2008 Woodie Awards
As students flock to MUH, courses prove equally rigorous
Rachel Perron
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Front Page
Since fall semester 2006, the number of Oxford students taking classes at Miami University's Hamilton (MUH) campus has risen from 554 to 806, comprising almost 25 percent of the entire Hamilton campus, according to Susan Wilson, director of Records and Registration and Transfer Evaluations for MUH.
Of all the courses MUH offers, Accounting 222, Communication 135 and Marketing 291 are the most popular for Oxford students, Wilson said.
The attraction to Hamilton's campus, Wilson said, is the convenience of night classes that meet only once a week, office hours during the evening and small class sizes, which allow for more individual attention and make it easier to get help.
Also, since Communication 135 is a requirement for business, education and communication majors, Wilson pointed out that there may not be enough sections on Oxford's campus to accommodate such a large number of students.
Given that Communication 135, Accounting 222 and Marketing 291 are all core requirements for business majors according to the Miami Bulletin, students, like junior business major, Matt Noll, are concerned that the prospect of easier classes and better grades are what lures business majors to Hamilton's campus-something he sees may compromise the fairness of the business school's admissions process.
"I think the perception is that the classes are easier in Hamilton, and people take advantage of that, and that's something the university needs to look into," Noll said. "The business school is tough to get into, and if I didn't get in over some one taking easier classes on a regional campus, I'd have been very upset."
However according to Ray Gorman, senior associate dean of the Farmer School of Business, there's no difference between courses at the two campuses.
"We hold (Hamilton) instructors to the same level of rigor," Gorman said.
Gorman explained that all members of the business faculty on any of Miami's three campuses go through an annual review process, in which department chairs review teaching evaluations, syllabi and tests.
Of all the courses MUH offers, Accounting 222, Communication 135 and Marketing 291 are the most popular for Oxford students, Wilson said.
The attraction to Hamilton's campus, Wilson said, is the convenience of night classes that meet only once a week, office hours during the evening and small class sizes, which allow for more individual attention and make it easier to get help.
Also, since Communication 135 is a requirement for business, education and communication majors, Wilson pointed out that there may not be enough sections on Oxford's campus to accommodate such a large number of students.
Given that Communication 135, Accounting 222 and Marketing 291 are all core requirements for business majors according to the Miami Bulletin, students, like junior business major, Matt Noll, are concerned that the prospect of easier classes and better grades are what lures business majors to Hamilton's campus-something he sees may compromise the fairness of the business school's admissions process.
"I think the perception is that the classes are easier in Hamilton, and people take advantage of that, and that's something the university needs to look into," Noll said. "The business school is tough to get into, and if I didn't get in over some one taking easier classes on a regional campus, I'd have been very upset."
However according to Ray Gorman, senior associate dean of the Farmer School of Business, there's no difference between courses at the two campuses.
"We hold (Hamilton) instructors to the same level of rigor," Gorman said.
Gorman explained that all members of the business faculty on any of Miami's three campuses go through an annual review process, in which department chairs review teaching evaluations, syllabi and tests.
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