Your opinions can make a difference! Are you satisfied with the way your college is run? Complaining
about a situation is easy to do. But developing & implementing solutions require much greater effort. Take
time to scrutinize possible campus issues. Then choose the issue to address in your letter. The following
ideas may spark your imagination and help with your selection: Is the campus ignoring cultural diversity or
other lifestyle issues? Does the parking lot need repairs, & security? Are you satisfied with the quality of
professors or the curriculum needs in your college? Does the bookstore charge exorbitant prices? �
Writing Hints: Address your letter to the appropriate person. Use exact title, accurate address, & correct
names Carefully consider the audience for your letter and be mindful of your tone. Avoid being angry.
Remember that more than your addressee may read your letter Use the AIDA approach in your letter for
your message to be persuasive to your reader.
Student Name,
Student Address,
Date
Michael Fields
Office of the Dean College of Business
320 N. Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
Dear Sir,
TITLE: Open Letter Regarding the College of Business undergraduate curriculum
I am writing this letter to bring to your attention a grave complaint that I have with respect to the
undergraduate curriculum that is being used to for the College of business students. I came to
this university and reported to the college with great academic and professional aspirations
following my admission into this institution. After two semesters in the university I began to
question my optimism and this was all to do with the nature of the curriculum that we are
OPEN LETTER 3
currently following. There are several problems that I have noted in its design and I believe these
need to be attended to as a matter of urgency given the gravity of the situation. The first problem
is that of overlapping of units as well as an inherent lack of balance in the distribution of
subjects. The effects of this problem are bound to catch up with students later on upon their
completion of their studies.
As stated above, one of the problems is that of units overlapping each other. The management
modules that have been included in the curriculum for instance tend to mirror one another too
closely and this begs the question about the need for two separate units that basically teach the
same thing. The only difference is the naming but everything else is virtually identical. We are
not certain whether the problem lies in the design of the curriculum or with the tutors who are
assigned to teach us. We have tried raising the issue with them but they stated that it was out of
their mandate and theirs is just to teach the units they are assigned.
The second problem of distribution of units has to do with the heavy bias towards accounts and
economics in this cirriculum leaving other units that would ideally be core as topics within other
units. Human resource management, statistical methods and Marketing are core components of
any business course but in our case they are touched on briefly in different distinct units rather
than having their own subject blocs. While we do get the knowledge, there are some concepts
that we are likely to miss out on due to a lack of continuity in the delivery of these vital skills.
The problems that we are bound to experience due to these issues in the curriculum are mainly in
seeking post-graduate places as well as looking for employment. A look at any business related
masters degree will show under the instructions that one needs to have in his or her transcript a
given threshold of units touching on different aspects of business such as marketing, human
OPEN LETTER 4
sciences, economics and statistical methods. This means that we are likely to have a very narrow
scope of opportunities if we decide to pursue further studies. When it comes to seeking
employment, skills in the field of marketing and human resource management are considered to
be very important and as such we should have them taught exclusively. Not having them as
exclusive units means that potential employers are bound to overlook our applications for the
different available positions.
I kindly request that you look into the above issues and respond.
Yours Sincerely
Student Name
