Prague Journal

Sunday, November 21, 2004.

The master’s degree program at VŠE has five specializations, corresponding to the five departments at the school (all degrees are primarily in Economics): managerial psychology and sociology, finance and accounting, informatics (information systems) and statistics, economics and public administration, and international relations. Those who choose the concentration in managerial psychology and sociology usually (it’s not required) take a 20-student seminar class that includes a leadership weekend, similar to the leadership weekend that DU sets up for its MBA students. Eva had invited me to join her class on the last day of the two-day outing at the VŠE facility near Točna, south of Prague 4. The facility is a lovely building that at one time was used by the military. There are remnants of munitions stores not far from the building. There are 11 dorm rooms that sleep 2-4 people, a large lounge area, a seminar room and a kitchen and dining room that seats 20 people comfortably. Despite the cold, snowy weather, a few activities were outdoors, e.g. spider’s web and blind-walk through the woods, but most of the team-building activities were held in the dining room and lounge area.
There are some major logistical differences between DU’s program and VŠE’s: At VŠE each teacher takes his or her class separately and is responsible for planning the entire 2-day program. There is no professional facilitation or assistance, although instructors typically get some former students to help. (Eva had three students help organize and facilitate.) The only on site employee is the building custodian. Students bring their own breakfasts and lunches and cooperate in cooking dinner together and cleaning up. Beer, wine, bottled water and soft drinks are provided for a fee; there’s a checklist in the kitchen (everyone is on the honor system to record what they’ve taken) and everyone settles up at the end before they leave on Sunday. Students come on their own on Friday morning and leave on Sunday afternoon (we ended just before 4:00 p.m.). There is a bus about 10 minutes away that goes toward town every hour, and from the end of the bus line it’s a long tram ride to the center of town.
The instruction and discussions were in Czech, but the students speak enough English to understand and converse with me, and the student-helpers explained things to me so that I could follow what was going on. Unfortunately, I could not understand much of the debrief from individual students.
VŠE has about 12,000-15,000 students and students choose their own schedules (many work, few live in dorms), so few of these students know each other outside of class, even though they’ve attended the school for three or four years. Those who live in dorms are assigned roommates each year (no choice); many live with parents or on their own (often with non-student roommates). The master’s program is considered a 5-year program. Few people leave between the bachelor’s degree (after three years) and the master’s. A one-year leave, usually for study abroad, is not uncommon, but more than one year requires new exams and a tedious application process which does not guarantee readmission to the program.
Most classes are traditional lecture format (often with 200 students), but others are small seminars (20 students) that are intended for problem sessions, projects, or team-based experiential courses such as Eva’s “psychology and sociology of management” classes. The class is very popular, and students benefit from the weekend because they have few opportunities in their classes for team projects or activities. Setting aside a weekend is difficult, but most students opt to take the class even though it is not required. Needless to say, I had a great time and learned a lot about from the students, about their programs of study and about their attitudes and experiences.

posted by JWinn @ 8:44 PM