10/29/96

ATHENS, Ohio -- A team of Ohio University College of Business professors has won the "Innovation in Leadership in Business Education Award 1996" for its presentation, "Business 20/20: Innovation, Integration, Problem-based Core Learning," at the annual meeting of the Mid-Continent East Business Administration Association.

The presentation, one of 18 submitted, was based on a pilot, problem-based learning experience offered by the college. The program integrates four courses into one, challenging students to solve current, business-centered problems in a series of two-week "problem cycles."

"Should TRW stop manufacturing airbags?" was the topic of a recent problem, requiring students to monitor the ongoing debate over the safety of airbags by reading newspapers, using electronic databases, conducting research on the Internet and reading current business periodicals. By the end of the quarter, students have produced formal reports, presentations that are videotaped and reviewed by faculty members, essays and essay examinations.

"Business 20/20 offers students the chance to develop true business sense -- dealing with problems that matter in a setting that's as close to real work as we can get," said Valerie Perotti, a professor of management systems. "Students view the learning process in a whole new way. Employers tell us this produces young people who know how to behave and what matters on the job."

Milton Blood, managing director and director of accreditation for the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, wrote university President Robert Glidden, praising the 20/20 program.

"I was at the regional business deans meeting in Cincinnati last week where Valerie Perotti, et al. presented a description of the 20/20 program in the undergraduate business degree at OU," Blood wrote. " I and many others were extremely impressed. ... I think you'll be imitated often."

The Mid-Continent East Region is made up of eight states -- Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Perotti; Gary Coombs, assistant professor of management; John Day, professor of management information systems; Patricia Gunn, associate professor of business law; and James Perotti, professor of management, were part of the 20/20 faculty team.