In the Fall semester of 2027, the international business major will be putting out a new course catalog, which will require students to take a full year of a foreign language or pass a language proficiency test.

The current structure of the IB major is the business core, five international electives, and one study abroad section. Professor Charles Campisi, department chair of the IB major, explains that they are attempting to broaden the scope for students. Campisi said he “felt that it’s strange to have an international business major without a language requirement, or passing a language proficiency test.”

Berta Gashi is a senior IB and business administration double major. Even though she is graduating in May, she agrees with Campisi, saying that “if you go into international business, you will have to use language. Whether it’s Arabic, Spanish, Albanian, whatever it is, you’re going to have to use it at some point.”

In the current catalog, electives that count for the IB major are very selective and few. It is unclear which electives could count towards the major, causing confusion for students and faculty. Campisi said the new course will “add an expanded list of electives so that the registrar doesn’t have to email me every semester and say, ‘does this course count?’, so it’s just streamlining the process.”

Gashi is also an international student herself, joining BW’s community from Kosovo. This gives her a unique view of the IB major, with a greater insight on communication and connections. She said, “the more connections you have the better it is, and the easiest way to do that is to take classes through different departments but still go through your major,” agreeing that adding more electives will make the catalog more effective.

The new catalog will take full effect in the Fall semester of 2027. Campisi will present the catalog this May, and if it is approved students will be able to transfer over to the new catalog in the Fall semester of 2026.