Incorporating a Modern Business Education Philosophy, New Curriculum Will Offer Students More Flexibility and Options Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business will launch a new curriculum and a new major in Business Intelligence and Marketing Analytics this fall.

Sy Syms Associate Dean Avi Giloni

Incorporating state-of-the-art technique in modern business education philosophy, the new curriculum is designed to grant students the flexibility and options to create a customized, unique educational experience perfectly tailored to suit their career interests. “There’s a recognition now that we are all entrepreneurs of our own careers,” said Dr. Moses Pava, dean of Sy Syms. “We believe that this new and exciting curriculum, with its continued emphasis on communications skills, critical thinking, functional skills, entrepreneurial leadership, professionalism, social responsibility, and ethics will be attractive to both current and prospective students and will provide them with the education necessary to succeed both professionally and personally in today's fast-changing, interconnected global economy.” “Students can focus intensely on one functional area if they so wish or ground themselves in fields across the breadth of the business world,” said Dr. Avi Giloni, associate dean of Sy Syms. “They could also easily have a major and minor, an area of expertise and an additional focus, and if they really want to differentiate themselves, it becomes much easier to double-major. We’re giving them the tools to shape their education and sculpt their own careers.” Changes include making two existing operations management and macroeconomics requirements interchangeable with any two liberal arts or business electives, in addition to fewer required courses and more electives in most majors. Reflecting one of the fastest-growing career paths in the modern business world, the school is also rolling out a newly-designed management concentration and a new major in business intelligence and marketing analytics, which will combine coursework in computer programming, statistics and data science with a solid foundation in marketing strategy and consumer insights. “This will make our students very marketable when they graduate because they will have the skillset so many firms are looking for,” said Giloni. “They’ll be able to better market a firm’s current services and goods and help them determine what products to create next.” “The benefits of these changes include providing students with more flexibility and better choices thus meeting the needs of a diverse student population and enabling more efficient course scheduling, more relevant concentrations for today's data-driven and entrepreneurial business environment, and greater opportunity to integrate liberal arts and business,” said Pava. Several new courses will be offered in the fall, including Business Analytics and Programming, Systematic and Inventive Thinking, Social Media, and Business Intelligence and Consumer Insights. In addition, all Sy Syms students will be required to take Business and Halacha, a course that provides an overview of Jewish ethics as applied to the business world. “That’s the reason we have a business school at Yeshiva University,” said Pava. “I’m very proud that all our students learn the urgency of ethical conduct as Jews in the business world.”