Directed Studies: What do you wish you knew

Parents Forum
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<p>Did you do “directed study” classes or “independent study” classes when you were in college, or did your student? If so, what did you do and was it helpful? If not, what do you wish you had done that has been a “missing piece” for you professionally? </p>

<p>A little background. DD has decided to be a communications major (now sophomore) and informed me today that she has decided to minor in sociology. She did an internship with our company after her freshman year, and clearly has some aptitude in writing marketing materials. Writing clearly and effectively has always been a strength. Her dream job would be in marketing and advertising. I asked her how these two fit together, and how they would “add value” to her knowledge base as an employee. She had some good answers, but I plan to advise her to spend at least part of her electives doing directed studies. </p>

<p>When I was in school, I approached professors twice to do independent studies. The knowledge I gained was directly connected to my career goals, and critical to my success.<br>
One was course designed to help me practice and improve my counselling skills. The other was a course in assessing students with cultural differences that have language difficulties. I WISH that I had approached a professor in the business department, and asked to do an independent study for units to learn the basics on accounting, marketing, personnel management, etc. As a speech pathologist in private practice, these skills were learned through trial and error. How smart it would have been to take a “Business Skills for the Speech Pathologist” class from a business professor! </p>

<p>I want to strongly advise my daughter to assess her goals, and carefully consider the “missing information” that she will need. Just wondering what other parents wish they had learned, or what other students have done. Ideas? Advice?</p>

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<p>They are, and students rarely take advantage of them in my experience.</p>

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<p>To help you get over your regret and possibly help your daughter with advice, I can’t imagine any business school professor (I am one) able or willing to offer such a course. The ‘basics’ take four years, not one course in a semester. Just as (I’m assuming) undergrads couldn’t pick up the basics of speech pathology in a single course. But also professors specialize- someone in accounting doesn’t know the basics of human resources, a marketing professor is not going to teach finance. </p>

<p>Moreover (despite my lament that we are becoming increasingly too vocational), business schools are not typically offering ‘skill’ courses at the level you seem to be describing. And they are invariably corporate oriented. Financial and managerial accounting courses do not equate to bookkeeping skills. Finance course content does not look like Millionaire Next Door or Rich Dad Poor Dad. Marketing courses do not teach you how to make advertisements. Now I’m talking about AASCB programs; it might be different in institutions that lean heavily toward more practical job training and degrees. </p>

<p>But keep in mind there are usually lots of resources outside of university where professionals such as yourself can pick up those things. Examples might be non-credit courses offered at community colleges or community centers, or business schools ‘executive education’ non-degree short course offerings on specific skills (e.g. negotiations, how to hire, marketing analysis, creating business plans).</p>

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<p>I guess it depends on the school. Most schools will have opportunities like you describe through internships and just general coursework so I don’t see the need for an independent study. As for your business courses, take a class or two at the local community college in business accounting. It would serve the same purpose.</p>

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<p>Starbright and SteveMA, What great responses! Just the discussion that I was looking for!</p>

<p>In answer to your thought regarding one course to cover basics, Starbright, I certainly agree that it would have to be hugely basic at best, and in no way cover the complexities. However, I think a huge percentage of non-business graduates would benefit from a “just the basics for non-business graduates” course. </p>

<p>I would completely agree that as speech pathologists we should do the same, and I know my school did offer a “Intro to Communicative Disorders.” This was a wonderful elective for anyone in or out of the major who wanted to understand communicative disorders and their impact. For example, if I were a business major, and thought I might want to work for a nonprofit like Toys for Tots or Children’s Hospital, it would be very beneficial to know the types of environments an child with autism prefers, or the variety of ways that you could try communicating with a patient with a stroke. With 7% of children having special needs, what great knowledge this could be for a business manager or owner! If I taught at a college, and a business major came to me asking for an independent study on this, I would LOVE it - what an opportunity to share basic knowledge with people who were outside our field that could benefit. </p>

<p>Conversely, here I am with a business that focuses exclusively on speech pathology, but grosses almost 2 million and regularly negotiates contracts and hires clinicians. My business partner (also a speech pathologist) and I have had great success thanks to inspiration, aspiration, and perspiration. My business partner (who handles all finance and contracts) has never had a course in accounting, business management, or contracts. I had a quick course in personal economics at a community college and a quick course in accounting as an undergraduate. We have also relied on reading the business section of the newspaper, talking to friends, and a national organization called SCORE dot org which I highly highly highly recommend for small business owners. We have made steady progress through the years, but have had some stumbles due to a lack of information, especially before we discovered SCORE. For example, one year we were badly burned when we responded to increased competition by increasing our SLPs salaries while holding our customer rates steady to avoid them “jumping ship.” My salary dropped by 30K that year - an expensive way to learn about profit margin. </p>

<p>If I came to you as a family friend, and said to you " I’m a speech pathologist, and am thinking about starting a private practice" would you not have books to recommend/articles to share/recommendations to make? That’s the kind of thing the social work department did for me when I asked for this help. I certainly am not a social worker, but I learned techniques such as reflective listening, body language for counselling, basic conflict resolution techniques…etc. A little information can be a great hook to hang more on as you progress in your career! </p>

<p>And out of curiosity, what would you recommend?</p>

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<p>shoot4moon-I would recommend that your next hire be a business manager of some kind and forget the books. A $2,000,000 business needs someone well versed IN business to manage. Part of what my DH’s company does is to go into businesses and evaluate business practices to help them be more efficient and often their first recommendation is to hire an operations manager and in your case an operations manager with a finance background but also a background in contract negotiations so you can focus on the speech pathology side of your business.</p>

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<p>Interesting thought… we have done surprisingly well for “a couple of Moms” with no business background using the old standbys - low overhead, scruplulously kind and ethical behavior, etc. However, we were just this week offered another company for purchase which is similar to us but “next door” geographically. Will have to give this some thought! </p>

<p>I was actually asking the question what would you recommend for my daughter thouugh - as a non-business major who is interested in marketing and communications, are there books, skills, etc that she should cultivate that won’t be included in her curriculum?</p>