Management and accountancy department undergoes name change

The school announced that effective next semester, the UNC Asheville Management and Accountancy department will be known as the Business department.

On March 30, the Academic Success Center sent out an official statement notifying students of the name change.

“We’re writing to let you know the Management department is changing its department and program name to ‘Business’, effective fall 2023. With this change, management courses that were listed with the subject MGMT are now listed under the subject BUS,” read the statement from Lynne Horgan with the University Registrar.

The professors in the department are largely in support of the name change, including Associate Professor of Accounting Brad Bilsky.

“I feel changing the name to the department of Business more accurately reflects the curriculum we teach. The new name makes it easier for prospective students and future employers to understand the nature of our program. Many of our students would refer to themselves as business majors even before the name change, and the change really captures the spirit of our program,” Bilsky said.

Professor of Management Elizabeth Harvey said they agree the business title more accurately reflects the scope of topics in the program.

“I’m excited about the name change because it more accurately conveys the comprehensive curriculum available to majors and minors interested in for-profit, nonprofit, as well as government careers,” Harvey said. “Our curriculum includes not only management and accounting, but also marketing, organizational behavior, global business, finance, entrepreneurship, law and ethics and more.”

Associate Professor of Management Susan Clark also said they support the name change and shared similar thoughts.

“Business is more inclusive of increasingly popular fields of interest to students and other stakeholders including, for example, entrepreneurship. Management and accountancy, two functional areas of business, have over time seemed too limited for the demands of our students and the business community,” said Clark.

Deena Burris, an Associate Professor of Management, felt the title of management was antiquated and didn’t fully cover the scope of the program.

“The word business is an overarching term, much like an umbrella,” Burris said. “Several different fields of study fall under that umbrella. For example, while business is the discipline, there are multiple areas or fields of study under that umbrella such as accounting, marketing, strategy, global, legal, finance, organizational behavior, information systems and data analytics to name a few. Management, which was the name given to the department when it was established in the mid-1970s, actually represents only one field of study under that larger umbrella of business.”

Clark and the rest of those involved in the decision went through a thorough process before ultimately coming to the decision.

“We queried students, our advisory board, employers and alumni, and they support the name change to business.  Many current and former students already self-identified their belief that they were receiving an education in business or business management. The name change thus reflects evolving market demand for business education that is innovative and market relevant,” said Clark.