Walker School of Business

Dr. J. Kerry Waller, Dean

Dr. Jeff Bruns, Associate Dean

Professor Margaret Ryder, Associate Dean

Mission Statement

The Walker School of Business prepares engaged learners for successful careers. This is accomplished by offering undergraduate and graduate business programs of distinction, delivered by a talented and caring faculty, with an emphasis on academic rigor, ethical integrity, individual attention, and performance excellence.

Core Values

The faculty and staff of the Walker School of Business believe in the value of intellectual curiosity, the importance of critical thinking and in a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. We will strive to foster ever-improving learning through direct engagement in learning activities. Through engagement in original research, both independently and with our students, we will build a culture of discovery that will enhance the delivery of a relevant, timely curriculum. By continuing to partner with local organizations we will allow our students to apply and enhance the skills they have acquired and to develop an appreciation for community development.

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

The Walker School of Business received national accreditation in November 2007 and is reaccredited through 2029 from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) for both the undergraduate and graduate business programs. ACBSP’s mission is to establish, promote, and recognize educational practices that contribute to the continuous quality improvement of business education programs, teaching of business courses, and student learning outcomes in colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad.

Goals

Undergraduate Program Goals

Students graduating with an undergraduate business degree will have developed:

• A working knowledge of the functional areas of business
• An ability to use critical thinking skills
• An ability to perform research
• An engaged attitude toward business education activities.

The Undergraduate Business Program

Undergraduate students enrolled in the Walker School of Business work toward a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in business administration. The major in business administration requires 13 business core courses (39 semester hours), 3 specific courses (9 semester hours) from the general education requirements, plus 7 courses (21 semester hours) from a business concentration. Concentrations are available in accounting, business analytics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, logistics and global operations, management, and marketing.

The business faculty believes that college freshmen should be able to assess different career paths without risking on-time graduation. We recognize that many entering freshmen do not have enough information to choose a major/concentration. Therefore, we have altered the curriculum and adjusted our scheduling of courses so that students can choose to become Pathfinders. Pathfinders will, during the first two years, take at least one course in each of the five concentrations before they declare a concentration. Pathfinder is a term that implies not just searching, but searching and finding the path to a bright future. Add a caring business faculty advisor and the term Pathfinder becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The program for the business administration major has been developed with the assistance of local business leaders who continue to serve as advisors and who help provide linkages to the business world. Near the conclusion of the program, each business administration student is encouraged to participate in an internship with a business or other organization. The internship program is designed not only to provide the student with direct application of academic training but also to enhance future employment opportunities.

Course Scheduling for Business Programs

In many small colleges, numerous courses appear in the catalog leading students to conclude that course offerings are more diverse than may actually be the case. Accrediting bodies have become sensitive to this issue because it is an easy and unethical way to misrepresent the program offerings at a given institution. The Walker Business School’s program offerings support day and evening students on the Demorest campus and evening students on the Athens campus. Additionally, the master schedule addresses the particular needs of both the four-year regular students and the two-year degree completion students. The following plan addresses this diverse set of needs with the following plan. Obviously, a course may be offered but may not be taught due to lack of demand, however, over the past five years, this has occurred less than 5% of the time.
The Walker School of Business offers two types of courses: core courses and specialty courses.

Core courses are taken by all business majors. Specialty courses are taken by students specializing in the various concentrations (e.g. accounting, marketing, management, etc.). On the Demorest campus, where traditional four-year day student constitutes the greatest density of students, we offer core courses every semester during the day and once per year in the evening. On the Athens campus, where the non-traditional evening student constitutes the greatest density of students, core courses are offered either once or twice per year in the evening.

Specialty courses are offered once per year on the Demorest Campus. On the Athens campus specialty courses in the management and hospitality and tourism concentrations are offered at least once every two years. Other specialty course may be offered based on student demand for a particular concentration. By using these guidelines any student, on either campus, can meet the requirements for a major in business administration in two years.