By Tiffany Thatcher
Asst. News Editor
Business with China has exploded with popularity in the past years, and has been a large emphasis at UVU as these skills are more valued in the job market. Last week a large project was put in motion toward China in the business program.
Monday, Nov 7, the dean gave an assignment to the Chair of the Department of Management, David McArthur, Ph.D. His project is to prepare to offer a certificate to those interested in learning about Business with China.
Since the idea of a certificate is still new, some details about it are not clear to McArthur or the dean. The current plan is not to have a new Business in China program, but rather incorporate a certificate into the existing programs as an optional part of the undergraduate. Students who get this certification will spend their last three semesters studying business abroad in China.
As part of the certificate, students will do an internship abroad while or after they are studying; ideally students will get job offers from their internship. McArthur said this is consistent with the university’s goals of engaging students. He used an analogy to compare the job market with baking.
“We want students to get close to what’s done, with out getting burned,” McArthur said. “We will give them hot pads.”
For students who are interested, language capabilities are preferred but McArthur recognizes that taking time to study language can take from a student’s business learning.
“They don’t care what language you speak, they just want you to solve problems.” McArthur said. “You only need to know a few words to do business; please, thank you, your ancestry is very distinguished, and please don’t shoot me.”
A new class will be offered in the Spring called Management 494R and is expected to be offered regularly in the future. The class doesn’t have a pre requisite this year, but in the future, History of East Asia 3610 will be required before taking it.
McArthur is team teaching the class with Xu Hui from a Chinese University. The class will cover economy, consumers and consumer research, negotiating sales, sourcing and source development.
“The program has a whole lot of development work to go through from now until it is available to students.” McArthur said.
McArthur wants juniors with some interest in China, and business who have some language ability, a hallmark that there is genuine interest.
The next steps for the department will include working with the university in Shanghai to find out things like what classes will be used and how the classes will transfer.
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