Help.
 
Recently, as part of conversion to the semester system within the
University System of Georgia, a statewide committee recommended to
the Board of Regents that a course entitled the Environment of
Business be included as one of the mandated options in the new core
curriculum (100-200 level).  Schools offering business programs must
select courses for their core curriculum from these options, and
these courses must be accepted at all system schools in transfer
situations to meet core curriculum requirements, regardless of
whether or not the receiving institution has selected other courses
from the options.  At the present time, a Legal Environment course is
used as a 100-200 level requirement in six of the seven AACSB-
accredited schools in Georgia.  It is not an option under the new
curriculum.  West Georgia vigorously argued, with no response from
any entity, that the Environment of Business course included among
the new core curriculum options would not meet the needs of business
programs and that the Legal Environment course should be a required
course within this core curriculum block.  Any inclusion of a Legal
Environment course in the new core is questionable at this point.
Coverage of legal issues in the new core is nil to minimal, depending
on the option adopted by an institution.  However, West Georgia is
continuing to argue for the inclusion of Legal Environment as a
required course in the new core curriculum.  Any assistancee you could
provide would be greatly appreciated.
 
The Environment of Business course accepted by the statewide
committee is described as follows:  "An introduction to the
political, social, legal, ethical, environmental and technological
issues which form the context for business, to include an overview of
the impact of demographic diversity on organizations."  This course
is included in a block of four courses at the 100-200 level
(Introduction to Business, Fundamentals of Computer Applications, and
Communicating in the Business Environment are the others), from which
each business degree program must require six semester hours of
courses, or combinations of courses.  If a student has completed the
requirements specified at one institution, he/she will have completed
the requirements at all institutions, regardless of whether or not
the receiving institution has selected different options from this
block.
 
West Georgia expressed serious concerns about the options available
and the proposed Environment of Business course and recommended that
Legal Environment be the approved course within this block.  The
following is West Georgia's rationale:
    -   responsibility to adequately prepare students for upper
division courses, for which a firm foundation in legal environment is
fundamental;
    -   sensitivity to the demands of the marketplace, for which
understanding of the legal/regulatory/ethical environment of business
is necessary and contributes to the employability of students;
    -   requirements of all AACSB-accredited and most non-AACSB
schools, colleges, and programs that students have knowledge of the
legal, regulatory, and ethical environment;
    -   difficulty of requiring a Legal Environment course in
addition to the proposed Environment of Business course in light of
AACSB mandates that 50% of courses must be taken outside the business
area and Regents' directions that no program can exceed 120 hours
(note:  West Georgia supports the 120 hours limit but strongly
believes that Legal Environment should be a core level requirement);
    -   an interpretation of the AACSB language from which the
description of the Environment of Business course appears to be taken
as not requiring that one course cover all of the described content
(in fact, one course cannot realistically cover all of the described
material); and
    -   a review of the current core curriculum in system
institutions which indicates that six of the seven AACSB-accredited
programs require Legal Environment at this level.
 
At West Georgia, the School of Business Dean's Advisory Committee and
the Chair of the School Undergraduate Committee unanimously concurred
in the above position, and a position paper was sent by the Dean of
the School of Business to the system-wide council with a request for
its consideration.  Upon receiving no response to the position paper,
the Dean subsequently sent a written appeal through West Georgia's
Academic Vice-President.  Most recently, the Academic Vice-President
has contacted the Regents to express West Georgia's concerns.  As of
this date, there has been no response.  The most recent communication
from the statewide council, dated October 17, indicates that the
original proposal calling for an Environment of Business course has
been accepted.  A CRITICAL MEETING AT THE REGENTS' LEVEL APPARENTLY
HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK.***
 
The proposed Environment of Business course drastically reduces legal
coverage.  It is already difficult to adequately cover legal
essentials in the present Legal Environment course.  The proposed
Environment of Business course is a serious disservice to students.
That course cannot adequately prepare students for upper level
courses, nor provide them with an adequate level of legal knowledge
to recognize or deal with business legal issues in the workplace.
Further, because of the broad scope of the subject matter of the
course and the great diversity in the qualifications and areas of
expertise of the potential professors of this course (who can and
will be from many different disciplines), there can be no consistency
in the way the course is presented across the system.  There is no
way to insure that a student transferring in has adequate background
in law given the requirement that a receiving institution must accept
the transfer of courses adopted by the sending institution as meeting
core requirements.  In fact, there is no requirement that an
institution even adopt the Environment of Business course as a
requirement (they may select one of the other options).  Thus, an
incoming student may not have even had the minimal law
coverage in the Environment of Business course; nevertheless, the
student would have met the block's requirements if the student had
met the sending institution's requirements.  When will a student
receive law coverage?  The Regents' mandate that no program exceed
120 hours (supported by West Georgia), and AACSB's requirement that
at least 50% of the courses within a program be taken outside the
School of Business, severely limit the possibility that a Legal
Environment course can be added at the junior core level to insure
that students have adequate legal coverage. Finally, on a purely
pragmatic level, the implications for legal environment professors of
the substitution of an optional generic environment course in the
core for a legal environment course are obvious.
 
Any assistance you can provide--whether in the form of information,
papers, arguments, letters, suggestions, etc.--will be greatly
appreciated.  Please discuss this issue with your colleagues.  Prompt
action is vital--for all of us.