An adviser in Binghamton University’s School of Management has called out SOM students for laziness.

Brian Perry, an undergraduate academic adviser, sent an email out to current SOM students last Wednesday exhorting them not to seek to split their J-Core — a series of four introductory courses that SOM students are required to take — over two semesters.

“SOM students regularly report doing less work per week than any of the other BU schools and significantly less than other top business schools,” Perry wrote. “You are NOT overworked. Get used to it.”

Perry stated that students should not stray from the course sequence structure of the SOM.

“You have plenty of time to get concentration courses done without messing with the curriculum,” Perry wrote. “You don’t get to change everything in your life to fit your convenience. Follow the curriculum as designed.”

To those who complained of the four-course curriculum, Perry wrote, ” … You probably shouldn’t be a business major.”

A report in The New York Times, “The Default Major — Skating Through B-School,” which was published in early April, found a lack of rigor in business schools and a decreasing lack of dedication to work outside of the classroom among business students.

The Times cited a National Survey of Student Engagement, which found that the average college senior majoring in business does schoolwork for less than 11 hours per week, and also reported that business majors score lower on the GMAT – the entry examination for M.B.A. programs — than students in any other major.

Amy Acosta, a sophomore majoring in accounting, said she was unaffected by Perry’s email.

“I know my own work ethic,” Acosta said. “I understand that the curriculum has been a certain way for the longest, and I understand the reluctance to change it. I’m taking my J-Core courses next fall — I’ve worked too hard this semester. I think it all depends on individual work ethic, and your reasoning for picking that major.”

SOM dean Upinder Dhillon said SOM students share a strong work ethic.

“But higher education in general is being critiqued for lack of rigor,” Dhillon said. “It all depends on the eye of the beholder. Each major is different. SOM students have been taught that they will work hard for anything. Work ethic is the only way to get success. When I talk to recruiters, work ethic is second to none. That is why they will recruit Binghamton students.”

Business is the most popular major in the country, accounting for 20 percent of all degrees obtained in higher education in the United States, according to The New York Times.