Sowing Seeds; From Cornell in Qatar to Monash in Malaysia, satellite campuses are a booming business.

(Copyright (c) Newsweek, Incorporated - 2006. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.)

The campus architecture suggests Arabia, and the surrounding sands stretch to the horizon. But for 350 students, this is a tiny patch of Scotland in the Dubai desert. They'll receive their degrees from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, educated largely by a faculty who speak in British accents. "Our university was created to serve a developing country--Scotland--180 years ago," says Brian Smart, the Scottish professor who heads the local faculty. "We thought, 'Let's take the same model and plug it into other countries around the world'."

These days that's hardly an original thought. With backing from the Dubai government, a cluster of overseas colleges--from India's Mahatma Gandhi University to the St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics--have set up outposts here in the Knowledge Village since it opened in 2002. Nor is Dubai the lone gulf state pursuing a role as an academic hub. Local students looking for a U.S. education can train at Cornell's medical school or Georgetown's school of foreign service, both in Qatar's Education City. Indeed, the trend is global: Britain's Nottingham University has a branch near Shanghai, the Rochester Institute of Technology has one beside the Mediterranean in Croatia, and Australia's Monash University has one in Malaysia.

Forget the days when a coveted foreign degree meant costly travel and a few years away from home. Today it's often the institution--not the student--that moves. Since 2000, the number of branch campuses worldwide has roughly doubled to about 80, as more colleges tap into the growing demand for a prestigious Western education; foreign satellite campuses have become a small but fast-growing segment of the $30 billion international-education industry. America still dominates this market, but other providers--notably the British and the Australians--are pushing in. All are realizing that it makes sense for universities to invest in bricks-and-mortar facilities close to the richest markets, namely in Asia and the Middle East. Says Line Verbik of the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, a London-based research group that monitors education trends: "What we are seeing is a really big increase both in the number and diversity of players."

And this is a game in which all players can win. Students receive a high-prestige education for maybe half the cost of going to Europe or North America. Rapidly growing economies like India and China get top-rated schools to plug the gaps in their own educational systems. Countries looking to a future without oil or natural gas get a few big-name foreign universities--and the research facilities that accompany them--to help build a knowledge-based economy that won't depend on finite natural resources. Small wonder, then, that aspiring nations now vie to attract the right foreign schools. Inducements can be lavish. Qatar, for example, pays not only for the shiny new buildings but also for staff bonuses. Governments know that the best colleges bring the best recruits, including those from neighboring states, whose tuition contributes to the economy. By 2012, for example, Singapore hopes to pull in 150,000 outside students--three times the 2002 total. The bait: a list of branch campuses from world-renowned schools ranging from the French-based business school Insead to the Technical University of Munich and MIT.

For their part, the incoming institutions get the chance to internationalize their reputations and build a global brand. "Sitting here in the United States, we see the world changing and evolving, with economic development moving to the Pacific, and we would like to be part of that world," says Mark Kamlet, provost of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, which has a second base in Qatar. A stint overseas gives the teaching staff a broader international perspective as well as the chance to scout for possible postgraduate talent, while home students welcome the possibility of study overseas at a familiar institution.

A well-run college can also make a handy ambassador in corners of the world where the West is suspect. "This is a good way for the United States to represent itself overseas, particularly in Arab countries where in the past most of the trade has been in guns and oil," says Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, which opened its Qatar campus in 2003. The school now attracts students--70 percent women--from across the Middle East including Syria, the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Iran.

To be sure, managing cross-cultural relations can be tricky. When money is involved, host nations want returns. Only last month, Singapore announced it was cutting off funds to a biomedical-research facility from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, claiming that it had failed to meet performance targets. "We cannot justify the continuation of public funding for a collaboration that has failed to yield results for Singapore," said Andre Wan of the government's science-and-technology research agency. College bean counters with long memories will also remember an overenthusiastic expansion into Japan in the '80s--followed by a spate of campus closures due to culture clashes and disappointing enrollment figures.

Certainly, there may be easier ways for universities to earn cash. Many Western institutions now offer their degrees through franchise arrangements with local partners, and the spread of the Internet has broadened the opportunity for distance learning. But standards can easily slip without the regular controls that go with an on-the-ground presence. And establishing a permanent campus abroad demonstrates faith in the host country's future. "A branch campus is about commitment--not just renting out your name," says Stphan Vincent-Lancrin, an expert on higher education at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.

There are some powerful financial imperatives at work these days. Tight-fisted governments are pushing the state-funded universities of Britain and Australia, for instance, to raise more cash for themselves. The inflow of foreign students--once a dependable source of extra revenue--can no longer be guaranteed, thanks to rising competition among countries for high-paying nonresidents. Enterprising colleges in Germany and the Netherlands have even introduced more coveted English-language instruction to lure foreigners. The number of Chinese students taking up places at British universities fell 21 percent last year, due in part to growing opportunities closer to home.

Given such obstacles, exporting education can seem more practical than importing students. "We are grateful for foreign students who come here, but we are competing with top international universities, and that competition is going to get tougher and tougher," says Douglas Tallack, a professor at Britain's Nottingham University. His university's solution: an outpost in Malaysia and a partnership with a Chinese corporation that has created a 38-hectare campus close to Shanghai--complete with a near-replica of Nottingham's neoclassical central building. Student numbers are rising fast and should reach 4,000 within five years. When it comes to education, location isn't everything; provenance is.

Wanted: Foreigners; Universities are competing to attract the best, brightest and richest students.

(Copyright (c) Newsweek, Incorporated - 2006. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.)

With Akiko Kashiwagi in Tokyo

Students who want to obtain their degrees abroad have never had more options. For decades, the best, brightest and richest typically chose between Oxbridge and America's top universities. No longer. Recognizing the windfall that foreign students bring, countries including New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands and Japan have begun stepping up efforts to attract them.

They're fighting over a big pie. Of the estimated $30 billion international-education market, the United States earns about $13 billion. In Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has said that education is the country's fastest-growing source of export income. UNESCO estimates that more than 2.5 million students study overseas each year, and that number is "definitely growing," says Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education. By 2025, 7.5 million students are expected to seek education outside their home countries.

With tighter visa restrictions and high fees creating obstacles for foreign students in America and Britain, other countries are reaching out. The Netherlands now teaches more than 50 percent of its master's programs in English, and has boosted recruitment efforts abroad. "With the government funding educational-information centers and a strong presence at international student fairs, this is a push," says Bernd Wachter, director of the Academic Cooperation Association in Brussels.

In New Zealand, the number of international students jumped from about 4,000 in 1999 to more than 21,000 in 2004, with the country earning an estimated $1.2 billion off them. Last year the government announced it would spend an extra $3 million to promote the industry.

Even Japan is reaching out to nonnative students. In 2004, Tokyo's Waseda University launched the School of International Liberal Studies, where a quarter of the students are foreign and all classes are taught in English--except Japanese studies. Recruiters have targeted reputable high schools from South Korea to Singapore. Already three times more foreign students have applied than could matriculate. "This is one way for Japan's higher education to become globally competitive," says Dean Katsuichi Uchida.

America and Britain are fighting to hang on to their share of the market. "Continental Europe used to see marketing education as dirty, but schools are starting to say, 'We have to be more proactive to compete'," says Wachter. If they don't go after foreign students, someone else will.

World of Knowledge; From their student bodies to their research practices, universities are becoming more global.

Levin is the president of Yale University.

As never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the locus of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage. But at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow of goods, services, information and especially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.

In response to the same forces that have propelled the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students from around the world who represent the entire spectrum of cultures and values, sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers, offering courses of study that address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative research programs to advance science for the benefit of all humanity.

Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the movement across borders. Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004. Most travel from one developed nation to another, but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developing countries, is on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United Kingdom. And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as well, to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America's Ivy League institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 20 percent of newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China the vast majority of newly hired faculty at the top research universities received their graduate education abroad.

What are the consequences of these shifts among the highly educated? Consider this: on the night after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Jewish students at Yale (most of them American) came together with Muslim students (most of them foreign) to organize a vigil. Or this: every year the student-run Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Stanford (FACES) organizes conferences in both China and at Stanford, bringing together students from both countries chosen to discuss Sino-U.S. relations with leading experts. The leaders of student groups promoting international collaboration are in touch with each other daily via e-mail and Skype, technologies that not only facilitate cooperative projects but also increase the likelihood of creating lifelong personal ties. The bottom line: the flow of students across national borders--students who are disproportionately likely to become leaders in their home countries--enables deeper mutual understanding, tolerance and global integration.

As part of this, universities are encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate experience in another country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year, taking courses for credit in one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent. And in the United States, institutions are mobilizing their alumni to help place students in summer internships abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity--and providing the financial resources to make it possible. Universities are also establishing more-ambitious foreign outposts to serve students primarily from the local market rather than the parent campus. And true educational joint ventures are gaining favor, such as the 20-year-old Johns Hopkins-Nanjing program in Chinese and American Studies, the Duke Goethe executive M.B.A. program and the MIT-Singapore alliance, which offers dual graduate degrees in a variety of engineering fields.

Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done. One new trend involves sourcing portions of a research program to another country. Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease at his alma mater, Shanghai's Fudan University, in collaboration with faculty colleagues from both schools. The Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a 4,300-square-meter laboratory facility. Yale faculty, postdocs and graduate students visit regularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses. The arrangement benefits both countries; Xu's Yale lab is more productive, thanks to the lower costs of conducting research in China, and Chinese graduate students, postdocs and faculty get on-the-job training from a world-class scientist and his U.S. team.

Yale has a similar facility at Peking University in Beijing, where Prof. Xing-Wang Deng directs a program studying the biology of plant systems, aimed at improving crops. Like Xu, Deng is a graduate of the institution where he performs his research. But it is only a matter of time before China starts to set up similar facilities for outstanding foreign scientists who have no prior connection to the country.

Given NEWSWEEK's rankings, it's not surprising that nations seeking advancement are looking closely at America's research universities as a model. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, technological change has been the principal source of economic growth and a rising standard of living. But in the past half century, technological progress has become dependent on scientific advances and their translation to practice--a process that requires both public and private investment. After the second world war, the United States recognized that maintaining its leadership in defense technology required substantial public investment in university-based science. By the mid-1950s the United States had designated public support for university research for the basic sciences as well as for health, agriculture, defense and energy.

As a result of its strength in science, the United States has consistently led the world in the commercialization of major new technologies, from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure and applications software of the 1990s. The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but sometimes highly visible: Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University, and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from MIT and Harvard. Around the world, governments have encouraged replication of this model, perhaps most successfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology companies have set up shop around the university. An impressive array of technology companies already surrounds some of the major campuses in China--notably Peking and Tsinghua universities in Beijing, and Fudan and Shanghai Jiatong universities in Shanghai.

Universities are also adapting more American research practices. Until recently, for instance, Japan allocated research funding in block grants, which wound up in the hands of the country's most senior--but not necessarily most productive--professors. But between 2000 and 2004, the country increased the volume of grants subject to competitive review by 57 percent, in an effort to direct funding to the more meritorious.

Even more-dramatic changes are taking place in China, where a number of leading universities, intent on attaining world-class status, have been carefully studying America's top institutions for new ideas. These include widening the search for new faculty well beyond their own graduates, establishing rigorous standards for awarding lifetime tenure and consulting with independent experts on personnel decisions. Several leading universities have ditched the traditional specialized undergraduate curriculum for a year or two of general education followed by free choice of a major field of study, as is common in the United States. Some are experimenting with using criteria other than national exams to admit students. And many elite universities are determined to abandon recitation in favor of classroom interaction that encourages students to think independently--a hopeful sign for those eager to see a fully democratic China.

Indeed, China is intent on playing all its cards. By investing heavily in research, tripling university enrollments between 1998 and 2004, and encouraging top students to think independently, the country is self-consciously using its universities as a means to stimulate economic growth. At the same time, since Deng Xiaoping first permitted Chinese students to seek education in the West in 1978, no country has made a more deliberate effort to send its most talented students abroad for a top education--especially at the graduate level. Today, in contrast to 10 or 20 years ago when economic opportunity was limited at home, most Chinese students return after graduation--often with an appreciation of the values of a free society and a greater understanding of the countries where they studied.

Europe, by contrast, has lost its competitive edge. According to "The Future of European Universities: Renaissance or Decay?" a devastating recent critique by Confederation of British Industry Director General Richard Lambert and Nick Butler, Chief of Strategic Planning at British Petroleum, European governments have systematically weakened their top universities, once the pride of the world. They have invested too little in research, spread limited resources across too many institutions, expanded enrollments without increasing faculty and refused to allow universities sufficient autonomy, the report says. To flourish, they need to concentrate more resources in the hands of the strongest universities and allow them to generate revenue by charging tuition fees like their U.S. counterparts--and awarding financial aid to those in greatest need.

For all its success, the United States remains deeply ambivalent about sustaining the research-university model. Most politicians recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength, but support for research funding has been fitful and sporadic rather than steady. The budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled between 1998 and 2003, but has risen more slowly than inflation since then. Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept pace with inflation during that same period; legislation to double these expenditures in 10 years is currently pending. The attempt to make up lost ground is welcome, but the nation would be better served by steady, predictable increases in science funding at the rate of long-term GDP growth, which is on the order of inflation plus 3 percent per year.

American politicians have great difficulty recognizing that admitting more foreign students can greatly promote the national interest by increasing international understanding. Adjusted for inflation, public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago. In the wake of September 11, changes in the visa process caused a dramatic decline in the number of foreign students seeking admission to U.S. universities, and a corresponding surge in enrollments in Australia, Singapore and the U.K. Objections from American university and business leaders led to improvements in the process and a reversal of the decline, but the United States is still seen by many as unwelcoming to international students. An abortive attempt last year by the Commerce Department to extend the scope of export control regulations in university research labs reinforced this unfortunate signal.

Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation's well-being through their scientific research, but many fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness by taking their knowledge and skills back home. They fail to grasp that welcoming foreign students to the United States has two overriding positive effects: first, the very best of them stay in the States and--like immigrants throughout history--strengthen the nation; and second, foreign students who study in the United States become ambassadors for many of its most cherished values when they return home. Or at least they understand them better. In America as elsewhere, few instruments of foreign policy are as effective in promoting peace and stability as welcoming international university students.

Newsweek

Europe
"Why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?"
—The Times of London, in an editorial delving into the American psyche and the gun laws across the nation

"It is a delusion … to imagine that controls on their own will stop the rise of gun crime, and the killing that results … what is needed is a wholesale shift in the national culture—and that will take rather longer than an arms ban."
—Mangus Linklater, The Times of London columnist

"There's only one real ‘freedom' in America—the freedom to kill one another… if guns weren't so readily available in the ‘land of the free,' this tragedy might never have happened."
—London's Daily Mail columnist Russell Miller

"There is such a high murder rate in the United States that even if you excluded the deaths caused there by the use of guns, their homicide rate would still be higher than ours. In other words, even if there were not a single gun in America, there would still be more murders and manslaughters than in Britain. Bringing gun control to America would not stop it being a country where a lot of people get killed."
—James Bartholomew, political commentator at the Daily Express in London

"[T]he response of many who wish America ill will have been gratuitous schadenfreude. They see a people who live by the gun also dying by it, be they Marines in Anbar province or students in Virginia…. How can American soldiers disarm Iraqi families of their weapons in Baghdad yet claim the right to arm themselves to the teeth back home?"
—The Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

"In a country where ‘the right to bear arms' is written into the Constitution and where there are an estimated 192 million firearms, the problem isn't simply one of a particular interest group. After the tragedy, voices rose up to deplore the fact that professors and students are not authorized to arm themselves, since one of them could have neutralized the killer. With that kind of reasoning, America is not close to overcoming its violence."
—Excerpts from an editorial headlined "Tragédie Américaine," in France's Le Monde newspaper

"What is, for us, an archaism remains, for many Americans, a fundamental right, a right to remain armed, which is becoming more and more costly. That is the difference between us and them"
—Pierre Rousselin, from Paris's Le Figaro

"In France, we say everything ends in song. In the land of John Wayne, Charlton Heston and George Bush, a great partisan of the NRA, everything, individual anger, heartbreak, neighborhood disputes, quarrels between dealers or depression, ends in shootouts. That is why students die on campuses, without anyone, starting with Hillary Clinton, thinking to do anything much about it."
—Laurent Joffrin, writing in the French newspaper Libération

"In Virginia at the age of 13, you can buy a revolver at a supermarket."
—From the Italian newspaper il Messaggero, in an article headlined Pistole Facili (Easy Guns). Italian newspapers carried extensive comments from Marina Cogo and Giancarlo Bordonaro, two 23-year-old Virginia Tech students from Milan. Cogo is returning home, vowing not to return.

Iraq

"It is a big loss for the American people and I think that this is a message from Allah to them to stop and think of what is happening in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqis lost their sons or fathers and all of this was because of the so-called American democracy being exported to Third World countries."
—Haifa Salim, a 34-year-old Baghdad housewife

=======================================================

If, as I believe, we are part of the problem, then obviously we can be part of the solution.

BUSINESS REPORT

Executive Summary

The executive summary is a one-page summary of your report. It is typically read by managers or other people who may not have time to read your entire report. This document should present a broad understanding of the

• background for the report,
• purpose and scope of the report,
• major conclusions and recommendations made in the report.

It is important to know who will most likely be reading the executive summary, so that you can provide the level of information that your reader needs. In considering what to include in the executive summary, consider which ideas and facts are most important for conveying the significance that this report has for the organization, and make sure that those ideas are clearly stated in the summary.

(put the page number 1 inch from the bottom of the page)

Title Page

Distributed Learning Resources and Online Courses in Business and Technical Writing

(center the title of the report and situate the title approx. 2 inches from the top of the page; use a bold type in a large font--this example is in Georgia, 14-point)

Prepared for: Dr. Tilly Warnock, Director of Composition
Prepared by: Dr. Thomas Miller, Prof Comm Project Leader

(include the parties to whom the report is addressed in the "Prepared For" section and situate approx. in the middle of the page--if the report is external, include the organization name and address; use a font 2 points smaller than your title--this example is inGeorgia, 12-point)

January 10, 2001

(center the date and situate it approx. 2 inches from the bottom of the page; use a smaller font--this example is in Georgia, 10-point)

BUSINESS REPORT WRITING

Business Statistics

Introduction

As the business environment grows in its complexity, the importance of skillful communication becomes essential in the pursuit of institutional goals. In addition to the need to develop adequate statistical skills, you will find it necessary to effectively communicate to others the results of your statistical studies. It is of little use to formulate solutions to business problems without transmitting this information to others involved in the problem-solving process. The importance of effectively communicating the results of your statistical study cannot be overemphasized.

Unfortunately, it seems that many business managers suffer from inadequate communication skills. The December 1990 issue of the Training and Development Journal reports that "Executives polled in a recent survey decry the lack of writing skills among job candidates." A report in 1993 issue of Management Review notes the "liability imposed on businesses by poor writing sills." The report states that employers are beginning to place greater emphasis on communication in hiring practices. Many employers have adopted policies requiring job candidates to submit a brief written report as part of the screening process. An August 1992 issue of Marketing News reveals that "Employers seek motivated communicators for entry-level marketing positions." Obviously, the pressing lack of adequate writing and communications skills in American businesses is well documented.

Therefore, the purpose of this appendix is to illustrate some of the major principles of business communication and the preparation of business reports. We examine the general purpose and essential features of a report and stress the benefits of effective report writing. Emphasis is placed on the customary form a business report should take and the format, content, and purpose of its component parts. We will study illustrations of practical reports and the problems will provide the opportunity for students to develop and sharpen their communication skills.

The Need to Communicate

Most business decisions involve the cooperation and interaction of several individuals. Sometimes dozens of colleagues and co-workers strive in unison to realize mutual goals. Lines of communication must therefore be maintained to facilitate these joint efforts. Without communicating ideas and thoughts it would be impossible to identify common objectives and purposes necessary for successful operations. Without communication and the team effort it permits, the successful completion of any important project can be jeopardized. Some aspects of the project would be unnecessarily replicated while other tasks would be left unattended. Further, in the absence of adequate communication, colleagues would find themselves working at Coors purposes and perhaps pursuing opposing goals. What one team member may have worked to assemble one day, a second team member may dismantle the next. Without communication the chances for a successful outcome of any business endeavor are significantly reduced.

The Characteristics of the Reader

Business reports are quite often intended for a wide variety of different audiences. It is critical that you carefully identify the intended audience for your report, otherwise it is likely that your report will be misdirected and less effective. You should consider exactly what the readers of your report already know and what they need to know to make informed decisions.

You should also consider the attitude the audience will adopt toward your report. If you fear that the readers may be somewhat hostile toward your report, you may want to offer more supporting evidence and documentation that you would if their reception was thought to be more favorable. The educational background and work experience of the audience is also a key factor in the formulation of your report. A report written for top executives will differ considerably from the prepared for line supervisors in terms of style, word usage, and complexity. Even age, gender, and other demographic characteristics might serve to shape the report.

One thing is certain. Whether you earn your livelihood as an accountant, a marketing manager, a production supervisor, or a sales representative, you will work in a vacuum. You will find it necessary to constantly communicate with others in order to successfully complete your job. Generally speaking, the larger the institution in which you work, the greater will be the need to prepare written reports. As the organization grows in complexity, so does the required degree of formal communication.

The Purpose of Statistical Studies

Given the importance of communication, it should come as no surprise that the primary purpose of a report is to convey information. In this effort, statistical reports are fairly concise and follow a rather predetermined pattern. This familiar pattern permits easy recognition of the essential features and allows the reader to quickly comprehend the study. We will examine two types of statistical studies: Statistical reports and statistical abstracts.

These studies are quite similar to purpose and in the composition of their component parts. However, a statistical report is the result of a more complete and exhaustive study. Its focus is on complex issues that could affect the long-term future and direction of the organization. It is used when decisions such as plant locations, major capital projects, and changes in the product line are made. A statistical abstract, on the other hand, is used when the problem is of less complexity and consequences. Each of these is examined in detail.

Statistical Reports

To complete a statistical report you must isolate the problem and collect the necessary data. The population must be clearly identified and a sample carefully chosen. The researcher then conducts the study and prepares to report the results.

As noted above, the procedure to be followed in reporting a statistical study consists of rather precise and well-defined steps that may be modified only slightly. Immediately following the title page the statistical report provides an account of its conclusions and recommendations. In a business setting this opening statement is usually referred to as an executive summary.

Executive Summary

The intent of the executive summary is to immediately provide the time-constrained reader with the important facts and findings derived from the study. It summarizes these findings and conclusions, along with any recommendations, and places them at the beginning of the study. This placement provides easy access to the more important information relevant to any decision that a manager must make. If the manger is interested in any further details, he or she may consult the main body of the report.

The executive summary should be written in a non-technical manner. It is intended for upper-level managers whose expertise often lies in business management and not in technical fields such as chemistry, physics, or even, in many cases, statistics. They generally have little concern for the technical aspect of the report. They only want to be assured that you have considered all relevant business factors and followed proper scientific procedures in the formulation of the report. If the reader then decides a more complete technical explanation, he or she can read any additional portion of the report. The executive summary seldom exceeds one or two pages.

Although the executive summary precedes the main report when it is submitted in final form, the summary is written only after the study has been conducted and the rest of the report has been completed. The summary should include no new information not presented in the report, and should not offer conclusions based on data or information not contained in the report.

INTRODUCTION

The second step is a brief introduction describing the nature and scope of the problem. Any relevant history or background of the problem that is essential to a thorough understanding and provides clarification for the rest of the study should also be included. A statement is made explaining why the resolution of this issue is important and the critical need to formulate a course of action.

METHODOLOGY

The third section of a statistical report is more technical than the rest of the study, as it explains the exact nature of the statistical tests that you indeed to conduct. It describes in detail the precise quantitative tools and techniques to be used, and reveals the manner in which they will lead to the desired results. It is also customary to briefly characterize the data set and the manner in which the sample was taken. This will become familiar to you as you gain an increased understanding of statistical analysis and its many applications.

The methodology that you use will depend largely on what you want to accomplish. This fact too will become more evident as you gain more insight into the process of statistical analysis as described in this text.

Findings

It is here that the true statistical analysis is preformed. The findings consist of the actual statistical computations that provide the information required to make decisions and recommendations. These calculations may vary from simple descriptive techniques to the more advanced inferential analysis. The computations are shown in sufficient detail to reveal and validate the statistical test without providing needless information or becoming overly cumbersome.

In addition, comments regarding the computations are provided to note the results and draw attention to their significance. That is, the results of the computations are merely cited or quoted. No effort is made to discuss or interpret these computations. This is left for the next segment.

Discussion and Interpretation

Based on the findings from the he previous section, the researcher now woofers a discussion and interoperation of the report's major implications. The researcher should provide an interpretation of the findings in a meaningful and yet non-techincal sense. This section has a considerable impact on the formulation of the solution to the problem described in the introduction, which motivated the report.

Conclusions and Recommendations

This final segment often repeats some of the information found in the executive summary, yet allows the researcher to explain in greater detail how and why the conclusions were reached. A more complete discussion of the recommendations may also be included. It is important that this section be based on the results of the findings and not other conclusions or recommendations not supported by the analysis.

If reports are prepared in this organized form, they are inherently more useful and lend the researcher a sense of credibility and authority. The report will command respect from those who rely on it to make important decisions.

STATISTICAL ABSTRACT

The statistical abstract is used when the issue is less complex and does not have the long range implications associated with a statistical report. The statistical abstract is shorter and less formal that the report form. Unlike the statistical report, the statistical abstract is seldom accompanied by an executive summary. The less complex nature of the issue the abstract is to address makes such a formal summary unnecessary.

Other than the executive summary, the abstract contains essentially the same features as the report. However, the components parts of the abstract are much less detailed and shorter in length. The statistical abstract can sometimes be presented in a single page. The following discussion of the abstract's main components reveals that each resembles those found in the statistical report, but in somewhat abbreviated form.

Introduction

The introduction is a brief statement describing the motivation for the study. It explains what problem or concerns prompted the study and why the study is important. Little or no reference is made to historical developments as was the case with the report form.

Methodology

As with the report form, the methodological statement contained in the abstract describes in some technical detail the statistical tools and techniques that will be used to complete the study. This is perhaps the most technical component of the abstract. A brief description of the population and the manner in which the sample was taken is customary.

Findings

This section includes the actual statistical computations and implements the statistical tools described in the methodology section. Due to the less involved, less complex nature of the problem, this section may consist of only a few calculations, which will serve as the basis for the study's conclusion. Brief commentary is provided regarding the outcome of the computations.

Discussion and Interpretation

Relying on the findings in the previous section, the researcher presents a discussion of the study's findings and offers an interpretation. This interpretation translates the technical findings for those who are less trained in statistical procedures.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The abstract may be completed without a conclusion or any statement regarding recommendations. The study may have been requested by a superior who simply requires more information to make his or her own managerial decision. This superior may consider a recommendation for action as a usurpation of his or her administrative power. Remember, the abstract is used when the decision to be made is of lesser consequence; the decision can often be administered by a single authority. For this reason, a recommendation is not usually offered unless specifically requested.

Choosing a Major...

Introduction to Choosing A College Major

It all begins when you're growing up and people ask you “So what do you want to be when you grow up?”

As you enter college the inquiries shift to:

“What is your college major?”
“What do you plan to do with your college major when you graduate?”
“Just what are your career plans?”

You feel the pressure. You envy the friends that seem so career focussed. If you are an older individual who has been out of high school for some time, you may feel the added pressure of time constraints, as well as work and family responsibilities. You wonder why choice of a college major and comtemplations about career direction have been such a struggle for you. Are you alone in your struggles? The answer is a resounding ‘NO’. It is quite normal to be uncertain about the choice of an academic major and /or career direction at this time. College is a time of exploration and self-discovery. It is a time for opening new doors rather than prematurely closing them.

Remember also that declaration of a college major does not indicate that a step by step career plan of action is in place. Many students select a college major without first gathering information about their interests and options. Furthermore, a majority of college students change their major at least once during college and many change their majors several times. What about that friend of yours with the clear post graduation career vision? Well, according to the US Department of Labor the average college graduate changes jobs once every three years and changes career fields two or three times in their life time.

Feeling even more confused about the choice of a major and/or career direction? No need to be. There is a process that you can learn which will serve as a guide to you as you explore your options. Where do you begin with this process? Well, you can start by reviewing this entire majors section of the CDC homepage and then by scheduling an appointment with one of our career counselors as a follow up.

Try to keep the big picture in mind as you read on by remembering the following quote:

“ The fact that most individuals hold from five to fifteen different jobs or positions throughout the course of their career life further emphasizes that a career is not a point–in-time event but rather a lifelong process.”
Schlossberg, 1984

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Should I Choose a Liberal Arts Degree or a More "Occupation Specific" Degree?

Some people believe that for every occupation there is a specific corresponding academic degree that goes with it. While there are occupations that require specific academic majors for certification (i.e.- nursing and engineering), most do not. In addition, studies have shown that most graduates are working in career fields that are not directly related to their undergraduate program of study.

What might help here is to consider college majors as if they were falling along a continuum. At one end of the spectrum there are degree programs that are highly specialized in nature and which are providing specific knowledge skills pertinent to a given occupation (i.e.- nursing). At the opposite end of the spectrum there are the "purer" liberal arts degrees (i.e. Liberal Studies, English) which provide broad based and highly transferable skills. In the middle of the continuum lie degree options which are somewhat focussed in terms of specific knowledge acquired and yet are still quite transferable (i.e. business administration).

Taking the time during Freshman and Sophomore years to explore career options will help you in determining what educational plan is best suited to your needs. If you have some possible career fields of interest in mind, take the time to research corresponding entrance qualifications, including educational requirements, necessary skills, and hands on experiences. Consider the “majors continuum” and determine whether a more specialized body of knowledge and/or major is required for your interest area(s). If in doubt, schedule an appointment for career counseling here at the Career Development Center.

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The Value of a Liberal Arts Foundation

At the heart of a Rivier College education lies the liberal arts. Rivier offers a strong liberal arts core curriculum for all majors as well as a number of specific liberal arts degree program choices. A liberal arts foundation offers students a broad background in communication, critical thinking, and problem solving skills, as well as the ability to learn. These are highly transferable skills that employers value.

Some consider a liberal arts education as lacking value in today’s job market. This is not accurate. In the book, The Liberal Arts Advantage, author Gregory Giangrande reflects that stereotypical attitudes which devalue a liberal studies education may partially stem from the industrial and technological revolutions in our country's brief history. These events have prompted corporations to seek employees who possess more specialized skills. However, in response to increasing trends in global market competition, Giangrande states that, "corporations have become less hierarchical, and require employees who are generalists rather than specialists, who can cultivate the complex international relationships that will help them to compete internationally…who is better equipped than liberal arts majors - whose scope is the big picture, and whose sweep of study has trained them to understand and think critically about people, culture, and society, to step in and fill the void?"

Along with the marketplace changes noted above, an additional reality is that jobs do change over time. How work is performed in a given occupation today can differ greatly as compared to how it will be performed five years from now. A given occupation can even become obsolete due to all the technological changes that are taking place. As such, a liberal arts education offers broad-based skills that will not become obsolete with time. These skills provide the flexibility needed for dealing proactively with changing job functions.

Yes, a liberal arts education offers many benefits that extend beyond the added benefits of personal and cultural growth and awareness. At Rivier, “all” majors offer these benefits through our strong liberal arts core curriculum.

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Skills are Key/The Employers Perspective

Employers focus on abilities and skills as they seek out prospective employees because they want workers who can perform certain job functions and produce desired results. In our work with students and alumni here at Rivier, we have found there to be a great deal of confusion around the topic of skills. While your interests may point you in a direction towards choosing preferable industries and occupations, your skills dictate what you will actually be doing day in and day out on the job. Whatever the academic major, it is important to consider this topic of skills in preparation for the eventual post graduation transition. This is especially true of liberal arts majors. Consider the following two quotes:

“I’ve encountered too many liberal arts majors who wait until their senior year to begin thinking about career preparation, only to find they still need to develop a few skills essential for being competitive in the job market.”

Gregory Giangrande
The Liberal Arts Advantage

"If you’re a student majoring in political science but thinking about going into advertising, you can join some of these (advertising) organizations and acquire leadership roles over a period of years. You are really building your portfolio to make your case to an employer. You can say, “ I wanted to get this broad-based education, but I have some skills that you might be interested in that relate to this particular position."

Marcia Harris, Director of University
Career Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

So what “exactly” is meant by all this talk of building ones skills? Read on to get the scoop. Understanding skills is key to an effective future job search campaign!

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Types of Skills that Increase Your Employability

Human performance is made up of three different broadly categorized skills we call Functional, Specific Knowledge and Personal Trait.

Functional Skills are labeled as verbs and so they are reflective of actions. In addition, functional skills are competencies that relate to things, information (data and ideas) and people. Repairing things, analyzing data, and motivating people are all examples of functional skills. When you use functional skills alone, like those noted above, there is a vagueness about your skills and others might ask, “Repairing what?” or “Analyzing what data?” or “Whom do you motivate?” The remaining two types of skills answer these questions.

Specific Knowledge Skills are labeled as nouns, which help make functional skill information more specific by answering the questions “on what” or “with who” is the activity being performed. Examples of these skills might include: “Repairing an automobile engine” or “Analyzing computer hardware sales data” or “Motivating a group of professional athletes”. These competencies are not easily transferable, yet they enable an individual to perform a specific job function, therefore these skills are of tremendous interest to employers. Specific knowledge based skills are normally acquired through an advanced training program or on the job experience.

Personal Trait Skills are labeled as adverbs, which help make functional skills more specific by answering the question “How?” These skills reflect competencies that enable an individual to accept and adjust to one’s surroundings. The examples previously given can now be fine tuned, "Repairing an automobile engine precisely", or"Motivating a group of professional athletes enthusiastically", or “Analyzing computer hardware sales data intuitively”. Effective performance occurs when all three types of skills work smoothly together.

So, liberal arts skills (such as communication, critical thinking, and problem solving skills) are transferable. Purer liberal arts majors gain a solid grounding in these wonderful skills, but may have a much more difficult time with the post graduation transition to the world of work. Why is that? It is because they do not tend to take the time to consider industries and occupations of interest and to gain related Specific Knowledge Skills prior to graduation from college. In other words, they don’t always engage in the process of career planning. For “occupation specific" majors, Specific Knowledge Skills are built in to the major. Yet, even with these majors, specialty interest areas and market place trends need to be considered. Careful career planning and specialized skill development (including hands on related skills training) are key to confidently navigating that post-graduation transition.

So, the question to ask is not “What can I do with a major in ________?”

Instead, the questions from a career planning perspective would be .....
*What are the work settings and job functions that interest me?
*What can I do to explore and prepare for these options?
*What related course work and hands on experiences would be beneficial?

We sum up this section with one final quote, "Landing an entry–level job is not about gimmicks, games, and guerilla tactics. It’s about preparation, a positive attitude, initiative, and maturity. It‘s about understanding who you are, what you want and need, and what employers want and need".

Gregory Giangrande
The Liberal Arts Advantage

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Strategies for the College Major Selection Process

There is a step by step process that you can follow in selecting a college major. This process helps to ensure that you get the most out of your college education and it also greatly facilitates the post graduation transition. This process places you in the driver’s seat providing you with a clearer vision of where you want to head and your plan for getting there.

Decision Making Steps:

I. Identify the Decisions to Be Made:

This is done by stating the challenge or problem you’re faced with. You may consider your challenge to be choice of a college major, but looking at a broader perspective will help you clarify your options. Consider and try to answer the following questions and then identify the decision(s) to be made at this time.

• What are my dreams for my life (including my career) upon graduation?
• What would a future ideal work scenario consist of for me?
• Why am I attending college? (There can be more than one answer to this question).
• To prepare for a specific occupation or for general career advancement ?
• To find myself ?
• For the social opportunities?
• To gain a solid foundation for future graduate study ?
• Due to expectations/ pressures from family and /or significant others in my life ?
• Because my friends are ?
• Other ____________________________ ?
• Where do I want to head in my life /career and what classes and experiences can I pursue to help me explore and move in that proposed direction?
• What do I want my life’s work to be known for? What contributions can I offer through my work? What elements would need to exist for my work to be satisfying and meaningful?
• What conditions affect my decision situation?
• Internal Conditions (attitudes, feelings, beliefs, biases, etc.).
• External Conditions (finances, time, obligations, disabilities, opportunities, etc.).
• Which of these conditions are reality based and which are based on assumptions?

II. Gather Information About Yourself:

Self-assessment consists of examining your strengths, interests, values, enjoyable skills, and key personality traits. Engaging in the self-assessment process offers you direction in terms of determining future career plans and ultimately in selecting a college major to support your plans. Your interests, values and key personality traits help you determine work settings and industries of greatest interest to you. The skills you enjoy using most can help you determine preferred day to day work activities within a given work setting. Some questions you may want to consider when beginning the self-assessment process are:

Interests
? What activities absorb my attention?
? What situations energize me?
? What words would I use to describe myself?
? How would others describe me?
? What do I dream of doing, but never seem to get to?
? What subject areas am I most passionate about?

Skills
? What activities am I best at?
? What are my strengths and weaknesses?
? What skills do I want to use in a job?
? What skills do I need to develop?

Values
? What personal rewards do I seek in a career?
? In what ways must I be challenged on the job?
? What activities bring me greatest satisfaction?
? In what type of work environment would I be happy?

Personal Traits
? What personal qualities will help me be successful at work?
? Am I able to get along with supervisors? Co-workers? The public?
? Does my personal style enhance my work with people, data or things?

At the CDC, we offer you a variety of self assessment activity options including interest inventories and card sort exercises to name a few. For information on self-assessment, or to get started with some online self-assessment activities, click on Self-Assessment. If you have an interest in going through the self-assessment process, contact us at 603-897-8246 and schedule an appointment with one of our career counselors.

III. Brainstorming Options of Interest:

Upon completion of the self-assessment process, you will have the tools to help you brainstorm potential industries and occupations of interest based on your personality profile. At this point, your focus shifts from internal to external information gathering so that you can learn more about options in line with your self-assessment results. Your goal is not to prematurely select only one occupation to pursue, but rather to look for patterns in your work interests. Given your unique personality characteristics, you will notice a pattern in terms of the “cluster” of work and educational options that interest you most. For example, you might find that you’re drawn towards social service, physical science or administrative work options.

With a CDC career counselor to guide you, you will learn about what kind of information to gather and how to obtain it. For more information on a variety of occupations and the world of work, click on Career Exploration. To explore career planning options for each of the undergraduate majors offered at Rivier, refer to the pull down menu after you click on Major Options. Once again, schedule an appointment with a career counselor for more thorough assistance.

To help you in making a choice regarding an academic major, you will want to learn about educational and experiential entrance requirements for occupation(s) of interest. Through this exploration process, you will determine whether a specific major is required for each of your top interest options or whether there is greater flexibility in the choice of a major.

IV. Evaluate an option:

At this point in the process you would make a list of the different major options that are of interest to you. Next, consider the following questions in relation to your options:

• Do I enjoy or do I think I will enjoy the subject matter in this discipline?
• Do I think I can perform well in this discipline?
• If I have interest in more than one major can I take classes in more than one discipline and leave my options open?
• How do I relate to other students and faculty in this discipline?
• How does this major relate to my self-assessment results?
• How does this major relate to occupations and industries of interest?
• Is an internship required or offered in this program? If not, what hands on experiences can I pursue to give me the Specific Knowledge Skills needed for post graduation employment? (These could include service learning, volunteer experiences and/or part-time employment or a self-obtained internship).
• Will this major serve as a stepping stone to graduate study that interests me?
• What do I “think” about each major option? How do I “feel” about each major option?
• Are there any other pros or cons related to each option?

V. Decide on an option:

In some instances, the choice of major will become clear especially when you have a career interest requiring a specific college degree. In other instances you might decide to go the non-declared route while you continue to explore available alternatives. You might realize that a double major or a specific major/minor combination would be the answer. If you find yourself continuing to struggle even after considering the questions in step IV, ask yourself, "What is keeping me from pursuing my top option right now?" Seek support from faculty, academic advisors and from our CDC staff. Finally, it’s time to choose and take responsibility for a choice.

VI. Design a Course of Action to Implement the Decision:

• What goals and objectives do I want to create for the direction I have chosen?
• What courses will I take?
• What topics will I research?
• What Functional, Specific Knowledge, and Personal Trait Skills do I need to develop?
• What experiential activities will I pursue?

VII. Implement the Decision:

• How will I carry out my career plans?
• What specific steps will I take and when will I take them?
• Who or what resources can I call upon to support me in my efforts?
• How will I hold myself accountable and how will I reward myself for following through on my plans?

VIII. Evaluate the Decision on the Basis of the Outcome:

• How well is my decision working?
• What can I do to make it better?
• What new decisions am I now in a position to make?
• What fits and what doesn’t fit at this point?
• Review prior self-assessment activities for clues if something doesn’t seem to be working for you.

CONCLUSIONS:

The main point to remember here is that you don’t have to jump from one choice of academic major to another without rhyme or reason. There is a process available to guide you and there are Rivier College staff and faculty available to support you in selecting a college major along the way. Above all, it’s important for you to be informed about your options, to reality test those options and to take the time to prepare for your top options. The following quote sums it all up. It reflects the message that employers love to hear from Liberal Arts majors, as well as all other disciplines; that is, that you have done your homework, you are informed, and you are prepared to enter their industry and organization.

“I’m a recent liberal arts graduate, and I am prepared for a career in this field. I‘m intelligent, mature, eager and have a positive attitude. I’ve researched this industry and your company, and I know what to expect in an entry level position".

Gregory Giangrande
The Liberal Arts Advantage

Good luck and feel free to stop by or give us a call. We welcome the opportunity to support you through the career planning process!!!