Management 100 sees lower enrollment

If you thought Management 100 is only for Wharton students, think again.

Every spring semester, the course — required of all Wharton students to graduate — is open to Wharton and non-Wharton students alike. This semester, however, an unusually large number of open slots are available for non-Wharton students, and professors are hoping to entice students to enroll in the upcoming week.

In the spring, Management 100 offers students the opportunity to work with for-profit companies, unlike in the fall, when students work with nonprofit companies.

The course is offered in the fall strictly for incoming Wharton freshmen due to scheduling conflicts. In the spring, dual degree and transfer students primarily fill the course.

According to Deputy Director of the Wharton Leadership Program Anne Greenhalgh, who coordinates Management 100, approximately 170 dual degree and transfer students are required to take the course and could possibly sign up in the spring. This includes approximately 30 juniors, a few seniors and the rest sophomores.

Knowing that not all of these 170 students would sign up, the Management 100 staff reserved 150 seats for the class this semester.

However, fewer students signed up than expected, including the number of juniors.

“Most of them talked about the challenge balancing their dual degree and on-campus recruitment,” Greenhalgh said. “Management 100 is time-consuming.”

Typically, the class is divided into three sections, each with 50 students. The students are then divided into five groups of 10.

However, one section this semester has just 22 students enrolled.

“A team of 10 is large and challenging to navigate,” Greenhalgh said. “But on the other hand, if you have fewer than six, it is a less robust experience.”

Lecturer Stephen Oliver, who is teaching the 22-student section this semester, said he is looking for more students to join because of “the perspectives of the different students and their experiences.”

One non-Wharton student, College sophomore Erica Liebman, decided to enroll in the class at the start of the semester and seems to be enjoying her experience in Management 100.

“It’s so real world and extremely hands-on and unlike any other course I could sign up for in the College,” Liebman said. “I’m very introverted and shy, so it felt like I could grow as a person [in the course].”

College freshmen Lumin Shen heard about the course from her friends and said she may be interested in enrolling in the future.

“The feedback, working with new people, pursuing a common goal — I think that’s all really useful,” she said.

Greenhalgh is looking to add at least eight more students to Oliver’s section, so that the class will have five groups of six students each, which Greenhalgh said is the “threshold.” She added that she is unsure why enrollment numbers are down this semester.

Although students are already in the process of choosing a client to work with for the semester, Oliver reassured that those who choose to join now will not be too far behind.

“We will get them up to speed,” he said. “The work really begins next week.”

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