The pandemic increases the challenges facing business schools

DAY 93 The pandemic increases the challenges facing business schools

business school   /ˈbɪznəs skuːl/ 商学院
a part of a college or university that teaches business, often to graduates (= people who already have a first degree)

facing business schools

Teachable moment

Teachable  /ˈtiːtʃəbl/
1>  (of a subject) that can be taught
2>  (of a person) able to learn by being taught

1 Lockdown has delivered a nasty shock to academia, with universities around the world closing for the summer term, disrupting the plans of millions of students. Business schools are suffering along with the rest, but the shutdown has occurred when the sector is already facing a host of problems. A survey of the deans of American business schools by Eduvantis, a consultancy, found that almost all thought the pandemic would lead to permanent closures.

 nasty   /ˈnɑːsti/   恶劣的
very bad or unpleasant

Lockdown /ˈlɒkdaʊn/  
an official order to control the movement of people or vehicles because of a dangerous situation

academia  /ˌækəˈdiːmiə/   （某一国家或地区的）学术界
​the world of learning, teaching, research, etc. at universities, and the people involved in it

disrupt  /dɪsˈrʌpt/  v
to make it difficult for something to continue in the normal way

along with

shutdown /ˈʃʌtdaʊn/
the act of closing a factory or business or stopping a large machine from working, either temporarily or permanently

sector   /ˈsektə(r)/  n
1>  a part of an area of activity, especially of a country’s economy
2>  a part of a particular area, especially an area under military control

 dean   /diːn/  n
a person in a university who is in charge of a department of studies

 Eduvantis
Eduvantis provides a wide range of strategic consulting and marketing execution services for higher education institutions. 

permanent closures 
closure  [ˈkləʊʒə(r)]  
n. 关闭；终止，结束vt. 使终止

2 Bartleby contacted seven leading schools in America, Britain and France to see how they were coping with the crisis. Unsurprisingly, the immediate reaction has been to switch to teaching online. Many are putting a brave face on the issue. Christoph Loch, dean of the Judge school at Cambridge, says: “If we do this right, if we do it strategically, this is going to stay beyond covid.” Meanwhile the insead school in France maintains that it is hard to imagine going back to a world where the successes from online learning will not be combined with person-to-person exchanges.

cope  /kəʊp/ 
1>  ​to deal successfully with something difficult = manage 
cope with = deal with/ manage

insead school
abbr. European Institute of Business Administration 欧洲工商管理学院（代号）

the Judge school 

put on a brave face | put a brave face on something
to pretend that you feel confident and happy when you do not
扮出一副勇敢面孔

success   /səkˈses/   n
   [c]  a person or thing that has achieved a good result and been successful

3 The pandemic also presents a teaching opportunity. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has launched a course called “Epidemics, Natural Disasters and Geopolitics: Managing Global Business and Financial Uncertainty”. The London Business School will shortly run a course on “The Economics of a Pandemic”.

4 Online courses are all very well. But part of the motivation for attending business school is to take advantage of networking opportunities that could last for the rest of students’ careers. Some of this can be done online. At the mit Sloan School of Management, virtual student networking has included trivia nights, hackathons and a programming boot camp. In keeping with its location, activities at the Haas School in Berkeley, California, have included remote yoga and mindfulness classes. At insead, students gather in virtual break-out rooms for further discussions, with the groups picked at random to ensure interaction with a broader group of classmates.

Sloan School of Management   麻省理工学院斯隆商学院

trivia /ˈtrɪviə/  n
1>  ​unimportant matters, details or information|
2>  facts about many subjects that are used in a game to test people’s knowledge
trivia night  知识竞赛～机智问答之夜～

hackathon  /ˈhækəθɒn/ 
​an event at which a large number of people work together developing computer programs, usually over several days

 programming boot camp 编程训练营
boot camp   新兵训练营 [美国英语]
In the United States, a boot camp is a camp where people who have just joined the army, navy, or marines are trained.

mindfulness  n. 关注，留心，警觉；正念

break-out 
 If you break out of a dull situation or routine, you manage to change it or escape from it. 摆脱 (沉闷的处境、常规)
(战争、殴斗、疾病等) 爆发     逃出 (监狱)  

5 Nevertheless, just as a friend you made on Facebook is not the same as someone you grew up with, virtual ties are unlikely to be as strong as normal ones. That has led to some dissatisfaction among students. At Wharton, more than 1,000 mba students have signed an online petition arguing that the school should reduce fees, which run to $150,000 for a two-year course. The petition claims that virtual-classroom technology is “unable to fully replicate” the usual teaching environment, and that other elements of the course, such as foreign travel and extra-curricular activities, “have been essentially cancelled”.

petition /pəˈtɪʃn/
a written document signed by a large number of people that asks somebody in a position of authority to do or change something

 run to    [rʌn tu:]  
If something runs to a particular amount or size, it is that amount or size.

6 The rapid economic downturn caused by the pandemic is a complicating factor. In the past, business schools have benefited from recessions, as young people have chosen to continue their education rather than risk entering a shaky jobs market. But this time could be different.

shaky  [ˈʃeɪki] 
 it is weak or unstable, and seems unlikely to last long or be successful. 不牢靠的

7 First, it is not yet clear when business schools can reopen for traditional teaching. None of the schools had a firm timetable for that to happen. And candidates may wait until they do, rather than pay top dollar for an online course. Another survey, by Poets&Quants, a website for news about business schools, found that 43% of prospective mba students thought that fees should be lowered, and that a third might defer their courses until normal teaching can resume.

defer   /dɪˈfɜː(r)/  
​defer (doing) something  =  put off
to delay something until a later time

Quant  /kwɒnt/   n. 定量分析专家；船篙，船桨v. 用篙撑（船）
a person whose job is to analyse a situation or an event, especially a financial market, by developing and using complex models based on mathematics and statistics

8 Second, the pandemic is likely further to discourage students from applying to business schools abroad. Around half of all American business schools experienced a decline in overseas applications last year, thanks to anti-immigration political rhetoric and the greater difficulty in getting visas to work once a degree was obtained.

rhetoric  /ˈretərɪk/  
1> (formal, often disapproving) speech or writing that is intended to influence people, but that is not completely honest or sincere
2> ​(formal) the art of using language in speech or writing in a special way that influences or entertains people
n.修辞学; 辩论法，雄辩术;        华丽的文词; 花言巧语; 

9 Neither America nor Britain has covered itself in glory in recent weeks. A survey of international students by idp Connect found that, among Anglophone countries, Britain and America ranked behind New Zealand, Canada and Australia in terms of how they have handled the pandemic. The war of words between America and China over the virus will also have an effect. Students from the People’s Republic may be more inclined to study in their own country.

 cover in glory  有……荣誉；取得……成绩

 idp Connect  澳大利亚的留学中介

Anglophone countries  说英语的国家
Anglophone /ˈæŋɡləʊfəʊn/  
a person who speaks English, especially in countries where English is not the only language that is spoken

war of words  舆论纠纷，口水战

be inclined to do 更倾向于

10 That is bad news for both universities and business schools, as international students are very lucrative. Things may go back to normal in a few years’ time; the virus may be conquered and international relations may settle down. But as with many other sectors of the economy, there may be a big shakeout among business schools before that happens.

lucrative. /ˈluːkrətɪv/  adj.获利多的，赚钱的; 合算的;
producing a large amount of money; making a large profit

 as with   和……一样

 shakeout /ˈʃeɪk aʊt/  n
1> a situation in which people lose their jobs and less successful companies are forced to close because of competition and difficult economic conditions
2>