Online Evaluations, More Interaction on Agenda
Second year students will be glad to know that HBS’ official EC course evaluations will be online on Monday, November 26th, a few days after Thanksgiving. This is a great resource for those (like me) who are still determining which courses to take! Considering that my previous process was to scribble all over the paper forms distributed in the past, this is a welcome upgrade.
Anand Radhakrishnan (OK), who represents the Ed Reps at the SA Senate meetings each week, reported that the new site will allow students to sort relevant course information, such as listing all the Professors who received a rating of 6.2 or better, or finding the most popular courses last year. Remember to factor in the appropriate statistical room for error, as the course evaluations are provided entirely by HBS students.
See You Outside the Classroom!
Continuing initiatives include an effort to increase faculty/student interaction. We’re in business school after all-the more opportunities to network, the better. One proposal is to have special lunches where the Professors can speak in further detail about their current research. Not only is this interesting and relevant (I’ve always wanted to know more details about what else our Professors do besides write case studies), but it gives students a chance to consider potential field study ideas.
Finance Follow-Up
The Ed. Rep. committee has also approached the Finance department in response to an overwhelming first-year request to provide suggested solutions to the cases during finance review sessions. Students should not, however, look for faculty-sanctioned solutions in the near future, with Finance department faculty members contending that it would not be appropriate to give “the right” answer to cases where there is room for interpretation.
This follows the philosophy that there are several alternative ways to tackle each finance case. Therefore, providing a review session with one solution would be misleading.
Before you hyperventilate, however, rest assured that the administration has sometimes found that finance anxieties tend to sort themselves out after the first few weeks as students become more familiar with the process.
For students who fear they might indefinitely struggle with finance – not to worry. There are other ways to gain a better understanding of financial modeling. One piece of advice is to approach the ‘finance gurus’ of your class and have them help you better understand the theories and processes. I think we can confidently assume that at Harvard Business School, every section will have at least one finance specialist (ours had quite a few!). These brilliant minds come in handy. Sections may be encouraged to coordinate their own student-led review sessions with the prior investment bankers at the helm.
?Your my.hbs Resource
By the way, all the Ed. Reps. have been officially technology trained. This means that you can feel free to stop your section Ed. Rep. (or another’s) in the hallway to solicit help on any pressing question on where to find information on the my.hbs platform.
I’m sure the Ed. Reps. will be delighted to know I’m advertising their services in The Harbus. Hey, in the SA, we’re there for you. Really.
