Business & Marketing Education Newsletter
New York State Education Department
September 2009 - Issue 68
COLLEGE GRADUATION RATES
Welcome back everyone to the 2009-2010 school year. As we begin, let’s be mindful of what our goals are as educators within our school systems. Is our goal only to graduate students from high school and send them on to four year colleges and universities? Or, is our goal to prepare youngsters for whatever path they choose to pursue…to give them the skills, knowledge, and foundation that will prepare them for life?
If our goal is to prepare them for success at a four year college, we are failing miserably. A recent report issued by the American Enterprise Institute found that half of colleges that grant bachelor’s degrees graduate less than 50% of entering freshman. The report found that too many schools are obsessed with bringing students to their campus but quickly lose interest thereafter. The Institute also found that cost to attend is not a factor. In other words, colleges that charge upwards of $25,000 a year may have a very poor six year graduation rate.
The report states that graduation rates are declining as admissions rise and it’s evident that a four year degree is not the route for everyone. Two year colleges and career training schools are a far better path for many graduating high school students that will more likely result in a successful experience.
So, as we begin another school year, let’s be mindful of the proper path for all students and the fact that the road to success has many paths.
BUSINESS & MARKETING EDUCATION LISTSERV
For those of you who would like to join our listserv, go to my website and click on “Join Listserv”.
AP ACCOUNTING UPDATE
Talks are continuing on getting New York involved in the national pilot of the AP accounting curriculum. Most recently, SED and BTA talked with the folks who are heading up the pilot in Wisconsin, Virginia and Kansas. Last summer, 105 teachers were trained in the curriculum over a three day training session. As a result of the training, 35 schools will be piloting the AP curriculum this school year.
We will continue to pursue a training session or two next summer. Christine Choi at Union Endicott HS has taken the lead for BTA on this issue and has done a great job moving the initiative forward and keeping everyone informed. Great job Christine.
There will be more news to share at the BTA conference in October.
USA TODAY IN YOUR CLASSROOM
Through a partnership between Marriott Corporation and USA TODAY Education, you can purchase a semester of USA TODAY classroom newspapers and have Marriott pay for the second semester through a Marriott Matching Grant.
•100 Copies/Week - 30 Weeks:
Your cost w/ grant: $675.00
• 75 Copies/Week - 30 Weeks:
Your cost w/ grant: $506.25
• 50 Copies/Week- 30 Weeks:
Your cost w/ grant: $337.50
For more information, contact Kim Svoboda at ksvoboda@usatoday.com
BUSINESS HONOR SOCIETY UPDATE
I am pleased to report that 60 high schools last year had students inducted into the Business & Marketing Honor Society. 1,452 certificates, 639 pins and 479 cards were ordered via the Business Teacher’s Association of NYS and awarded to students. I am sure that many of these students and parents of those students will become great ambassadors for the business and marketing programs within those schools.
Congratulations to all!
NEWS YOU CAN USE
The National Association of Colleges and Employers “Fall 2009 Salary Survey” results were distributed a few weeks ago. Results from 2009 Spring college graduates show that the average starting salary offer was $48,633 down 1.2% from 2008.
The decline in salary also reflects the drop in demand for new graduates, as does the decline in the number of offers reported. Slightly good news for business college graduates was that although their average offers declined, the decline was less than 1%.
More specifically, salary offers to accounting, marketing and finance majors actually increased while business admin/management, economics and information systems graduates saw their average offers decline. The average salaries remain strong:
| Accounting $48,471 |
| Marketing $42,260 |
| Finance $49,163 |
| Finance $49,163 |
| Bus Admin/Mangt $44,607 |
| Mangt Info Sys $50,573 |
| Economics $49,628 |
The business disciplines continue to provide a viable option for many high school students.
W!SE (www.wise-ny.org)
Our good partners at Working in Support of Education or W!SE have become very popular with many business and marketing teachers throughout the State. Their financial literacy assessment was taken by 28,421 students with 20,820 students passing it (73.3%). 5,900 or 27% more students took the test compared to 2007-2008 and the number of schools in their program increased from 202 to 255. Here are some important dates to remember for this Fall.
CALENDAR for FALL 2009
(212-421-2700)
Pre-Test Dates for Fall 2009
Tuesday, October 6th
(PLEASE NOTE: THE PRE-TEST IS IN PAPER BASED
FORMAT ONLY AND OFFERED TO A LIMITED
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS)
Deadline for Ordering Paper based Certification Tests
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Deadline for Notifying w!se about the number of students who will be taking the online Test Friday, November 20, 2009
CERTIFICATION TEST DATES – FALL
For Schools testing ONLINE Nov 30 – Dec 11, 2009
For Schools testing PAPER BASED Nov 30 – Dec 4, 2009
(You must select ONLY ONE DAY in this week if administering the paper based Test)
Heather Hamlin from Mechanicville HS near Albany sent me an email in June raving about the test and how her students performed. In fact, Heather had two students score high enough to be invited to a reception at the NYC American Museum of Finance. Heather incorporates the assessment into her Math and Financial Applications class and is volunteering to help other business teachers do the same. Heather can be reached at hhamlin@mechanicville.org
ACCOUNTANTS DO THIS?
Flipping through the June 15 edition of “The Trusted Professional”, the trade publication of the NYS Society of Certified Public Accountants, I was pleased to see an article entitled, “The Value of Sports: Putting a Price on a Franchise”. Not your normal story within this excellent publication.
When valuing a franchise for sale or other purposes, accountants are asked to analyze the value of that franchise. Revenue sources such as ticket sales, concession sales, and broadcasting revenue are assessed as is the building and practice structures. Using accounting words, “tangible” assets. But “intangible” assets, such as location and goodwill must also be valued. For high school accounting students, these are very interesting topics for discussion. A question in their minds most likely will be, “Do accountants actually do things like this?”
Many students not only don’t know what accounting is, they also don’t know what accountants do or where they work. Students don’t think that accountants work everywhere, at the local accounting firm, at law firms, at the FBI and as accountants within the sports and entertainment industry.
Our job is to make them aware of the opportunities that exist within all business fields.
BTA FALL 2009 CONFERENCE
The 57th Annual Business Teacher’s conference will be held on October 15 & 16 in Rochester, NY. If you are able to attend only one conference all year, this would be the one I would recommend. Possible sessions on Alice, Gen Y Motivational Tools, Podcasting, the Gaming Curriculum, Virtual Finance, Organizing a Career Sports Day, etc…. are all in the works.
For more information, go to www.btanys.org
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL
Just a reminder, for those teaching marketing, management, sports marketing, sport management or sports law, the above publication is the leader in the industry. Teachers interested in subscribing can call 1-800-829-9839 or visit their website. Although some of their website is for subscribers only, much of their website is available for everyone to use.
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/
THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK
http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/
The Business of Sports Network is a series of resources dedicated to sports
news outside the lines. The network includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of
Football, The Biz of Basketball, The Biz of Hockey, and their portal, the Business
of Sports Network. The focus of BSN is on providing coverage of breaking news
events in sports as it happens, provide expert analysis, provide interviews with those that work in sports business, and provide data and documents to allow readers to see deep into the issues and news confronting sports today.
All the sites across the Business of Sports Network provide the following:
* Reporting on news, as it happens, at the major, minor, and collegiate levels.
* Provide interviews with sports executives, or those in the media that cover
sports.
* Data and documents
* Thought provoking original articles and commentary from the staff at the Business
of Sports Network
LIFESMARTS UPDATE FROM THE NYS CREDIT UNION FOUNDATION
Become the next NYS LifeSmarts champion without ever leaving home!
The 2009/2010 state LifeSmarts program will be conducted exclusively online!
- This year, both the NYS Varsity (grades 9-12) and JV (grades 6-8) LifeSmarts programs will be completed online—only—there will not be a Varsity in-person championship.
- Teams may join the program and compete anytime between September 14, 2009 and February 5, 2010. No travel required!
- You do not have to register on September 14 to compete—that’s why the competition is open for almost five months. It’s up to you how much time the students spend online – months, weeks, or days, just make sure all qualifying tests are completed by February 5.
- The winner of the online Varsity championship will represent New York State at the National LifeSmarts Competition in Miami Beach, Florida, April 24-27, 2010.
For more information, contact New York State Coordinator:
(800) 342-9835, ext. 8186
diane.lavigna-wixted@cuany.org
www.nycuf.org