We’re into the name thing at Penn. That’s why we say we’re in Wharton, Nursing, the College, or Engineering.

Now that discussion of the B-FLAT minor for College students has unleashed Wharton’s enmity towards the College, creating a fear of dilution due to the participation of liberal arts students, Dennis DeTurck, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, rushed to defend the proposed idea in a recent DP:

It is regrettable that Friday’s article gave the impression that there is a fully-formed “program” that the College is “pushing,” or that it is a point of contention between the College and Wharton.

I’m glad Dean DeTurck clarified.
(more…)

Every family is a little dysfunctional, and Penn is no different.

On the eve of Family Weekend 2007, it is ironic that we have what appears to be some sibling rivalry between administrators in the College of Arts and Sciences and Wharton.

In today’s DP, there is a front page article detailing a plan by College Dean Dennis DeTurck and the Dean’s Advisory Board to create a business minor in the College. The catch is, it would not be sponsored by Wharton. The program, named B-FLAT, stands for budgeting, finance, leadership and teamwork.

In one of the funnier quotes of the semester, a College senior was quoted as saying the minor was warranted given that College students view Wharton classes as “too difficult and not worth their time.”

*Note – When trying to justify the legitimacy of your program, saying Wharton classes are “too difficult” is probably not the best way to make people sympathetic to your cause. It just supports the stereotype that College students don’t want to work hard and rely on grade inflation.

Wharton Vice Dean Phillips had it right in saying the program would be a “disservice to the school” and a “dilution” to Wharton.

(more…)