“The accreditation is important because it indicates that an outside authority has certified our program,” said Purcell. Accreditation adds another immediate value to students. “Many employers, such as Lockheed Martin with one of its branches right next to our Newtown site, will not reimburse employees’ tuition for business degrees unless employees are attending schools with aforementioned accreditations,” says Cao Jiang, Assistant Professor of Finance and Chair of the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance. That is no longer an issue for working HFU students. Part of the road to accreditation involved reorganization. The SBA now has programs organized into two departments: Accounting, Economics and Finance as one, and Marketing Management and Computer Management Information System (CMIS) as the other. This reorganization was done not only in order to achieve accreditation but also to strengthen the programs for the faculty and students. “The shared responsibilities are clearly defined. Each department is going to have clear goals and targets,” says Jiang. The reorganization also allowed Holy Family to look at the courses it was offering and shift toward educating students for what jobs need to be filled now. “With the size of Holy Family, we’re able to adjust our courses as the industry calls for it,” adds Purcell. “We’re able to do this and give our students the most up-to-date curriculum possible.” That includes a new curriculum in digital forensics. Duggar, who came to the University three years ago and is
overseeing the transformation of the program, says the new curriculum is set up to meet the needs of both the government and corporations. Holy Family has also added courses in accounting forensics, entrepreneurship, healthcare information systems, financial statement analysis, treasury management, and corporate finance for executives. The restructuring has also honed programs that are already strong within SBA, including undergraduate programs in finance, sports marketing management, and accounting and graduate programs in human resources management and information systems management. The students certainly appreciate this effort. Recent graduate Lance Stoll ’11 is grateful for what he refers to as “the total package” from Holy Family. He notes, “I’ve not only put in hard work, effort, and time into my degree, but the Business School has done the same for me.” Program restructuring has also included timeline restructuring. In September 2010, HFU added a three-year option that allows students to fit all 120 credits required for the degree into their schedule in three years. Instead of the usual 12 credits per semester, a student can take on 18. This saves students looking for a value-based education both time and money, especially if they are transferring in from another school.
The HFU Advantage
One thing not changing about the SBA is its focus on teaching students how to act morally within the business world, which has never been more important than right now, in a post-“bank bailout” business climate.
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