Undergraduate Bulletin

Fall 2024

Requirements for the Major in Business Management (BUS)

Note: Many Business courses must be taken for a letter grade and do not offer students a G/P/NC option. See the courses without G/P/NC option course list for a full list of courses that do not offer a G/P/NC option.

Acceptance to the Major in Business Management

Qualified freshman and transfer students who have indicated their interest in the major on their applications are accepted directly into the major upon admission into the University. Students who did not apply for the major and those who were not accepted into the major when they entered the University may apply to the major provided that their cumulative grade point average (including, for transfer students, college course-work complete at other institutions) is 3.2 or higher. Applications must be submitted to the College of Business Office of Student Services in accordance with the Registrar’s deadlines for processing major/minor declaration forms. Application forms are available on the College of Business website. 

Requirements for the Major

The major in Business Management leads to the Bachelor of Science degree. Completion of the major requires 55 credits.

Transfer Credit Policy for students in the Business Major
Students may apply a maximum of 21 transfer credits toward the Business Major. Of the total 21 credits, only 6 credits may used to fulfill an area of specialization.

A. Core Courses

  • ACC 210  Financial Accounting
  • ACC 214 Managerial Cost Analysis and Applications
  • BUS 215  Introduction to Business Statistics 
  • BUS 220  Introduction to Decision Sciences 
  • BUS 301  Business Communications
  • BUS 326  Organizational Behavior
  • BUS 330  Principles of Finance
  • BUS 340 Information Systems in Management
  • BUS 346  Operations Management
  • BUS 348  Principles of Marketing
  • BUS 353  Entrepreneurship or BUS 383 Social Entrepreneurship or BUS 441 Business Strategy
  • BUS 446  Ethics: Critical Thinking through Film or BUS 447 Business Ethics
  • ECO 108  Introduction to Economics 
  • MAT 122  Overview of Calculus; or MAT 123 Precalculus; or MAT 119 Foundations for Precalculus and MAT 123 Precalculus; or a higher level calculus course

B. Area of Specialization

One of the following specializations must be chosen at the start of the junior year. The details are available in the College of Business Office of Stu­dent Services.

Choose one specialization from the following areas:

1. Accounting

a. Required courses

  • ACC 310 Intermediate Accounting I
  • ACC 311 Federal Income Taxation I

b. Select two from the following:

  • ACC 313 Intermediate Accounting II
  • ACC 314 Federal Income Taxation II
  • ACC 400 External Auditing
  • BUS 488 Internship

Note: For business majors, successful completion of the accounting minor will satisfy the accounting specialization requirement. However, only the accounting minor will be reflected on the student’s academic transcript.

2. Finance

a. Select four from the following:

3. Marketing

a. Required courses

b. Select one from the following:

  • BUS 302 Social Media Marketing Strategy
  • BUS 334 Integrated Marketing Communications
  • BUS 335 Business Advertising and Promotion
  • BUS 357 Principles of Sales
  • BUS 360 Business Marketing
  • BUS 362 Principles of International Marketing
  • BUS 363 Brand Management
  • BUS 378 Marketing Ethics, Public Policy, and Social Change
  • BUS 449 Marketing in Action
  • BUS 488 Internship

4. Operations Management

a. Select four from the following:

Note: BUS 475, BUS 476 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I, II, and BUS 487 Independent Research will count toward the total University credit requirement, but not toward the business major.

D. Upper-Division Writing Requirement

BUS 301  contains the necessary writing components which satisfy the Upper Division Writing Requirement for the business major, and also satisfies the Stony Brook Curriculum learning objectives SPK and WRTD. This course must be taken at Stony Brook.

Grading

All courses taken to satisfy the business management major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. All students accepted to the business management major must complete all BUS courses, ECO 108, and MAT 122 with a grade of C or higher in order to satisfy the requirements for the major.

Business Honors Program (BHP)

Qualified students may graduate with honors in the College of Business. Admission requirements for the honors program are an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher and successful completion of WRT 102 with a B or better.  To graduate with honors requires an accumulated GPA of 3.5 or better, fulfillment of the courses below, and a student presentation during the Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creativity (an annual event organized by the URECA Program that showcases undergraduate research, open to all SBU undergraduates conducting faculty-mentored research and creative projects).  Students’ progress and performance will be monitored throughout the program. Students who perform poorly (below a cumulative 3.5 GPA) in their academic studies will be counseled and warned that they are in jeopardy of being dropped from the BHP. Following at least one warning, such students will not be permitted to continue in the BHP. Students entering as a business major, either as an existing Stony Brook student or transfer student, will be evaluated under the same criteria for curriculum and admittance to the BHP.    

Required Courses (each 3 credits):

  • BUS 495 Business Honors Program Thesis (Capstone Experience)
  • BUS 496 Business Honors Program Thesis (Capstone Experience)

The College of Business Honors Program Capstone enables junior and senior undergraduate students to pursue a track of excellence of their choice required for graduation. These tracks include, but are not limited to:

  • Working with a PhD faculty member in a business department of choice. The business faculty member will serve as an advisor to assist with research design and implementation that is showcased at the Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities (URECA) Campus wide poster symposium.
  • Partnering with a corporate sponsor to design an experiential program for your senior year that promotes the synergies of learning for the organization as well as the student body at the COB. This Honors Capstone requires a well thought out project/plan with a reflection piece that is shared with the employer and the COB.
  • Designing and producing a program/project that incorporates research and analysis in a specialization of your choice, working with a PhD faculty mentor who serves as a mentor pursuing research in a particular specialization with a predetermined learning outcome.
  • Completing a business plan as your Honors thesis, working with a faculty member in innovation or entrepreneurship.
  • Pursuing social entrepreneurship/community impact by taking on a project grounding in creating innovative solutions to society’s social problems. This Honors Capstone will require a written implementation proposal incorporating research, analysis, possible a corporate sponsor and an implementation plan.
  • Creating a project that entails leadership on the Stony brook University Campus and the use of planning, organizing and orchestrating an idea from conception to a measurable end result. This Honors Capstone will require a written implementation proposal incorporating research, analysis and an implementation plan.

Acceptance to the Business Honors Program

  • Applicants must complete the BHP application which includes a 250-500 word essay. The deadline is March 15; however, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Students are encouraged to apply prior to March 1.

Please contact the Office of Student Services at cobundergraduate@stonybrook.edu with any questions regarding the Honors program.