Sy Syms Core Curriculum Receives Update With New Three Semester Required Sequence 

Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business (SSSB) introduced the “Three Semester Required Sequence” (TSRS) last semester, reorganizing its core curriculum to better suit students' academic needs.

Requiring the completion of specific business core and quantitative course requirements during a student’s first three semesters on campus, TSRS will better prepare students for intermediate and advanced-level courses, Assistant SSSB Dean Debra Pine told The Commentator. Basic and intermediate courses that students will be required to take include Accounting Principles, Business Communication and Statistics for Business, among others.

  The initiative, spearheaded by Pine and SSSB Dean Noam Wasserman, was inspired by the block schedule — a course scheduling system meant to maximize student learning — created for incoming students in the fall 2020 semester during the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive student feedback inspired the administration to rethink the registration and course selection process, Pine said. Additionally, academic advisors and department chairs noticed that many students delayed taking certain requirements, especially quantitative courses, a phenomenon which they believed left students underdeveloped in the skills necessary for upper level coursework.

Pine also told The Commentator that faculty “observed that some students decided to change majors relatively late because they ended up unexpectedly liking a course they had avoided,” which required some students to add a semester to complete their preferred majors. “The new system ensures that students are introduced to each subject area before they select a major,” continued Pine.

Although quantitative and business core courses will serve as prerequisites for all upper-level courses, Pine suggested that accommodations may be made for some current students. 

“While current students will be encouraged to complete their core requirements as soon as possible, they will be permitted in certain cases to begin taking their intermediate and advanced courses as they complete their core classes.” Pine informed The Commentator. “They should speak with their Academic Advisors if they have any questions about this.”

 Pine also assured The Commentator that despite the uniformly required sequence, there will be room to tailor to individual students’ needs. This includes adapting the sequence for students with advanced placement, transfer credits or post-Pesach courses. Honors students and non-native English speakers’ first semester courses will also reflect their academic needs.

“We are confident the required sequence will better prepare our students for upper-level business courses, facilitate major selection, ease the road to graduation and relieve the stress of first semester registration,” Pine said.

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Photo Caption: Sy Syms updated their curriculum with a required sequence of core classes

Photo Credit: The Commentator