Business Commons^™

How Can Open Educational Resources Be Used In Teaching Business Courses In Community Colleges? – A Case Of Bronx Community College, Harini Mittal, Neil Hwang, Emakoji Ayikoye

Publications and Research

There are a growing number of Open Educational Resources (OER) available worldwide to teach a wide range of courses at various learning levels. Hyler (2006) has listed motives for OER initiatives for institutions such as right to education for all, sharing of knowledge as basis of academics, leveraging tax payer’s money for the common good, better use of resources by reducing costs, good public relations tool, diversity in business models. As for individuals, the motives are access to the best possible resources and to have more flexible materials. Individuals are not motivated by altruistic ambitions, such as assisting developing countries, …

The Mere Mention Of Asians In Affirmative Action, Jennifer Lee, Van C. Tran

Publications and Research

Presumed competent, U.S. Asians evince exceptional educational outcomes but lack the cultural pedigree of elite whites that safeguard them from bias in the labor market. In spite of their nonwhite minority status, Asians also lack the legacy of disadvantage of blacks that make them eligible beneficiaries of affirmative action. Their labor market disadvantage coupled with their exclusion from affirmative action programs place Asians in a unique bind: do they support policies that give preferences to blacks but exclude them? Given their self- and group interests, this bind should make Asians unlikely to do so. We assess whether this is the …

Crossing Borders In Business And Economics Classrooms: Implementing Telecollaboration To Advance Diversity And 21st Century Skills, Marta Fondo, Schiro Withanachchi

Publications and Research

The emerging changes in global societies challenge businesses as teams work across borders. Consequently, higher education promotes student interaction from diverse cultural backgrounds using technological tools without restricting time, cost, motivation or mobility. In this regard, telecollaboration engages students in a learning process that develops 21st century skills with peers from diverse language, socio-cultural, and educational backgrounds. This article presents a telecollaboration project designed and implemented by Queens College, City University of New York, and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, an online university in Barcelona, in which 196 Economics and Business undergraduate students from the United States and Mexico enhanced intercultural …

Symptomatic Leadership In Business Instruction: How To Finally Teach Diversity And Inclusion For Lasting Change, Linda L. Ridley

Publications and Research

Are business faculty complicit in mythologizing business concepts by ignoring historical precedence?

The refusal to examine in totality the history of discrimination and racism allows us to perpetuate a mythology of white supremacy that is enhanced through impotent diversity programs repeated throughout corporate America. This paper examines the importance of demythologizing the business curriculum through symptomatic thinking, which allows faculty and students to untangle the quagmire of diversity and inclusion in corporate America. Students are thereby equipped with tools for behavior transformation in the workplace that uses a symptomatic, rather than symbolic approach, to decision making and problem solving.

When The Due Date Is Not The “Do” Date!, Theresa M. Mastrianni

Publications and Research

Our students consistently hand in assignments late, or complete them at the last minute. Why is it that they know about assignments all term long yet only begin them the night before the assignment is due? Based on a career-focused learning community at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, this article looks at ways to help our “millennial” students develop better time management skills. It shows how time management and prioritizing can be introduced as a tool for success in college and life and offers suggestions to better engage students in getting assignments done in a …

Crowdsourcing As An Approach To Customer Relationship Building In Academic Libraries, Lisa A. Ellis, Aisha Pena

Publications and Research

Library initiatives to first-year students not only present an opportunity to offer information literacy instruction for student advancement but they also serve a key marketing function by communicating the library’s ongoing value and building customer relationships. Library orientation tours are an example of how to effectively market to first-year students. Combining peer-to-peer learning and user-generated content via social media known as crowdsourcing, Newman Library sponsored a contest challenging first-year students to create a video sharing a useful library tip. The contributions and benefits of this co-creation approach to fostering relationships are examined and the implications to strengthening other library-user bonds …

Disciplinarity And Trandisciplinarity In The Study Of Knowledge, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

Scholarly inquiry about the nature and significance of knowledge has been shaped by disciplinary traditions and priorities that define “knowledge” differently and result in disconnected literatures. In the mid to late twentieth century, library science educator Jesse Shera sought to bridge the conceptual gap between epistemological and sociological approaches to knowledge in proposing a new discipline he called social epistemology. Around the same time, long-term projects by the economist Fritz Machlup and the physical chemist turned philosopher of science Michael Polanyi did not merely combine existing disciplinary approaches but transcended conventional frameworks for conceptualizing knowledge. These scholars can be viewed …

The Intellectual And Curricular Spaces Of Knowledge Studies, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

The words “knowledge” and “information” are sometimes used interchangeably, but the connection between them is complex and problematic. Knowledge is a mental product gained from engaging with information. All educational subjects, scholarly disciplines, occupations, and activities produce knowledge as well as information. Because libraries encompass potentially all subjects, professional vision in librarianship would benefit from an examination of knowledge that transcends the methods and topical concerns of individual disciplines. An interdisciplinary (or transdisciplinary) framework in which to view knowledge was pioneered in the post-Sputnik age by Fritz Machlup and Michael Polanyi. Their insights have stimulated scholars to develop research, publications, …

Reflections From A Former Executive Director, Jill Dolan

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

I joined CLAGS as a board member in 1994, at a transitional moment in its history. The grassroots activist project that Marty Duberman had started in his living room had been recognized as one of CUNY's Research Centers for only a short time at that point, and many people on the board struggled with what it meant to be institutionally affiliated. The board had grown from people Marty knew personally to a broader group of gay and lesbian scholars (or simply scholars working on gay and lesbian issues) recommended by others. For example, I was brought to the board by …