Business Administration/ Juris Doctor
Achieve your Business Administration/Juris Doctor degrees faster with the Business Early Admissions Law Program (3+3). The 3+3 Program allows exceptional students to complete their undergraduate studies in three years and begin the Duquesne Kline School of Law in their fourth year. Business students will graduate with a BSBA in General Business upon successful completion of their first year of law school.
The Program prepares students for a successful career in law, government, or corporate business. The curriculum engages students in experiences that will develop their research, analytical, and advocacy skills. Faculty will introduce you to best practices for leadership, business-government relations, critical decision-making, negotiation, and organizational behavior. You will be encouraged to join law/government organizations like the Pre-Law Society and take advantage of internship opportunities.
Requirements
- Bridges Requirements, Business Core, and Electives
- Apply to the Thomas R. Kline School of Law during Year 3
- Complete 97 credits by the end of Year 3
Law School Criteria
To be admitted into the School of Law for Year 4, you are required to maintain the following criteria:
- 3.5+ GPA
- Score in the 60th percentile on LSATs
- Complete an admissions interview
The 3+3 Law Program is not available to transfer students. Once a student matriculates, all coursework must be completed at Duquesne University.
Legal Studies Minor
The School of Business offers a Legal Studies Minor that pairs well with the 3+3 Law Program and Duquesne's Pre-Law Certificate.
Students can earn a minor in Legal Studies by completing BLAW 251 Business Law (from Business Core) plus four additional courses. Students can take ACCT 412 Intro to Income Tax Accounting, BLAW 355W Law of Business Organizations, BLAW 353W Contracts, and BLAW 354 Commercial Transactions.
Pre-Law Certificate
The 15-credit pre-law program gives students access to over 50 courses from multiple disciplines across Business The certificate program is an excellent addition to all undergraduates with a decided major.
Students who successfully complete the requirements for the Pre-Law Certificate with a 3.0 GPA or higher are eligible to receive a $5,000 scholarship for their first year at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
Program Information
Our accelerated program allows exceptional students to complete their undergraduate studies in three years and begin the Duquesne Kline School of Law in their fourth year
Program Type
Major
Degree
Bachelor's
Duration
3-year
Required Credit Hours
97
Business Core This course provides insight into the role of Operations and Supply Chain Management
(SCM) in linking the functions and business entities responsible for the exchange
of goods, services and information to complete the business transaction from supplier's
supplier to customer's customer. The course focuses on managing the flow of materials,
goods, services, information and cash via the processes, technologies, and facilities
that link primary supplier through to ultimate customers. Attention is given to such
managerial concepts as forecasting, production planning, materials planning, purchasing
and supplier management, production – manufacturing and services, transportation,
inventory management, warehousing, packaging, materials handling, quality and lean
management and customer service. Recognition is also given to important interrelationships
between supply chain management, marketing, and financial management with discussion
of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) and Materials Requirement Planning (MRP).
Interdisciplinary managerial concepts are presented to show how integration of the
supply chain processes offers great potential for improving corporate profitability
and return on investment. The course has numerous exercises to reinforce class content
and supplement lectures. 3+3 Law Courses: Year 1
1 credit
The goal of this core course is to help you develop the research and communication
skills needed to succeed at Duquesne University as well as throughout your career.
This broad set of skills, known as Information literacy, serves as a basic building
block of your college education. Information literacy includes skills such as defining
your information needs, conducting research effectively, evaluating and communicating
your research results. You will also learn about ethical issues relevant to writing
an undergraduate research paper including academic integrity, copyright, and citation.
This course is also intended to cover the basic software and research tools used at
Duquesne.
BRDG 101 introduces students to the conventions of academic reading and writing. Students
learn about critical reading, research, and the demands of various genres of academic
writing. Students will write between 16 to 25 pages of writing (or equivalent multi-media
project) with careful attention to the process of invention, drafting, and feedback.
Students will also learn how to incorporate other voices into their own writing in
order to join the scholarly and professional conversations of their majors and prospective
careers.
3 credits
BRDG 102 takes the lessons of thesis-driven, well-supported academic writing and critical
reading taught in BRDG 101 and applies them to the analysis of literature. All BRDG
102 classes engage in close, contextual, and critical reading of literary texts. Through
the practice of writing like a literary scholar, students will be prepared to write
within their own academic and professional disciplines, by reflecting on the demands
of genre and audience. Students will also enhance their social and ethical reasoning
through exploring the multiple disciplinary lenses a primary text can be analyzed.
3 credits
Introduction to Business provides an overview of the curriculum offerings and organization
of the School of Business Administration. In addition to detailing the School's areas
of concentration, the course will introduce the student to the School's advisement
process, student organizations, study abroad opportunities, and career services. Current
business concepts and trends will be discussed. The student will be expected to use
technology as a communication medium throughout the course.
0 credits
The Internship Preparation Practicum course is the 1st of a two-course sequence (the
second being BUAD 210 in the sophomore year) that prepares students with the knowledge
and communication skills necessary to obtain their first internship/job and to be
successful in their professional career. While the specific content will vary over
time, the core knowledge acquired by students in this course includes awareness of
career development resources at Duquesne, resume-writing, time management, and internships.
The course has no prerequisites. It typically will be offered to second-semester freshman.
3 credits
The course covers mathematical concepts needed in downstream business courses including:
algebra, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of equations and
differentiation. The course will take an applied approach where students learn mathematics
in the context of business.
Focuses on multiple modes of communication in business government, industrial, and
not-for-profit or service organizations ranging from routine messages, memorandums,
and e-mail to letters and professional presentations. Course highlights persuasion
as a key component of all business and professional messages.
3 credits
Talk to your Success Coach for more information.
3 credits
“What do information systems have to do with business,” you ask? Everything! A profound
and fundamental shift is underway in our economy. A shift away from an industrial-based
to an information-based economy. The information-based economy has complex implications
for the management of the modern enterprise. The goal of this course is for students
to see how modern businesses use information systems to increase profitability, gain
market share, improve customer service, and manage inventory and daily operations
across a wide variety of fields, including accounting, finance, marketing, and supply
chain management. The course also highlights how innovative firms are constantly experimenting
with new types of products, production processes, organizational structures, and competitive
strategies that can only be enabled through the use of information systems. In other
words, information systems provide the foundation for modern business enterprises.
The information economy also has important and irrevocable workforce implications.
Tremendous demand will exist for employees that can combine technical skills with
business insight to create value for their organizations. Accordingly, this course
is also designed to both explore careers in Information Systems & Technology (IST)
and demonstrate how Information Systems (IS) can be utilized in any career to facilitate
personal and organizational success. The course approaches the above topics by developing
requisite technology concepts and skills required for success and efficiently and
effectively applying those skills in a business context.
3 credits
Contemporary organizations invest heavily in collecting and storing enormous quantities
of data related to their business operations, markets, and supply chains. It is critical
for future business leaders to understand the value of this data as a resource to
be converted into useful, actionable information. Using an established decision-making
methodology as an organizing framework, this course explores the acquisition, storage,
analysis, and presentation of information suitable for the support of decision making.
Course topic areas include data acquisition, data management, and data visualization
in a business context. Where appropriate, these concepts will be supported with technological
tools and will build on existing statistical analysis skills to support evidence-based
decision making in realistic business scenarios. At the conclusion of the course,
students will have necessary knowledge and skills required to explain and demonstrate
how data and information can be used to support decisions and thus be a point of strength
for an organization. Prerequisite: ISYS 184
3 credits
Marketing and Business Development is designed to educate students about the organizational
functions of marketing and business development and their impact on organization success,
society and the economy. In this course, students acquire comprehensive knowledge
about marketing concepts, programs and strategies to develop sustainable relations
with the market and create mutual value for the organization and its stakeholders.
The course emphasizes business development which includes personal selling strategies,
product and service innovation, strategic market system alliances and new market development.
The challenges marketing professionals face are analyzed and ethical ways of approaching
them are identified. Through the use of projects, written assignments, case discussions,
and newsworthy marketing issues and trends, students are encouraged to apply the marketing
process to managerial situations and opportunities.
3 credits
An introduction to probability and the more commonly used statistical techniques for
analyzing data from one population, with an emphasis on their application to decision
making and quality management. Coverage includes basic descriptive statistics, the
concepts of probability and specific distributions, and elementary inferential statistics. 3+3 Law Courses: Year 2
3 credits
Introduces students to the discipline of accounting and the principles of financial
reporting. Students will develop a basic understanding of how to use the financial
statements to assess the profitability, liquidity and solvency of business entities.
Students will gain an understanding of how financial statement information is communicated
and be exposed to new technology tools to analyze and visualize financial data.
3 credits
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to cost concepts, product
costing systems, budgeting systems, and the development of accounting data for internal
managerial decisions. Students will gain an understanding of how accounting information
is communicated within an organization and continue to work with technology to analyze
and visualize accounting data. Prerequisite: ACCT 214
3 credits
Business Law is an introductory course exploring the nature of laws, its sources,
and its relation to society, government and business. The course focuses on the traditional
business law topics - property, contracts, torts, agency, business organizations,
and government regulation.
This course introduces students to the practice of ethical reasoning. The course fosters
students' ability to engage moral arguments with confidence and rigor in a context
of moral diversity. BRDG 105 prepares students for more specialized coursework in
ethics electives or in ethics courses that are required for their major.
0 credits
The Career Preparation Practicum course is the 2nd of a two-course sequence (the first
being BUAD 110 in the freshman year) that prepares students with the knowledge and
communication skills necessary to obtain their first internship/job and to be successful
in their professional career. While the specific content will vary over time, the
core knowledge acquired by students in this course includes interviewing, networking,
personal career management, and job-searching skills. Prerequisite: BUAD 110. This
course typically will be offered to first-semester sophomores.
3 credits
This course introduces students to the way in which a free market economic system
resolves the basic social questions of what goods and services to produce, how scarce
resources are organized to produce these goods, and to whom the goods are distributed
once they are produced. Students will explore the components of the market system,
supply and demand, and how they interact under conditions ranging from perfect competition
to monopoly. Market failures and their remedies are also examined.
3 credits
This course introduces students to the basic economic principles of the aggregate
economy. Students will explore the determinants of, and relationships among, the level
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment, inflation, foreign trade and interest
rates. In addition, various theories of the role of fiscal and monetary policy to
promote stabilization will be addressed.
3 credits
This course takes a three-pronged approach for instilling in students actionable knowledge
critical for navigating the opportunities and challenges inherent in managing themselves
and others in organizations. First, students review contemporary management research,
focusing, for example, on micro-level theories of motivation and decision-making,
meso-level theories of teamwork and leadership, and macro-level theories of organizational
culture and structure. Second, students apply these theories to analyze real-world
situations, to generate and evaluate alternative courses of action, and to recommend
and defend best courses of action. Third, students are provided opportunities to enhance
their interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their communication skills, which
are essential in the workplace.
3 credits
The focus of this course is to help students acquire the cultural intelligence they
need to interact effectively in diverse environments and cultures. While business
is an increasingly global proposition, cultural differences impact everything from
how employees are hired to how they are led to how business strategies are formed.
Consequently, this class will examine the international aspects of organizational
behavior, human resource management, labor relations, corporate strategy, political
risk and ethical issues. We will cover micro topics (e.g., cross-cultural communication)
as well as more macro topics (e.g., formulation of international strategy). This course
ties in directly our mission of preparing students to be successful in contemporary
business—an environment characterized by rapidly evolving international and cultural
challenges.
3 credits
Prerequisite: STAT 2853+3 Law Courses: Year 3
3 credits
Business Finance is a core course required for all undergraduate business majors.
Students are introduced to the concept of shareholder wealth maximization through
the following topics: financial statement analysis, time value of money, capital budgeting,
cost of capital, risk and return, and impact of financial leverage on the value of
the firm.
Prerequisites: ACCT 214 and STAT 285
3 credits
This course provides students with ethical decision-making tools to assess and resolve
various ethical dilemmas commonly found in the students’ lives and in many business
organizations. It will emphasize the individual as decision-maker and focus upon ethical
issues and dilemmas facing managers in most business organizations. Time is spent
evaluating processes organizations go through to act in a socially responsible manner,
and balance the needs of multiple stakeholders. Social and ethical problems, existing
in global societies where businesses must operate, also are investigated. MGMT 368W
is a writing intensive (W) designated course. Assignments seek to improve ethical
decision-making skills and develop basic communication competency.
3 credits
The primary objective of this capstone course is to improve students’ ability to think
critically and view things from the perspective of the total organization by drawing
on and applying theories, concepts and tools from strategic management and earlier
business courses. The course utilizes comprehensive case studies, organizational projects
and team work to provide an integrative learning experience. The course provides students
with the opportunity to: (a) expand individual decision making paradigms to explicitly
consider the ethical, global and sustainability dimensions of all business problems;
(b) improve the system-thinking skills needed to integrate knowledge from all the
functional areas of business; (c) develop the entrepreneurial mindset needed to explore
creative possibilities and recommend original solutions; (d) sharpen the collaborative
skills needed to work effectively in group settings; and (e) strengthen the influence
skills needed to communicate effectively and successfully defend their decisions in
both oral and written forms. This course is aligned with the Principles for Responsible
Management Education (PRME) by adopting learning content and experiences best suited
to achieve the first PRME principle (i.e. Develop the capabilities of students to
be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to
work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy).