2023-24 Academic Catalog

Bachelors (BA) in Business Administration

Overview

The Business Administration major offers a 57-semester-hour course of study, which includes a host of foundational business courses that will teach you the mechanics of business. Our Business Administration degree is available with four concentrations: Management, Marketing, Finance, or Economics. The degree will prepare you to work in business and the concentrations will give you the opportunity to delve deeper into one or more areas of business and help you gain more specialized expertise. With a Business Administration degree, you will qualify for a variety of business roles right out of college. Students are required to obtain a minimum grade of C- in all major courses.

Degree Outcomes

Graduates with a BA in business administration will:

  • Develop an understanding of the role of each of the primary business disciplines in today's organizations
  • Communicate orally and in writing with effectiveness
  • Understand the principles of effective leadership
  • Demonstrate effective skill as a team member who serves both locally and globally
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify ethical dilemmas and responsible courses of action

Major Requirements

Complete the following:
Accounting is the language of business. This course provides an introductory overview of accounting from a user perspective. Its purpose is to give students a basic understanding of the logic behind the principles of accounting, enabling them to prepare, read, analyze, and interpret financial statements for the purpose of decision making. Prerequisite: BUSN 110 and Sophomore standing or above.
This course is a continuation of ACCT 271. It emphasizes the uses of accounting data by management to make both planning and control decisions. Students will continue to analyze financial statements to assess a company's liquidity, profitability, capital structure, and stock market ratios. Students will also develop operating budgets and use them to evaluate performance. Cost information will be classified by behavior, and allocated under a cost-beneficial system that assists managers in using relevant costs for decision making. Prerequisite: ACCT 271 Principles of Financial Accounting.
This introductory survey will examine the major functional areas of business and afford the student an opportunity to consider this major as a path to a career. Emphasis is given to contemporary business concepts, in particular, and examination of business as a field for stewardship.
A practical application of personal financial management and an introduction to the field of financial planning. Topics include money history, stewardship, budgets, loans, spending, housing, insurance, investments, and retirement. Prerequisite: Declared major in the College of Business.
Statistical procedures with applications in management and economics. Emphasis on the development of a basic knowledge of the statistical tools available for analysis of problems and decision making. Prerequisite: MATH 180 College Algebra or higher math course.
This course will teach you the art of effective interpersonal communication in business. You will learn to deliver clear, concise, and convincing messaging to advance ideas, build consensus, resolve conflict, and negotiate. You will learn to translate metrics for decision making and to communicate to a lay audience. You will learn how to craft crisp emails, carry out business documentation and reports, and polish your business presentation skills. (BUSN 250 and COMM 250 are identical courses.) Prerequisites: BUSN 110 Introduction to Business and COMM 111 Communication in Society.
The importance of thinking globally and understanding the legal, technological, political and economic differences that affect business practice are explored through readings and projects. The focus is on the global changes that are impacting national sovereignty, regionalization, and the balance of economic and political power. Prerequisites: ECON 200 Principles of Economics and MGMT 260 Principles of Management.
Covers the legal aspects of common business transactions. Includes the law of contracts, agency, negotiable instruments, and other phases of private law.
The study of administrative policy and strategy in organizations. Emphasis is placed on the integration and inter-relationships of functional business areas (accounting, economics, finance, marketing, and management) for the purpose of developing an organizational-wide perspective. Students learn a model of strategy formulation and implementation and, through analyzing cases, apply this model to a variety of institutional settings. Prerequisites: MGMT 260 Principles of Management, MKTG 260 Principles of Marketing, FINC 260 Business Finance, ACCT 272 Principles of Managerial Accounting, and senior standing.
This course is an introduction to the fundamental principles of economics, and their application at the micro and macro level. In the microeconomic portion of the course the behavior of individuals, households, and firms will be explored. The macroeconomic portion of the course will focus on economy-wide conditions, such as gross domestic product, unemployment, and recessions. Throughout the course the ways in which the economy contributes to, and deters from, human flourishing and well-being will be considered, discussed, and debated.
An introduction to the finance function of a business entity. Specific topics to be studied include capital budgeting, cost of capital determination, sources of financing, leverage and its effect on the profits and risk of business, and managing the asset mix and capital structure of a business. Prerequisites: ACCT 271 Principles of Financial Accounting, ACCT 272 Principles of Managerial Accounting (may also be a co-requisite), ECON 200 Principles of Economics and college level statistics course 200 level or higher. Students who've taken PSYC 240 or SOCI 340 must also complete MATH 150 or higher.
A study of the theory and practice of management. The course involves discussion and application of areas such as social responsibility, strategy, problem solving, communication, change, job performance, and financial/operational controls. Prerequisite or Co-requisite: BUSN 110 Introduction to Business.
Study of the marketing concept, consumer demand and behavior, and marketing functions of the firm. The objective is to understand the development of marketing channels, products, prices, and promotion strategies. Prerequisite or Co-requisite of BUSN 110 Introduction to Business
Choose one of the following:
Influential thinkers from Moses to Marx have sought to understand and overcome the problem of scarcity in surprising and radical ways. In this class students will learn about ways in which individuals and groups have used these ideas to shape the economy around them. Students will explore the work of secular and Christian thinkers as they seek to understand how to flourish as consumers, workers, and citizens in the modern world.
This course is focused on the character of leadership. Opportunities to understand the essence of character such as attitude, empathy, respect, courage, perseverance, honesty, appreciation, composure, gratitude, tolerance, sacrifice, and self-awareness are woven throughout the course. These topics and more will be explored by studying historic and current leaders, real-life case studies to understand their situations and their character in action.

Concentrations (15 hours) - choose one

Complete the following:
In this course students will be introduced to the tools and techniques of business analytics. Students will learn basic programming and advanced applications of software with business applications. By doing so students will increase their fluency in data and mathematical communication. Upon completion of this course students will be ready to take courses on advanced topics in business analytics and complete the Business Analytics Certificate. Prerequisite: A grade of B- or higher in BUSN 240 Business Statistics or an equivalent 200-level or higher course in statistics or MATH 201 or another 200-level or higher math course, can either be taken as a corequisite or a prerequisite.
The course studies the economy as a whole by examining the national income account, monetary policy and its aggregates such as money supply, price level, and interest rates, and fiscal policy and its aggregates such as real income, consumption, and investment. It covers topics presented in ECON 200 in a more advanced manner. The course will analyze the economy in the long run when prices are flexible, in the very long run with a special emphasis on capital accumulation, and in the short run when prices are sticky. It also discusses the microeconomics behind macroeconomics by analyzing the aggregate consumption function in more detail. Prerequisites: ECON 200 Principles of Economics and MATH 190 Pre-Calculus or higher.
This course introduces students to causes and consequences of 'the wealth of nations.' Students will learn theories of economic growth and poverty alleviation. Topics to be covered include: globalization, education, international trade, holistic conceptions of development, and the role of institutions. (ECON 370 and SOCI 370 are identical courses.) Prerequisite: ECON 200 Principles of Economics.
This course deals with the application of statistical techniques to the analysis of economic data. Economists, financial analysts and others rely on econometric methods to estimate relationships and forecast employment, income and other trends. This course emphasizes hands-on application of econometric techniques to a variety of publicly available data. Considerable attention will be paid to the nature and sources of economic data and the application of econometric methods to common questions of value to managers and public decision-makers. Prerequisite: A grade of B- or higher in BUSN 301 Business Analytics: Intro to Business Intelligence.
This course introduces students to the particular economic challenges and opportunities faced by rural areas, towns, and cities within the United States. Students will gain an understanding of the role of the market, firms,and government as local areas seek to improve the well-being they afford their citizens. Particular attention will be paid to transportation, affordable housing, natural amenities and other contemporary topics. Prerequisite: ECON 200 Principles of Economics.
Complete the following:
This class will explore the use of analytics by financial professionals. Starting with the generation of a business question, students will use a decision-making framework to draw appropriate and ethical conclusions to business problems. Students will understand the principles of data analysis, including but not limited to, systems, collecting, cleaning, analyzing and visualizing data. During the course, students will also gain hands-on experience with software tools used by financial professionals. Prerequisites: MATH 180 College Algebra, CSIS 201 Introduction to Computer Science, ACCT 370 Accounting Information Systems, and ACCT 371 Financial Accounting & Reporting I OR a Business Administration: Finance concentration with successful completion of FINC 300 Intermediate Financial Mgmt.
This course deals with the application of statistical techniques to the analysis of economic data. Economists, financial analysts and others rely on econometric methods to estimate relationships and forecast employment, income and other trends. This course emphasizes hands-on application of econometric techniques to a variety of publicly available data. Considerable attention will be paid to the nature and sources of economic data and the application of econometric methods to common questions of value to managers and public decision-makers. Prerequisite: A grade of B- or higher in BUSN 301 Business Analytics: Intro to Business Intelligence.
This course is a second level financial management course that provides more depth in the study of the analysis of financial statements, working capital management, and obtaining credit. Students will determine the cost of capital of a firm and apply its use in capital budgeting and asset valuation. Prerequisite: FINC 260 Business Finance.
This course provides students a foundation for financial analysis using Microsoft Excel, and bridges the gap between financial theories and real-world application. It is designed to help students understand finance concepts/theories intuitively and deeply, and to prepare students with the Excel and modeling skills they need to succeed in their future careers. Topics that will be covered in this class include financial statement analysis and modeling, time value of money analysis, stock & bond valuations and modeling, making capital budgeting decisions, portfolio theory and investment modeling, and financial derivatives. Prerequisite: FINC 300 Intermediate Financial Management.
In this course, we will cover Topics 33 - 41 of the CFP Board Principal Knowledge Topics. Areas of focus will include: characteristics, uses and taxation of investment vehicles, types of investment risk, measures of investment returns, asset allocation and diversification, bond and stock valuation, portfolio development and analysis, investment strategies, and alternative investments. Prerequisite: FINC 260 Business Finance.
Complete the following:
This course recognizes that managers are also called upon to be leaders. The differences between a leader and manager will be discussed with focus on effective leadership and management skills, philosophies and orientations. Prerequisite: MGMT 260 Principles of Management.
This course will prepare students to skillfully use fundamental project management concepts and behavioral skills to effectively plan and lead project work. Specifically, through practical, hands-on work, case studies, and exercises, students will learn to manage project resources, schedules, tasks, time/cost tradeoffs, risks, and scope to produce desired organizational outcomes. Importantly, since most project teams are comprised of internal and external resources which are often distributed geographically, students will become knowledgeable and skillful at recognizing and overcoming the challenges of leading distributed teams. In short, this course will provide a sense of confidence with planning and oversight throughout all phases of a project's life cycle.
This course explores the role and function of HR Management in organizations. Focus for the course will surround human resource management, compliance, selection, compensation, etc. Prerequisites: MGMT 260 Principles of Management
In this class, the emphasis is placed on the integration and relationships of sales in the various areas of business and our everyday relationships. Students learn how to recognize the influence of sales and engage in the sales process. The process, procedures, and best practices of business to business sales will be taught in order to empower students to successfully sell throughout their career, regardless of their chosen career path. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the integration of Christian faith, practice, and ethics in sales. Focus will also be placed upon building and stewarding healthy relationships in regard to sales. This course will explore where and why sales permeate business, how to engage and practice the sales cycle, and how to have a successful career in business to business sales through the utilization of best practices and Christian faith.
This course examines the complex and dynamic interactions of people and organizations in society. Particular focus will be on organizational theory, human perception, motivation, group dynamics, power, conflict, culture, leadership, organizational development, and managing change. Prerequisite: MGMT 260 Principles of Management.
Complete the following:
We will take a look at how customers shop, buy and use products and services to satisfy their needs and wants. This class highlights physiological and psychological content that promotes consumer behavior understanding, such as perception, learning, language, internal and external motivations, emotions. Creating personas is an outcome of consumer behavior knowledge, allowing you to instinctively know your customer and create personalized marketing campaigns that hit the target each time. Prerequisite: MKTG 260 Principles of Marketing.
Research is behind any sound marketing decision and activity. This course addresses the process in which marketing research is conducted, including defining research needs, formulating research questions, designing the appropriate methodologies, collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and reporting the findings. Prerequisites: MKTG 260 Principles of Marketing and college level statistics course 200 level or higher. Students who've taken PSYC 240 or SOCI 340 must also complete MATH 150 or higher, or have a SAT math score of 620 or higher or have an ACT score of 28 or higher.
We will incorporate traditional and non-traditional B2B and B2C techniques to effectively communicate with our target audience. You will learn how to create a unified, cohesive Integrated Marketing plan, essential to a successful marketing career. In today’s market, it is critical to know how to leverage digital strategies across a variety of deliverables including branding, design, usability, IT development, SEO, and social media integration to drive active commerce and audience engagement. You will learn how to solve business problems with a persuasive marketing strategy. Prerequisites: MKTG 260 Principles of Marketing and MKTG 300 Consumer Behavior: Know Your Customer.
This course will examine and develop the strategic use of various digital and interactive technologies in marketing to create unique and engaging user experiences that lead to the free-flow exchange of information and ideas, resulting in mutually beneficial relationships between customers and brands. Students will have the hands-on opportunity to learn and apply skills in Web Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search Marketing, Digital/Online Advertising, Web Analytics, Social Media and Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and other newly emerging interactive technologies. Prerequisites: MKTG 260 Principles of Marketing.
We will bring together all of what has been learned in earlier marketing courses and introduce marketing decision making and planning frameworks. With a global perspective and supporting case studies, we use practical application to create innovative market-needed strategies, analyze situations, identify differentiation and positioning, evaluate the competition, and learn how to take a broad view of every function involved in building a strong business that will succeed in the market. The goal for this course is to help you become a strategic marketer, giving you the tools you need to create, build support for and execute marketing plans that will build strong and sustainable businesses. Prerequisites: MKTG 300 Consumer Behavior, MKTG 420 Marketing Communications and senior standing.