New joint degree to be offered

Beginning in the fall of 1994, the University will offer a new joint undergraduate degree program in international business between the School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School. The 40-credit, four-year program -- which is similar to Wharton's management and technology program -- will only be open to students with foreign language backgrounds and requires a mandatory junior year study abroad in that language's region of the world. College Dean Matthew Santirocco said yesterday that the program will provide "research experience" as well as classes modified with an "international spin." "There is no program in America like this," Santirocco said, adding that the benefits of the program come from the cooperative efforts between the University's two schools. "It will be the catalyst for the internationalization of the University," said Wharton Vice Dean Janice Bellace. Proposed by a joint College and Wharton committee, this joint degree program will only take 40 students, starting with members of the Class of 1998. Management Professor Steve Kobrin, a member of the joint committee, said the degree represents two of the University's major goals. "It really fits with the emphasis on globalization and functioning as one University," Kobrin said. "We'll get the very best . . . and put out people who will be very unique," Santirocco said. Santirocco said the program will produce individuals who can enter a wide variety of fields other than international business such as international education or government. The program has been passed through the curriculum committees and is currently awaiting full faculty approval. Because the program is still in a "preliminary" stage, it will take a year to work out the numerous "operational decisions." But Santirocco said he is very excited by this new program and hopes to create more joint degrees and other "cooperative ventures" in the future.