Corvinus puts students’ interests in focus and introduces new programs

At the event the management informed the students about numerous future changes affecting the curriculum, the MyCorvinus application was announced, and the renewing student administration processes were also mentioned.

Nothing is more important than health

With reference to the pandemic the Rector of the university, András Lánczi said that “it is sure that we will be in a much easier situation in this year than the situation we are in now”. however, even under the present circumstances all employees of Corvinus are working to ensure that the institution the students attend is as good as possible.

The Rector emphasised that the management of the university focuses on three objectives in course of the decision-making: nothing is more important than the health of the students and the lecturers, meanwhile they want to provide the highest quality education possible by using any and all opportunities allowed by the circumstances in order to ensure that personal meetings and the building of the community can continue.

Students in focus

New chancellor Ákos Domahidi shared that just like the freshmen, he entered the doors of the university for the first time on 1st September. In connection with his own duties he said that he dealt with the operation of the background processes, and in the past month numerous projects had been launched which were parts of the renewal process. Mr. Domahidi highlighted the disciplined attitude of the students related to the rules implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic, and he also thanked the students for complying with the rules related to both mask wearing and social distancing, and thereby protecting each other, as well as the university life.

In his welcome address President Anthony Radev talked about the renewal process, which they intend to focus on the students and introduce changes which make the students’ lives, decision-making and career choices easier.

Student Council president Levente Szabados said that they were constantly working on solutions with which they help students in the current difficult circumstances; he highlighted for example the onboarding booklet prepared for freshmen, which is available online. At the same time Mr. Szabados made a promise that while the pandemic makes active community life impossible, the Student Council is already preparing for the time when the previous programmes can be relaunched.

New programs; skills development to be launched

Vice-Rector for Education Lajos Szabó presented the developments affecting the programs and the curricula in detail. Mr. Szabó highlighted the skills development of the student as the most important change. This means that based on the feedback of the employers, the alumni and the lectures, as well as relevant international examples the university would survey for each and every program those knowledge, abilities, skills and attitude which the students shall have in order to successfully find their place in the labour market. As an example Mr. Szabó mentioned that if according to the feedbacks it was worth to launch any specific program in English, then they would implement such changes.

The applied economics bachelor program and the economic analyst masters program, the international business management bachelor program and the MBA program were launched already in the renewed form this September, and they are constantly working on the changes affecting the other programs as well.

Not only previous programs are refreshed but the Vice-Rector envisaged the launch of new programs as well. For example the Vice-Rector mentioned the Philosophy, Politics and Economy bachelor program in English, which would combine approaches of political sciences, economics and philosophy. The Vice-Rector announced that Corvinus was also planning to launch a Data Science bachelor program as well, since nowadays even the daily business decisions are made after the analysis of big data databases. The planned new masters programs include the Political economy, Behaviour Analyst and the International Development programs as well.

New application still in 2020

The manager responsible for Student Services, Péter Major highlighted the steps made in the Student Office in order to make the administration easier. He said that the possibility of making appointments online is only the first one in a series of measures, and in the long term they would like to achieve that all student administration processes can be initiated online. The function of the new student office reflects the philosophy of the renewal of the university: they want the innovations to benefit the students’ interests. Soon the employees of the Education Office will be available all day, and they would like to make as many processes as possible digital.

As part of the renewal the MyCorvinus application will go online still in this year; among others a map, newsfeed, as well as customised information about the courses and the academic progress will be available in the application.

Manager responsible for international relations Zita Kelemen emphasised the foreign scholarship opportunities. She said that the university had international relations with 296 universities in total, including more than ten institutions where Corvinus students may obtain dual diplomas. Ms. Kelemen especially highlighted the CEMS program, with the help of which students may spend a semester at universities rated high internationally as well, and student may also receive a second diploma in addition to their masters program.

Social aid and sustainability

During the lectures of the management the students could ask questions in the comments, which were answered after the lectures by the persons responsible for each topic. Regarding the submission deadline for the theses of the autumn semester Lajos Szabó said that the students of the 7-semester bachelor programs (except for the Business Informatics bachelor program) may submit their theses until 4.00 PM on 26th October, while the students of the other programs may submit their thesis until 4.00 PM on 23rd November. The Vice-Rector also promised that within a few days the thesis information applicable to this semester will be displayed in a clearly visible place on the Corvinus website.

There were also questions about whether the university planned to help those students who needed financial aid for their day-to-day lives. In his answer Chancellor Ákos Domahidi said that the issue was on the agenda, and in the past period they – together with the Student Council – had been working on an entirely new social aid system with which they would help the students living in dormitories.

There was also a question related to the whether the idea of environmental protection and sustainability would be represented in course of the renewal. Vice-Rector Lajos Szabó highlighted that the university had already had a regional and environmental economics masters program, as well as students could register for numerous independent subjects which covered these two topics. In the future they are planning to introduce a new specialisation in case of the business administration and management program, under the name “sustainability management”.