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Proposal for Panel Presentation for October, 2014 NABET ConferenceGraduates of business programs are often criticized by employers for not possessing effective communication skills.  While students in a liberal arts college engage in writing and speech courses, assessment evidence at our college showed that there was a need to develop a course that would focus on the further formation of written and oral communication skills to assist students in the preparation of business-related documents and the delivery of business content oral presentations.  The faculty of the King’s College McGowan School of Business focused on addressing this need by developing a course that would train students to become more effective writers and presenters in the business workplace.  In addition to improving our business foundations curriculum, this course was seen as a vital component to fulfillingour Assurance of Learning (AOL) goal that all graduates of our business school should be effective communicators.  A very collaborative process was used in the development of this course. Members of the Business School Advisory Board contributed by making valuable suggestions on course content and a faculty member from the communications department was used to evaluate,  contribute to,  and determine expectations for the oral communications aspect of the course. Several interactive software programs were explored to assist students and business faculty in the successful delivery of the course.  The result was the addition of a course “Business Communication and Mentoring†which focuses on the essentials of style, organization, and professionalism in the development of fundamental business correspondence, reports and presentations.  Career exploration and mentoring components are woven throughout the curriculum to better prepare our students, which adds a unique aspect to this course. This panel presentation will consistof five presenters who played a key role in the development and delivery of this course.  Presenters include the dean of the McGowan School of Business, who will address the learning goal linked to the establishment of this course and how it ties into our foundation courses,two business school faculty members who selected the course materials and software and who piloted and currently teach the course, the faculty member from the communications department who was instrumental in refining and evaluating the oral communications aspect of the course and a representativefrom the Career Planning office who has been an active participant in the mentoring aspects of the course.  A timeline on the development of the course, resources used and the course curriculum will be provided in this presentation.  Questions and discussion will be most welcome among audience participants.

curriculum, assurance of learning, communication, mentoring