Smith School of Business
The Queen's School of Business is located in Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. With its first commerce program established in 1919, it is known to be the oldest and most prestigious business school in Canada. The school of business became its own faculty in 1963 with its first dean, Lawrence Macpherson. The current dean at the Queen's School of Business is Dr. David Saunders, who also founded the MBA Japan Program in Tokyo when he was associate dean at the Faculty of Management of McGill University in Montreal.
Today, the Queen's School of Business offers a variety of business programs, including:
- Queen's Bachelor of Commerce
- Queen's MBA for Science and Technology
- Queen's Executive MBA
- Queen's-Cornell Executive MBA (joint program with Cornell University)
- Accelerated MBA for Business Graduates
- Queen's MSc in Management
- Queen's PhD in Management
The Queen's School of Business is fully accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the UK-based Association of MBAs, and EFMD — The European Foundation for Management Development.
Goodes Hall
Goodes Hall is the home of the Queen's School of Business. The building incorporates the former Victoria School, an 1892 schoolhouse designed by Kingston architect William Newlands. In 1992, the school became part of Queen's University, housing administrative offices for just over a decade. In 2003, the building was renovated and expanded to serve the needs of the School of Business, which had previously been housed in Dunning and Mackintosh-Corry halls. The new building was constructed to address the needs associated with growth in the School's undergraduate, professional and executive programs.
Located near the North-West corner of the main campus of Queen's University, Goodes Hall is fully equipped with the latest technology for teaching aid, such as wireless internet throughout the building, plasma message board screens, Ethernet ports in every room, LCD projectors, and video-conferencing cameras that allows video conferencing between discussion groups held around the country. Goodes Hall has a large amount of "BreakOut Rooms" which can hold 6-8 people for meetings, conferences or as a work-study room. There is a coffee shop, an IT support centre and a multimedia centre (NetImpact Support Centre - NSC) for photocopying, printing, and video-editing. Students have access to many of the equipment that is available for loan from the School of Business. Goodes Hall is also completely accessible to persons with disabilities.
Queen's Commerce Program
The Queen's School of Business offers the commerce program for undergraduate students. Queen's Commerce is one of the most widely known and popular undergraduate business programs in North America and has earned a reputation for its limited enrollment and high quality of students.
In 2005, the average entrance grade of incoming students was 90.5%, with the cut-off point at 85%. As part of the application process, applicants submit a Personal Statement of Experience (PSE) which includes writing essays with strict wording limitations, and listing their extra-curricular, volunteer, and work experiences. Applicants are given offers of admissions based on a score where half is derived from the PSE and the other half from his/her grades. Most students entering the Queen's Commerce program are outstanding students from their own backgrounds. The class consists of students from all walks of life, including from families of government officials, royal families, athletes, and business owners. Out of a pool of 3800 applicants, only 280 are enrolled. The international student population in Queen's Commerce is also growing at a rapid pace because of its affordability and value when compared to other worldwide business schools in its class.
Commerce students of the Queen's School of Business are also members of the Queen's Commerce Society (also known as ComSoc), a student-run student government that runs within the faculty. The Society offers a wide range of activities and events where members can get involved, from formal activities that develop organizational, business and leadership skills to social activities. The Society is split into two main sections: Internal and External. Internal refers to those affiliated committees and organizations related to the internal processes of the society, such as the Academics Commission, All Year Social (AYS), BlingTV, Commerce Orientation Committee (COC), Communications Commission, Undergrad Review, Yearbook Committee, etc. External refers to those affiliated committees and organizations related to the external processes of the society, such as the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (ICBC), Queen's Conference on the Business Environment Today (Q'BET), Queen's Marketing Association Conference (QMAC), etc. The numerous student-organized business conferences hosted by Queen's are the oldest and most popular in Canada, attracting delegates from all provinces and abroad.
Students in Queen's Commerce also enjoy small classes and a friendly relationship with the professor. Average class sizes for a first year student is around 60-70, dropping down to as low as 15 in upper years. Class sizes will never be over 80 students and all commerce classes are held in Goodes Hall.
In First Year, students take a full course load of 5.5 credits, including: Business Management and Communication, Introduction to Mathematical Analysis for Management, Statistics, Organizational Behaviour, Managerial Accounting, Financial Accounting, Introduction to Marketing, Principles of Economics, and 1 credit worth of electives.
In Second Year, students take a full course load of 5.5 credits, including: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Introduction to Finance, Finance II, Marketing II, Business Decision Models I, Managerial Economics, Introduction to Human Resources, the Development of Information Systems and 1.5 credit worth of electives.
Students may decide to specialize and choose up to 5 credits in Third Year and 4.5 credits in Fourth Year. Students also have the option to go on exchange in their third year to a foreign business school.
Rankings
The Queen's School of Business has been continuously ranked as one of the top business schools in Canada and the world. Although there is no ranking available for the Commerce Program, in a recent survey, graduates of Queen's Commerce are regarded by most employers as the best, with more than 70% receiving job offers months before they graduated.
- 2005 - BusinessWeek ranked Queen's Executive MBA program 21st in the world (1st in Canada)
- 2005 - BusinessWeek ranked Queen's Open-Enrollment Executive Education 10th in the world (1st in Canada)
- 2005 - Financial Times ranked Queen's Executive Education 16th in the world (1st in Canada)
- 2005 - Financial Times ranked Queen's MBA program 75th (6th in Canada)
- 2005 - Financial Times ranked Queen's Executive MBA program 68th (4th in Canada)
- 2004 - BusinessWeek ranked Queen's School of Business 1st outside the US (1st in Canada)
- 2004 - Environics Report on Executive Education ranked Queen's Executive MBA no 1 in Canada
- 2003 - Forbes "Best Business Schools 2003" ranked Queen's School of Business 10th outside the US.
Some Alumni
- Don Thurston, MBA '62, President Selkirk Portfolio Management
- John Watson, MBA '70, Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer EnCana Corporation
- John Abott, BCom '72, President Abbott Management Consulting Inc
- Chris Clark, BCom '76, CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers
- Cathy Williams, MBA '77, CFO Shell Canada
- Pam Arway, MBA '78, CEO of American Express (Australia)
- Jane Peverett, MBA '81, President and CEO of the British Columbia Transmission Corporation (BCTC)
- Alvin Hew, BCom '86, President and Managing Director of L’Oreal Taiwan Co. Ltd
- Jerry Del Missier, MBA '87, President Barclays Capital
- Bryan Pearson, MBA’88, BSc’86, President Air Miles Award Program
- Charles Pitts, EMBA '92, President Novalis Entertainment and Gregorian Films
- Peng-Sang Cau, BCom '94, President Transformix Engieering
- Kris Dolinki, BCom '94, CEO Zoom Airlines
External links
- Queen's School of Business Website
- Queen's University Website
- Queen's Commerce Online Portal
- Queen's Commerce Society