COURSE CURRICULUM

The Student-Designed Option (SDO) in Business Administration is a flexible and personalized pathway that allows students to create their own academic focus when none of the standard business options fully match their interests or career goals. Instead of following a fixed concentration like finance, marketing, or management, students design a customized plan of study in collaboration with a faculty advisor. This option is intended for students who want an interdisciplinary or highly specialized business education that combines different areas of business or even extends beyond the business school. To complete this option, students must first develop a formal proposal by their junior year, clearly outlining their academic goals and explaining how their chosen courses support those goals. The proposal is reviewed and must be approved by both a faculty advisor and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The coursework in the Student-Designed Option must include at least five courses in total. At least two of these courses must come from business-related departments such as accounting, finance, management, marketing, or data science, ensuring that the student maintains a strong business foundation. At least two additional courses must be taken from outside the business college, allowing students to integrate knowledge from other disciplines such as psychology, economics, communication, computer science, or environmental studies. The final course is selected in consultation with the faculty advisor to ensure academic balance and relevance. Even with this flexibility, students are still required to complete all core business requirements, including accounting, economics, statistics, management, marketing, and the capstone course. Overall, the Student-Designed Option is ideal for highly motivated students who want to tailor their education to unique interests, emerging fields, or specialized career paths that do not fit into traditional business concentrations.