Transformational Change at Babson College

This article describes the transformational change at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. By any measure, Babson College is a different and dramatically better place than it was 10 years ago. At the heart of the changes are radical curriculum reforms in both the undergraduate and MBA programs, with unusual integration among business subjects and between business and liberal arts; an undergraduate competence-based curriculum; requirements for international experience, more field-based work, an emphasis on team learning and ethical considerations; and other innovations. Instrumental in launching change were a relatively new dean and a new president's initiatives and leadership, but the seeds had been sown several years earlier. Numerous failed attempts to move the faculty in the interim had created frustration among several faculty reformers waiting to be tapped. The evening MBA program became the largest in the greater Boston area. The foundation of liberal arts had been strengthened, and bridges between the liberal arts and business programs were under construction.