Wharton plans new writing curriculum

While business skills are at the forefront of the Wharton School curriculum, the Master of Business Administration program is undertaking changes to keep its students ahead of the game in a different arena — writing.

In the business world, “writing is growing in importance,” director of the Wharton Communication Program Lisa Warshaw said. “There are a lot more emails and a lot more pressure to be concise.”

In December, Wharton faculty and administrators voted on a new MBA curriculum that would emphasize oral and written communication.

The decision was a reaction to feedback from employers and alumni, who said the value of a Wharton MBA could be improved by “strengthening communication skills, particularly writing,” Finance professor Robert Stambaugh wrote in an email.

Current MBA students are required to take a writing course for six sessions, which counts as one quarter of a credit. However, many students feel that writing is not being given “sufficient recognition and time,” second-year MBA candidate Victor Lee said.

Beginning in 2012, the communication courses will be doubled to twelve.

Meanwhile, the Wharton Communication Program plans to survey all 86,000 Wharton alumni in addition to students and faculty to determine what these classes will entail.

Creating this new curriculum is a “big, interesting challenge,” Warshaw said.

The Wharton Communication Program would also like to add specialized writing sessions to cater to the students’ desired locations of employment, Warshaw said. For example, the program hopes to launch tailored sessions to teach the Chinese style of writing to students who want to get a job in China.

“What we are doing in Wharton is very unusual,” Warshaw said. “We are business people who teach communication.”

The undergraduate program at Wharton will also see an added emphasis on communication.

In addition to the required writing seminar, Wharton students can take optional not-for-credit communication courses taught by MBA students. This year, for the first time, there were two courses focused on writing, Lee said.

However, some undergraduates feel that Wharton does not provide students with the necessary writing skills to succeed in the business world.

“When I got to Wharton, I was surprised that we didn’t have to write any papers,” said sophomore Katherine Long, who decided to pursue a dual-degree in Wharton and the College to get a more liberal arts education.

“It would be very beneficial for Wharton to add in an additional writing course,” Long said.

“Wharton has a great reputation,” Lee said. However, he added that “we need to make sure Wharton is consistent on all fronts, and that includes communication.”

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