A bull market can be seen right here at Temple, stemming from high demand of the business school’s economics department.
The department will be transferred from the Fox School of Business and Management to the College of Liberal Arts, effective July 1, 2008.
The move came three years after a periodic program review in the fall of 2005 by the Board of Trustees, provost and deans from both schools.
“The College of Liberal Arts includes the humanities and social sciences, so it made sense to bring the economics department into the College of Liberal Arts,” said Teresa Soufas, the dean of CLA.
“Economics is grounded with other social sciences such as history, political science, criminal justice and psychology, so we’ve got a grouping of fields that can collaborate with the economics department,” Soufas said.
The economics department will work with the Fox School of Business to ensure that business students receive the educational and research needs required by their school, Soufas said.
“It is still an important field for business students to study so we’re going to make sure that we have all the kinds of courses and approaches that they will need,” Soufas said.
The department will still maintain all core requirements needed by Fox students, such as microeconomic and macroeconomic principles.
Students who are currently enrolled as economics majors will have the option of receiving a degree from the Fox School of Business or the College of Liberal Arts. Their existing requirements will also remain the same.
All faculty and staff within the economics department will be transferred to the CLA, though the department will remain in the Ritter Annex for the foreseeable future, Soufas said.
Economics doctoral candidate Sandeep Bhaskar said he believes the change will be for the better.
“It’s probably a good idea,” Bhaskar said. “We can concentrate on what we’re doing rather than trying to fit into the business school. It’s probably too technical for business.”
Sam Braithwaite, a graduate economics student, said it’s not just about teaching.
“You want to have staff in an environment where there’s more freedom to not be pressured to follow the business aspect and pursue more theoretical stuff. I think this move will allow for that.”
Graduate students who choose to remain in the Fox School will have until 2015 to complete their degrees.
Sam Benesby can be reached at sam.benesby@temple.edu.
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