to employ current interdisciplinary faculty capacity at SAS to serve the
needs of students whose majors are in other faculties. As outlined below, the minor in
business will be available to students in the Faculty of Health, the Faculty of Fine Arts,
the Faculty of Science and Engineering, the Faculty of Environmental Science, and the
Faculty of LA&PS. As such, the proposed minor in business is also consistent with other
solutions recommended in the Commentary Re: Business Programs at York University
[2007], where the solutions to SAS centered on SAS promoting the development of new
interdisciplinary program synergies between itself and other programs.
d. Admission/Graduation Requirements
To declare a minor in business, students must meet the following admission
requirements:
1. Students seeking direct entry into the minor in business from high school or
another institution must meet or exceed SAS general admission requirements as
adjusted from time to time [grade point average, and high school grade 12
MHF4U course (Advanced Functions or its equivalent)]
2. Students seeking entry subsequent to enrolling at York University must have
attained a minimum cumulative GPA of 5.0 in their major/home programs at
York. In addition, students are required to have high school grade 12 MHF4U
course (Advanced Functions or its equivalent).
To be eligible to graduate with a minor in business designation on their transcript and
diploma, students must have achieved a minimum cumulative GPA of 5.0 in the courses
constituting the minor in business. Students will be responsible for tracking their progress
and GPA in the minor for which an on-line calculator will be provided. The Academic
Advisor for SAS will send an email at the end of each term to students reminding them to
calculate their GPA to ensure that they are meeting the requirement of a minimum
cumulative GPA of 5.0 in the minor in order to graduate with the minor in business
designation.
e. Consultation
There are no similar or identical programs at York. Extensive consultation is being
conducted across the University. Letters of consultation will be attached.
The proposed program structure has been informed by a comprehensive review of 7
similar programs provided by University of Guelph, McMaster University, Dalhousie
University, Brock University, University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, and
Carleton University. The presence of such minors lends support to the demand for
business knowledge by non-business majors, yet does not represent any meaningful
duplication. As the proposed minor is similar in structure to the programs offered by
other universities, in itself it is not differentiated. However, the minor in business will
serve to further differentiate the offerings of the core programs to which it is attached.
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f. Need and Demand
A review of enrollment figures at North American universities, such as Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin, Clarion University and Montana State
University, suggests that, when a minor in business is offered, 1.0% of all of nonbusiness undergraduates will choose that option and that as many as 1 in 5 students
opting to take any minor will choose a minor in business. Based on the enrollment figures
published in York Year Book, the five-year projection for the program is as follow:
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Total
2009-10
59
2010-11
69
54
2011-12
79
65
51
59
123
195
2012-13
89
74
63
25
251
2013-14
98
82
73
31
284
Honours (4-year) students are included in the above projections. The program will reach
steady state in 2013.
This model assumes:
 A more modest intake in the early years of the program than in subsequent years.
Specifically, the intake percentage of all non-business students in the first year is
0.6%, and every year grows 0.1%, until it reaches 1% as steady state in 2013.
 An attrition rate of approximately 8% between Year 1 and Year 2.
 An attrition rate of approximately 3-5% between Year 2 and Year 3.
 Approximately 50% of students will flow into Year 4 (i.e., meet the requirements
for the Honours program).
2. Program Requirements
The proposal for a minor in business requires students to complete nine required 3-credit
courses plus one 3-credit course within SAS at the 4000-level. Students should note that
in order to complete the requirements of the minor in business in conjunction with a
major, it may be necessary to successfully complete more than 120 credits.
a) Courses currently offered with frequency of offering:
Please note: effective Fall 2009 the courses listed below will be transferred to the Faculty
of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
Required courses
AK/ADMS 1000 3.00 Introduction to Administrative Studies. This course provides an
overview of the context within which modern organizations operate. The course will
examine the development of organizational and managerial theories. A number of
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contemporary issues and the organizational responses will be discussed. There were 27
sections offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ECON 1000 3.00 Principles of Microeconomics. The nature of the economic
problem and economic goals; general and basic concepts of demand and supply; demand
and utility analysis; production and costs; pricing in competitive and monopolistic
markets and government regulation; factor pricing and income distribution. There were
17 sections offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ECON 1010 3.00 Principles of Macroeconomics. The nature of the economic
problem; basic models of national income and employment determination; fiscal policy,
banking and monetary policy. Contemporary macro-economic issues including the
unemployment inflation dilemma and the relative effectiveness of monetary and fiscal
stabilization policies.
AK/ADMS 2200 3.00 Introductory Marketing. Covers the fundamentals of marketing
theory, concepts and management as applied to marketing's strategic role in meeting
customer needs, including product (goods and services), price, promotion, distribution,
consumer, segmentation, positioning, ethics, research. Includes the creation of an actual
marketing plan. There were 23 sections offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ADMS 2320 3.00 Quantitative Methods I. An integrated approach to analyzing
business problems from various functional areas. Practical business problems are
analyzed using quantitative techniques including probability, statistical inference,
estimation and regression as well as non-parametric approaches. There were 39 sections
offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ADMS 2400 3.00 Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. Introduces concepts of
individual and group behaviour as they affect performance in organizations. Topics
covered include motivation, communication, decision-making, leadership and structural
issues. Lectures and case discussions are employed to develop theoretical models and
illustrate their use. There were 29 sections offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ADMS 2500 3.00 Introduction to Financial Accounting. An overview of the
accounting discipline, useful to both majors and non-majors. Includes accounting history,
the uses of accounting information in personal and business contexts and the rudiments of
financial reporting.
AK/ADMS 3530 3.00 Finance. The role of financial managers in accomplishing
organizational objectives, uses of financial statements, present value theory, risk/return
analysis, leverage, cost of capital, resource allocation models. There were 25 sections
offered in 2007-2008.
AK/ADMS 4900 3.00 Management Policy Part I. Strategy and policy identification,
formulation, and evaluation are developed through lectures and case discussions.
Emphasis is on integration of administrative studies subject areas with which the student
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has previously become familiar, to provide a framework for the analysis of strategic
problems of general management. There were 17 section offered in 2007-2008.
Students are required to complete one additional ADMS course at the 4000-level.
b). New courses (new courses are subject to approval by Faculties in accordance with
Senate legislation);
None.
c). Required courses mounted by other units; are these to be cross-listed?
None.
3. Calendar Copy
The Honours minor program in Business must be combined with any approved nonbusiness Honours program within the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies,
Faculty of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Health, or Faculty of
Science and Engineering that offers a major/minor option. Refer to Programs of Study.
Entry requirement: (1) Students seeking direct entry into the minor in business from
high school or another institution must meet or exceed SAS general admission
requirements as adjusted from time to time [grade point average, and high school grade
12 MHF4U course (Advanced Functions or its equivalent)]; (2) Students seeking entry
subsequent to enrolling at York University must have attained a minimum cumulative
GPA of 5.0 in their major/home programs at York. In addition, students are required to
have high school grade 12 MHF4U course (Advanced Functions or its equivalent).
Minor: 30 credits including
AP/ADMS 1000 3.00
AP/ECON 1000 3.00
AP/ECON 1010 3.00
AP/ADMS 2200 3.00
AP/ADMS 2320 3.00
AP/ADMS 2400 3.00
AP/ADMS 2500 3.00
AP/ADMS 3530 3.00
AP/ADMS 4900 3.00
Three additional credits in ADMS at the 4000 level.
At least six credits in the minor must be at the 4000 level.
To graduate with a minor in Business, students must satisfy Honours degree and program
requirements including a minimum 5.0 grade point average in the minor.
4. Human and Physical Resource Requirements
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As this program includes a cross-section of SAS courses, it will be supported by the
entire faculty complement. A program coordinator will be appointed.
a). Faculty Members:
Included below is a list of faculty members whose teaching and research interests are
relevant to the proposed program.
Alwathainani, Abdulaziz, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Financial accounting and
capital markets.
Bartel, Henry, Professor, Management Science – Economic policy and analysis;
quantitative methods.
Bewley, Kate, Associate Professor, Audit & Management Information Systems –
Financial accounting; accounting theory; and information systems.
Carbonell, Pilar, Assistant Professor, Marketing – New product development; cycle time
management; and new service developmenet.
Chuang, You-Ta, Associate Professor, Management – Organizational theory and strategic
management; GLBT issues at workplace.
Dasci, Abdullah, Associate Professor, Management Science – Pricing and revenue
management; location theory; and supply chain management.
Deutsch Salamon, Sabrina, Associate Professor, Management – Organizational trust;
citizenship and deviant behaviors; and group dynamics.
Ding, Shujun, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Managerial decisin-making.
Domian, Dale, Professor, Finance – Investments and financial planning.
Evans, Paul, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Accounting.
Fleming, Jason, Sessional Lecture, Tax – Tax.
Gaber, Brian, Associate Professor, Accounting – Audit stragtegy and risk; comprehensive
values for money audits; and human information processing and modeling of expert
judgement.
Gelinas, Patrice, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Value of job security; corporate
governance; and accounting history.
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Gzara, Fatma, Assistant Professor, Management Science - Supply chain management and
logistics, telecommunications, network design, and large scale optimization.
Ho, Kwok, Associate Professor, Finance – Personal finance.
Hoffman, Randy, Associate Professor, Management - Strategic management simulations;
decision tree operational management simulations; case development in organizational
behaviour; and probabilistic economic scenarios.
Huang, Rongbing, Assistant Professor, E-Commerce - Location theory; combinatorial
optimization; service Management and online auction.
Hwong, Thaddeus, Assistant Professor, Tax - Tax law and public policy.
Iacobelli, Sandra, Sessional Lecturer, Audit & Management Information Systems – Audit
& Management Information Systems.
Jones, Joanne, Assistant Professor, Audit and Management Information Systems – Audit
and management information systems.
Len, Karakowsky, Associate Professor, Management - Demographic diversity,
leadership, team-building, organizational trust and knowledge management.
Karakul, Mustafa, Associate Professor, Management Science - The effects of
coordinating pricing and procurement decisions on the overall profitability of the supply
chains.
Kerr, Jon, Sessional Lecturer, Management – Management.
Kwon, Sung Soo, Associate Professor, Accounting - Characteristics of both accounting
measures and the information environment to better understand the impact of accounting
numbers on market participants.
Lai, Liona, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Financial accounting, international
accounting and capital markets.
LaRegina, Elizabeth, Lecturer, Accounting – Accounting.
Lasry, Eytan, Lecturer, Management – Management.
LeBlanc, W.J. Richard, Assistant Professor, Corporate governance, law and ethics –
Corporate governance.
Lehrer, Keith, Assistant Professor, Management – Organizational behaviors.
Li, Lee, Associate Professor, Marketing - International trade and marketing strategies.
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Li, Xiaofei, Assistant Professor, Finance - Corporate finance and fixed-income securities
and markets.
Lim, William, Associate Professor, Finance - Dynamic General Equilibrium models of
asset pricing, Trade Credit and Entrepreneurial Finance.
Magee, Joanne E., Associate Professor, Tax - Statutory interpretation, personal financial
planning and the measurement of income for tax purposes.
Maute, Manfred, Associate Professor, Marketing – Marketing.
Ng, Peggy, Professor, Management Science - patient care and community health, panel
data analysis in business and organizational data; knowledge creation; spatial analysis in
remote sensing data; and the use of soft approach for hard optimization models.
Ogata, Ken, Assistant Professor, Consulting – Organizational theory.
Ophir, Ron, Assistant Professor, Management – Organizational learning; GLBT issues at
workplace.
Parkinson, John, Professor, Accounting & Finance - Cost accounting methods and
accounting history, as well as case teaching methods.
Peng, Songlan (Stella), Assistant Professor, Accounting - International accounting
standards and capital market regulation.
Porporato, M. Macela, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Management control systems.
Qudrat-Ullah, Hassan, Associate Professor, Management Science - dynamic decision
making, system dynamics modeling, computer-simulated interactive learning
environments, and energy planning models.
Richardson, Julia, Associate Professor, Management – career development; flexible work
practices.
Ripley, M. Louise, Associate Professor, Marketing - Advertising ethics and multi-modal
argumentation, the pressures on women who work outside the home, and the joys and
difficulties of online teaching.
Rusetski, Alexander, Assistant Professor, Marketing – Marketing.
Sánchez-Rodríguez, Cristóbal, Assistant Proefessor, Audit & Management Information
Systems - The integration between buyers and suppliers in industrial markets and the
utilization of information technologies to enhance quality management practices in
industrial settings.
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Schraa, Ellen, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Accounting.
Schwartz, Mark, Associate Professor, Corporate governance, law and ethics - orporate
ethics programs, corporate social responsibility, Jewish business ethics, corporate
governance and ethics, and ethical investment.
Scott, Sandra, Sessional Lecturer, Accounting – Accounting.
Shen, Jung-Chin, Assistant Professor, Management – Corporate strategy, mergers and
acquisitions, and initial public offering.
Snow, Kim, Associate Professor, Marketing – Marketing.
Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, Ingrid, Assistant Professor, Audit & Management Information
Systems – Information systems auditing.
Spraakman, Gary, Associate Professor, Accounting – Management accounting change.
Strebinger, Andres, Associate Professor, Marketing - branding, particularly on
(international) brand architecture and brand portfolio management, brand equity, brand
personality and e-branding.
Suk, Inho, Assistant Professor, Accounting - Voluntary earnings disclosure, analysts’
forecast revisions, strategic earnings reporting around earnings thresholds, accounting
information and market microstructure, corporate governance, corporate legal risk
management and audit pricing.
Tahani, Nabil, Assistant Professor, Finance – Credit risk and derivative.
Thomson, Kelly, Assistant Professor, Management – Institutional theory,
entrepreneurship.
Toyasaki, Fuminori, Assistant Professor, Management Science – Management Science.
Tsasis, Peter, Assistant Professor, Management – Management.
Waweru, Nelson, Assistant Professor, Accounting- Accounting.
Wayne, Paul, Assistant Professor, Accounting – Accounting.
Yildirim, Semih, Associate Professor, Finance – encompass regulation, financial market
structure, and corporate finance.
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b). New faculty requirements and gaps they would be expected to fill.
None
c). Administration: Specify the need for a coordinator/chair, support staff, advisors, if
any.
None
d). Library Holdings required.
York is well equipped to support this initiative.
e). Academic computing required.
No special academic computing requirements are anticipated.
f). Other special equipment required, if any.
None
g). Space requirements.
None
5. Statement of Funding and Resource Availability
Resources needed to establish the minor in business program are modest. A program
coordinator will be appointed under Category 5 of the Collective agreement. SAS has
committed secretarial support for the program. In addition, the intake of direct entry
students into the BAS program is declining. As such, the funding and resources required
for the minor in business can be supported by existing SAS resources.
6. Attachments
[TO BE DONE]
Statement of support from the relevant Dean(s)/Principal, attesting to the adequacy of
resources: space, computing, staff, faculty, etc.
Comment on resource implications from the Office of the Vice-President (Academic) and
Provost.
Statement from the University Librarian confirming the adequacy of library holdings.
Statement from the University Registrar regarding the proposed implementation
schedule.
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Confirmations from "interested" programs that their comments have been solicited.
Estimate of demand for the program from the Office of Admissions.
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