Apply Now
Request
Information
Schedule
a Visit
Login
Program Codes:
BABURSMG
Bachelor of Arts
Introduction
The curriculum of the Business Department within the Walker College of Business is designed to prepare students for management positions in business and industry, with federal, state and municipal agencies performing business functions, to become entrepreneurs, and to prepare students for graduate and professional schools. Mercyhurst University, through its business department, has the following degree programs accredited by the International Accreditation Council for Business Education:
Curriculum in the business majors is designed to develop the “whole person” through a liberal-arts course of study; develop communication skills, both oral and written; offer a broad base of business courses for general understanding of the world of business with specialized study in a functional area of business; provide analytic and decision-making tools; and provide students with off-campus work experience (internship), where theory from coursework is put into practice.
Minor Programs
The Business department offers seven minor programs for interested students: Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Human Resource Management, Management, Marketing. and Risk Management. The minor program in Business Administration is intended for non-Business majors only. Requirements for each minor are listed on the associated major page.
Business Administration Minor (For Non-Business Majors only)
Required coursework:
ACCT 101 Principles of Accounting I
ACCT 102 Principles of Accounting II
BADM 310 Business Law I
ECON 105 Macroeconomics
ECON 106 Microeconomics
FIN 280 Financial Management
MGMT 120 Principles of Management
MKTG 162 Principles of Marketing
No minor course may be taken on a pass-fail basis, and students must earn a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the required business courses to meet minor program requirements. Students who fail to earn a grade of "C" or better in a required business course must repeat the course. Only two courses from a major may be used to satisfy minor requirements.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Business Department is to prepare students for leadership roles on the national and international level, to become the entrepreneurs of the future, and to continue their education in graduate and professional schools. With its collegial and supportive culture, the department embraces a rigorous and collaborative approach to learning that inspires informed judgment, decisive action and a global, enterprise perspective. Graduates will embrace Mercyhurst’s core values of respect and tolerance for people and their ideas, and dignity in the treatment of all workers.
Business graduates are expected to demonstrate:
Business Majors:
The business majors require the successful completion of 39 credits of common business core courses. These core courses are designed to provide an exposure to fundamental business functions.
Students who select more than one major, or who select a major and minor or minors within business, may take only two overlapping courses. In the case of dual majors within business, an exception is made only for the business core. This policy establishes the uniqueness of each intellectual discipline and assures the intellectual integrity of dual majors and minors.
No course taken as part of the business core or part of a business major (or minor) requirement may be taken on a pass/fail basis. Additionally, students who earn less than a “C” in these courses must repeat them (See Repeat Courses section).
GPA Requirements and Reviews
All students (including transfer students) in the business department must maintain a minimum business and overall GPA of 2.75. Failure to meet these GPA requirements at the time of graduation will result in the student earning a degree of either BA in Business Studies or BA in General Studies, depending upon his/her GPA.
Repeat Courses
Students who fail to earn a grade of C or better in any business program requirement must repeat the course. If the student does not receive a C (or better) after repeating the course, the student will not be permitted to re-take the course resulting in the inability to earn a major or minor in the field of study.
The Bachelor’s Degree in Risk Management is an interdisciplinary major, combining study from the Ridge College of Intelligence Studies and Applied Sciences (Cyber Information Systems) and the Walker College of Business (Risk Management). This degree takes an in- depth look at the risk management and insurance industry integrated with a fundamental knowledge of how to assess one of the biggest risks to the industry today, cyber risk. It will teach traditional risk management skills, augmented by cutting-edge science in big data and cybersecurity to identify threats and opportunities and protect information networks. The degree program is designed to prepare students to contribute to the rising demand for industry experts who can speak to the cyber liability insurance needs of corporations in the U.S. and abroad. Graduates can enter the ever-growing insurance industry and the degree program opens doors for positions such as underwriters, insurance agents and claims adjusters. The program qualifies students who successfully complete approved courses and an on-line ethics exam to receive the Collegiate Studies for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter certificate from The Institutes.
BUSINESS MAJOR CORE COURSES:
This course introduces the basics of financial accounting for business enterprises with a focus on accounting for corporations. Topics include the theory of the financial accounting principles that guide the preparation of financial accounting information and the role of accounting in capital markets as well as the ethical standards imposed on accountants. The course provides a thorough review of the accounting cycle and the operating areas of the balance sheet with special focus on how accounting transactions affect the financial statements and analysis of financial statement information.
This course presents accounting information used for internal business management. The focus of the course is using accounting information to better aid in the planning, controlling and evaluation of company performance. Topics include budgeting, job costing, product pricing, break-even analysis and decision models.
ACCT 101
A survey of the legal principles found in transactions typified in today's business world. Emphasis is placed on the case study method along with real-world examples. Topics covered include: alternative dispute resolution, structure of the court system, contracts, sales, property law, insurance law, and corporate ethics.
This course introduces the field of business analytics, commonly defined as the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, exploratory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions. Business analytics is a process of transforming data into actions through analysis and insights in the context of organizational decision making and problem solving. As such, business analytics is applied in operations, marketing, finance, and strategic planning among other functions. Students actively participate in the delivery of this course through case and project presentations. Offered Fall and Spring Semesters Prerequisites: STAT135, Junior/Senior Standing.
A capstone course which emphasizes business problem solving based on accounting, finance, management and marketing principles. Students will complete and present a case study project.
Managerial Economics focuses on the application of economic theory to managerial decision-making. It applies statistical and quantitative tools and the methodological approaches commonly used by economists to business decisions such as demand estimation, product pricing, profit maximizing level of output, resource management in the short and long run, market analysis, risk analysis and strategic competition. In this course, topics will be presented through the use of case studies that establish a situation in which managers must make key decisions about a firm and its products. Microeconomic principles such as supply and demand, elasticity, short-run and long-run shifts in resource allocation, diminishing returns, economies of scale, and pricing are applied in the analysis. Junior or Senior Standing
ECON-106 and MATH-109 or STAT-135
Application of statistical techniques to business problems. Includes descriptive statistics, business forecasting, statistical inference, and regression. Computer software is used in this course. The goal is to introduce students to a new way of thinking about data, and to help them gain an understanding of how to use, communicate, and interpret statistics in a variety of business contexts. Offered fall and spring semesters.
RISK MANAGEMENT MAJOR REQUIREMENTS:
This course introduces to fundamental concepts in computer science. Topics include: problem solving, algorithm development, computer programming in a high level language, debugging programs, abstract data types, variables, assignment, loops, conditionals, functions. Students who have successfully completed MATH 146 should not take this course.
This course introduces students to concepts in cyber security including: fundamentals of secure policy design: least privilege, fail-safe defaults, separation, minimize trust, economy of mechanism, minimize common mechanism, least astonishment, open design, layering, abstraction, modularity, linkage, interaction, social engineering attacks, cybersecurity user education, sensitive personal data, indentifying and documenting security requirements for software and systems.
This course introduces students to legal aspects of cyber security. Topics include: availability, integrity, confidentiality, risk analysis and incident response, intellectual property law, contracts in online transactions, tort law issues in cyberspace, the concept of privacy and its legal protections and the governance of information within organizations.
This course introduces students to the issue of ethics in the profession of computing. These include: electronic privacy, security, information ethics, existing and emerging cyber law, environments of trust, risk management and operation feasibility issues.
ACCT 101, RMGT 320.
SUGGESTED ELECTIVE COURSES:
The second course of study in the legal series. Strongly recommended for all business majors; required in some states for the CPA exam. The case study method and real-world examples are used to cover the following topics: agency and employment law, types of business entities, negotiable instruments, bankruptcy, securities law, antitrust laws and environmental regulation. Not offered every year.
BADM-310
Students should complete a 3-credit internship in the risk management industry. Internship placement will be subject to the approval of the Director of the Risk Management Major. GPA requirements will also be imposed.
Risk Management Minor Requirements:
BADM 310 Business Law I - 3 credits
BADM 325 Business Law II - 3 credits
RMGT 120 Fundamentals of Risk Management - 3 credits
RMGT 320 Risk Management & Insurance - 3 credits
RMGT 325 Finance & Accounting for Insurance Professionals - 3 credits
RMGT 330 Property & Liability Insurance - 3 credits
or
RMGT 420 Insurance Operation & Regulation - 3 credits
