There are three main proposed changes for the MMSc program at Ryerson:
1) Reduce the course requirements from 8 to 6 courses and one mandatory seminar course.
2) Within those six courses, three will be core/mandatory and three will be electives. The mandatory courses will be Research Methods I and II, and Theories of Tech and Org.
3) Change the timeline from the current 12 month program to a 24 month program with the appropriate change in fee structure.
Our proposal must be submitted to grad studies by April 1 so any comments or suggestions should be made before that time.
I will keep this blog updated on a weekly basis.
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These sound like good structural changes, although whether or not the number of courses is the problem, or whether it's more the distribution of courses I'm not sure of. If I want to be publishing in management journals I certainly want to be comfortable speaking the language that I learned in what would be considered my "non-core" courses. In some cases I think the MMSc students come familiar with the fields of strategy, HR and corporate finance, but in some cases they may not. I suppose making these elective courses doesn't preclude future students from taking all of the courses we did, but I think they should do it a little more informed than we were, and more spread out.
ReplyDeleteMost of my recommendations for the program are more operational than structural. One idea is sort of a little package for applicants and students called "so you want to do an MMSc..." where there could be a section written by students for students. This package could give students an idea of research clusters, institutes etc. within TRSM, the topics of previous MMSc thesis, and a few key journals highlighted that TRSM staff have been publishing in to help them orient themselves in the research world.
Having one of our course deliverables be a submission to a conference is a fantastic idea - is that something that should go in the proposal for future years?
I have more ideas but I'm not sure if this is the forum to raise them. What would you like to see here?
Jen, thanks for your comments. Please continue to provide feedback here. I think that it is helpful for us to have a public forum that is accessible to all interested parties. The purpose of the electives is to allow for more depth or breadth in specific areas that students and supervisors think are necessary. I want to have that flexibility so that 1) things can be more spread out as you have suggested; and 2) a more customized program can be designed that would better suit individual needs as related to their research.
ReplyDeleteWonderful idea re: "what to expect for your MMSc" Any chance you might want to populate a website or Facebook page with some ideas around that?
i agree with Jen that much more work should be done with the incoming students, prior to their entering into coursework.
ReplyDeleteIf the program is to be extended, this alignment could be done in the first semester. However, as presently designed, it was unrealistic to communicate the program as being one-year in length. alternatively, it may have made good sense to keep the program as a single year, but enforce a prior learning requirement -- similar to the foundational term that some MBA's are required to take. *if i had a supervisor and an approvable research question/task prior to entering the first term, i would have had a fighting chance to finish as per the original curriculum schedule.
I do like that the MMSc program is to become more flexible.
That being said, the non-core courses were quite useful for me. Dropping to 6 courses sounds reasonable (but perhaps not necessary), as long as the incoming students have the opportunity to pair electives with their research area.
Thanks very much Deb! Like Jen & Adon, my recommendations are more support/operation based. However, I fully support changing the program timeline as well as the idea of taking the number of core courses down to 3 and allowing MMSc students,in consultation with their supervisors, to tailor the program according to their research needs with the remaining 3 electives. I also fully support Jen's recommendation regarding an orientation/information kit that helps current and potential students familiarize themselves with potential areas of research as well as expectations ahead of time (MMSc thesis, academic research, publishing, etc).
ReplyDeleteHere are my suggestions:
-Having joint orientation with MBA students is nice, but I think MMSc students will also benefit from MMSc-specific orientation sessions. These sessions can include topics such as the student-supervisor relationship, clarification of MMSc guidelines, etc.
-While the courses are useful in helping us stay on course, most of the learning is taking place outside the classes. Hence, I recommend the introduction of several optional 2-3 week seminars on a wide variety of research-related areas (qualitative & quantitative research, philosophy of science, sector/discipline based seminars, etc).
- While I commend the MBA program for launching professional events for their students, it'll be useful for the MMSc students to be plugged into relevant professional and academic events inside and outside of Ryerson. This will not only help in creating a culture within the program, but also get students engaged within their areas of interest and also allow them to build contacts early on.
-Are the TRSM profs who are affiliated with Grad Studies aware of the MMSc program? If not, should they be brought up to speed (not only in terms of the program itself, but their responsibilities in case they're interested in supervising a student)?
-I recommend written agreements to formalize the relationship between a student and his/her supervisor. Such a process reduces the likelihood of ambiguity and makes expectations clear to everyone involved.
-I'm somewhat not cool with non-MMSc students, usually advanced PhD candidates, unwittingly taking over Research Methods classes. The instructor consequently has to cater to 2 very different groups of students with very different educational needs. I'm not saying all PhD candidates participating in MMSc Research Methods courses are disruptive, but it might help if these students were made aware of the fact that they're guests in an MMSc class.
-How about having a round-table "check-up" discussion once a semester to gauge how everyone's doing in the program?