A business sense

students to change their courses as they discover strengths

and interests

FLEXIBILITY, innovation and relevance to the real world are three of the most important factors driving a wide range of degree courses in the University of Paisley's Faculty of Business. Academic staff have worked hard to develop an approach to teaching which is not only intellectually challenging and well respected by potential employers, but also stimulating, interesting and ultimately useful to employer and employee alike. The faculty has three main departments: marketing and management; accounting, economics and languages; and land economics. A business and information technology degree is also offered.

Each of the different departments offers a range of different courses. In marketing and management, for instance, the core degrees are BAs in business and management and in marketing. The accounting, economics and languages department offers the B.Acc, the Bachelor of Accounting, as well as a BA in business economics which, like most of the courses in the faculty, can be taken along with a foreign language. The land economics department offers a BSc, specialising in Real Estate Management, which is accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

John Duignan, the faculty's director of marketing, says that one of the main selling features of the faculty is the ability it offers students to move between different courses. ''We can provide real flexibility. A student might come to us in his first year to tell us that he's realised that the course he's on isn't the right choice for him.

''If that happens, we can find a path which means he can take another route through the faculty without loss of time. That means we can cut down the risk of failure without compromising the quality of our degree streams.''

A common swap, he says, is between subjects such as accounting, business economics and marketing. ''People flow between these subjects. Economics and quantitative analysis for business are common between these courses, so that makes swapping easier.''

Even in second year, Mr Duignan adds, it is possible for undergraduates to reshape their courses. ''If they start to struggle with a subject, they can pick up another and still come out with a degree, even though it may have a different name to their original first choice.''

Like other faculties at the University of Paisley, the business faculty takes some pride in its ability to organise high quality industrial placements for its students. A dedicated placement unit exists to find appropriate positions for students during their year out, which takes place at the end of second year.

''The placement, which is for a year, is optional, though we do strongly advise them to take up this opportunity. They actually register for it at the end of their first year, and we teach them how to prepare for their year out - what the placement unit expects of them, how to prepare CVs, and the importance of getting applications in timeously.''

As part of this preparation work, each student is asked to put together a video package, explaining to camera why he or she is suited to an industrial placement and why companies should offer a position. This helps the undergraduate to build up presentation skills, boosts his or her confidence, and gives potential employers something to look at.

Mr Duignan explained: ''The company might ask us to do the initial selection ourselves. The placements can be all over Britain or abroad. It's up to the individuals if they accept a place when it is offered, but if they don't, then they have to have a pretty good reason for refusing.

'' The student is getting invaluable experience; he has something to put down on his CV and he may be invited to apply for a graduate place with that company once he has qualified.''

The faculty's reputation in gaining high quality placements where students can practice the business and management skills they have learned in the lecture theatre is second to none, and is one of the areas where it can claim a distinct advantage over other universities.

''We do a lot of networking with companies, and the result is that we're the most successful faculty in Scotland and even in Britain at this. We actually have more placements available than we have students to take them. Honours graduates with this sort of experience generally don't have a problem getting jobs.''

Mr Duignan can give positive examples of students who have made impressive and valuable contributions to the organisations that have given them a placement. ''One of our people prepared a document for the oil company Conoco on anticipated safety legislation following Piper Alpha. And often the brightest marketing student will elect to go to a small company that doesn't have a marketing department. They may feel they can shape policy, and a strategic thinker may go to a company where they feel they can use their own discretion.''

Despite the strength of its external placements, the faculty believes it also has much to offer students during the four years they spend in the university itself.