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The Plus Program  Electives

As an enhancement to the Plus Competencies, three electives are being offered during the Academy free periods. 

• "Making Your Case with Statistics: Research Methods for Managers" - Tuesday, October 15
  • Led by Dr. Kerric Harvey
• "Put Your Heart in Your Message" - Thursday, October 17
  • Led by Barbara Miller
• "PowerPoint by Design" - Monday, October 21
  • Led by Dr. Billy Earnest

These two-hour single session courses will be offered at 3 different times on the scheduled days, so that all students have the opportunity to attend. 

Fall 2002 Elective Sessions

Tuesday 15 October: Dr. Kerric Harvey (George Washington University), "Making Your Case with Statistics: Research Methods for Managers."

This session explores the connection between research methods and the work of managers. What do you need to know before you make a decision? By what standards should you judge the competing messages that vie for your attention as you manage a business? What kind of "research" will persuade skeptics and bolster your credibility in the marketplace of ideas?

Students will work in small groups to apply the principles of statistical reasoning to some real-life business scenarios and discover how different aspects of research design - sampling method, framing the question, measuring responses, and so on - can affect the type of data collected and its usefulness to the manager. 

The session concludes with "The Top Ten Mistakes in Research Design and Analysis… and How to Avoid Them." 


Thursday 17 October: Barbara Miller (Barbara Miller Communications), "Put Your Heart in Your Message."

Business presentations are often the heart of critical negotiations, technology transfers, sales, team building, analyst meetings and budget requests. But when making presentations, some business people leave their heart, their passion for their enterprise, behind. This session will give you the chance to inform, persuade or inspire your classmates, in groups of five, on the topic of your choosing. You'll present from your head, then from your heart, and experience the powerful difference passion can make in your business communications.

Monday 21 October: UTC 4.102 Dr. Billy Earnest (University of Texas at Austin), "PowerPoint by Design."

There's a PowerPoint "backlash" in many organizations today, and with good reason-hideous colors, annoying sound effects, distracting bells and whistles. The problem is that many users fail to approach PowerPoint from a communication perspective. As a result, they make slides when they should be designing them. 

This session introduces the "Rules of Design" for PowerPoint, reminding participants that no aspect of slide-building should be taken for granted. Your audience is affected by every choice you make, from templates to font style to the number of bullets-even the way you design charts and graphs. Through a series of "before" and "after" slides, participants will learn how, when, and why to apply the rules of design. 

The session will close with a question and answer period.