Academic and Student Resources

Student Services

The development and welfare of students are the primary concerns of the school, its faculty, and its staff. Advisors and services are available to assist students with educational, career, or personal decisions and plans.

Undergraduate Program Office

The Undergraduate Program Office (UPO) serves as a supportive environment for more than 2,200 undergraduate students during every stage of their academic careers at the School of Management.

We assist students as they make the transition into the college classroom, support and advise them in their extracurricular activities, and help them chart a path toward their successful graduation.

Students may make an appointment with any of our professional academic advisors to discuss degree requirements, concentration interests, academic performance, and any other student issues.

We foster leadership within the undergraduate student body by providing opportunities to excel both inside and outside the classroom. We also acknowledge the individual and collective success that our students achieve through the recognition events we sponsor each year.

We understand that students’ needs vary and that individual questions require personalized answers. Therefore, our academic advisors specialize in providing both current and prospective students with one-on-one guidance on the many details that create a successful academic experience.

Advisors assist students in the following areas:

• Course requirements
• Academic performance concerns
• Degree program planning
• Study abroad opportunities
• Course selection and schedules
• Referrals to other University services
• Referrals to on-campus tutoring services
• Adjustment issues

Boston University School of Management
Undergraduate Program Office
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 102
Boston, MA 02215
617-353-2650
Fax: 617-353-6727
smgupo@bu.edu
smg.bu.edu/upo

Graduate Programs Office

The Graduate Programs Office (GPO) is located in Room 104, to the left of the main entrance to the School of Management (SMG), and is the administrative hub of graduate business programs, including the MBA, MS•MBA, PEMBA, and PhD in Management.

The School of Management is committed to providing academic advising to all students to help them complete degree requirements successfully and achieve the maximum benefit from their educational opportunities. We encourage you to approach your instructor anytime you have academic concerns. We also offer additional support, including academic advising, through the GPO, which is open 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday–Thursday, and 9 a.m.–5 p.m. on Fridays. The GPO hours are subject to change in accordance with the academic calendar.

Please do not hesitate to contact the GPO at 617-353-2673.

Faculty Office Hours

School of Management faculty members pride themselves on being available to advise students on coursework pertaining to concentrations, career opportunities, and appropriate academic preparation in their field of interest. In addition, the Dean of the School of Management and the Assistant Dean for the Undergraduate Program hold weekly open-office hours for students.

Faculty Advising Program

The Faculty Advising Program at SMG is critical to the development of our students. It allows students to connect with a number of instructors during their time at SMG, providing an opportunity for students to:

• establish first professional and mentoring relationships
• get advice regarding concentration selection
• identify research interests and possible research team work
• learn more about the functional areas of management
• identify informational interview contacts
• secure references for internships, jobs, or graduate school

Faculty advisors are NOT expected to provide overall academic advising, course selection outside the concentration, personal counseling, or in-depth career counseling.

Faculty advisors can be any member of the SMG faculty, and we recommend that students build a rapport with three or more faculty members. In order to help them meet instructors, we recommend the following designated faculty members and guidelines:

• First semester freshmen: SM 131 professor
• First semester external transfers: SM 131 or FE 101 professor
• Second semester freshmen: SM 131 professor from the previous semester or current FE 101 or SM 151 professor
• Sophomores: SM 131 or FE 101 or SM 51 professor from last year OR any of the professors encountered in the sophomore year courses (AC 221, SM 221, LA 245, OB 221, AC 222, SM 222, IS 223)
• First semester juniors: Any previous SMG faculty advisor or any professor on one’s CORE teaching team
• Second semester juniors: Concentration liaison or any combination of the previous semesters’ faculty advisors
• Seniors: Any faculty advisor or concentration liaison from previous years

Tutoring

There are a number of tutoring options available to students. Those who are having trouble in courses should make an appointment with the relevant course instructor to get a sense of problematic areas. Students may also meet with their course teaching assistant (TA) for additional help. Very helpful options are attending the LOCK Honorary Service Society’s free open tutoring hours in SMG (held twice weekly, see the UPO for dates and times) or requesting an ongoing or one-shot individual or group tutor from the Educational Resource Center (ERC). ERC tutors are available free of charge for freshman- and sophomore-level courses, as well as for FE 323. Students can fill out a tutor request on the ERC website. Writing tutors are also available for WR courses at the Writing Center, 100 Bay State Road, by scheduling an appointment online.

Feld Career Center

The School of Management’s Feld Career Center assists students in developing lifelong career management skills. Beginning freshman year and continuing each year through graduation, career management courses prepare students for the global marketplace. Additionally, personalized counseling is available for each student to assist with résumé development, interview preparation, internships, and job search strategies. We offer numerous networking events and career fairs as well as opportunities to meet the many top employers who recruit BU’s SMG students.

The Feld Career Center has relationships with companies from most industries (finance, accounting, marketing, etc.) and usually posts more than 1,000 opportunities for SMG students each year. Internships are highly encouraged for all School of Management students.

MBA Career Management Program

The Career Management Program is jointly sponsored by the faculty, the Feld Career Center staff, and student clubs. This professional development program is designed to assist in transforming personal interests into professional goals, and these goals into an MBA-level, candidate-driven internship and job search.

The Career Management Program integrates a set of complementary resources and activities: self-assessment, career management tools, skill-building opportunities, and active involvement in a career development community. As a result, the program has a unique numbering system:

The course sequence occurs as follows:

• ES 740 Career Management—Fall Semester Year 1 (2 cr, Pass/Fail)
• ES 741 Career Community I—Fall Semester Year 1 (0 cr)
• ES 742 Career Community II—Spring Semester Year 1 (0 cr)
• ES 743 Career Community III—Fall Semester Year 2 (1 cr, Pass/Fail)

This course sequence allows students to self-select into their desired career communities starting in their first semester. Students will be permitted to enroll in more than one career community section. Detailed information regarding the MBA Career Management course will be distributed during Pre-Term.

Frederick S. Pardee Management Library

The Frederick S. Pardee Management Library is located on the west end of the second and third floors of the Rafik B. Hariri Building of Boston University’s School of Management (595 Commonwealth Avenue). The entrance to the library is on the third floor of the building.

The Pardee Management Library provides information services and electronic and printed resources in management and management-related fields, including accounting, finance, health care management, economics, human resources, and public/nonprofit management. The library’s resources are supplemented by Mugar Memorial Library’s extensive research collection in the social sciences and humanities.

The library offers School of Management and Graduate School of Management students access to electronic databases including Investext, Bloomberg, Factiva, Mergent Online, Frost & Sullivan, and many others. The library also provides access to trade publications and general business and management publications through article databases such as ABI/INFORM Global, Business Source Complete, TableBase, and others. The library provides career assistance through individual consultations with students and through web guides that list resources for company research and contacts.