Making a top-ranked business education available online to students all over the world can take us closer to building business for a better world.
At the Colorado State University College of Business, each graduation is a celebration for all, and especially for the Dean, Dr. Beth Walker, who takes great pride in the achievements of the students of her prestigious institution.
A distinguished career in research and teaching
In addition to serving as Dean at the Colorado State University College of Business, Dr. Walker has served as the AT&T Professor of Services Marketing and Management and Chair of the Department of Marketing in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
She also served as the Associate Dean for the W. P. Carey MBA and was the Faculty Director for the W. P. Carey Evening MBA Program. In addition, Dr. Walker was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association.
Dr. Walker and her coauthors were recognized by the Journal of Marketing with the Harold Maynard Award for the most significant contribution to marketing theory and thought for their article “Balancing Risk and Return in a Customer Portfolio.” She was also the recipient of the Richard Beckhard Prize for her article in MIT Sloan Management Review.
For her teaching, she was named to the W. P. Carey School of Business Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. She has also consulted on strategy issues for State Farm Insurance, IBM Global Services, Lucent Technologies, Honeywell, and AT&T.
Making business a force for societal change
Founded in 1966 to cultivate the skills, knowledge and mindset future business leaders require, the CSU College of Business received accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in 1970 on its first attempt, only four years after its founding, a rare achievement even now.
Only about 5% of business schools worldwide demonstrate the high levels of academics, community engagement, and continuous improvement necessary to achieve this accreditation. This certified their excellence in instruction and commitment to academic research, while establishing the view that business can be a force for societal change.
While their curriculum has evolved to meet employers’ changing needs and the growth of a global marketplace, the MBA programs at the CSU College of Business have continually taught cutting-edge skills that build on the ethos of using business for a better world, and solve the social, environmental and economic challenges that face communities around the world.
The CSU College of Business is proud of the many accomplishments of its programs, faculty and students. This vision inspired the excellence among alumni, faculty and students to achieve high rankings across the globe.
The school’s accounting department is ranked No. 8 in the world for tax research by BYU in 2021 and placed in the top 10% worldwide for overall research breadth. It has successfully supported veterans and active-duty military in their educational pursuits. U.S. News and World Report ranked the CSU College of Business Online MBA No. 36 in the nation for veterans.
The Online MBA is a globally recognized leader for both its innovation and alumni outcomes. It is ranked No. 1 in Colorado by US News & World Report and No. 9 in the United States by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, while the Impact MBA earned the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education silver award and was ranked as the No. 5 Better World MBA in the U.S. by Corporate Knights.
Pioneering distance MBA education for 40 years
For more than 40 years, the CSU College of Business has been a leader in distance education. In the ’70s, the College pioneered distance MBA education by mailing VHS copies of lectures to students unable to attend traditional on-campus courses. As technology progressed, so did the College’s program, and now, online students benefit from the high-quality output of our professional production studios, whether engaging live with its Mosaic experience, watching live video or viewing on-demand content.
Guided by its land-grant mission, the CSU College of Business’s greatest challenge has always been in finding innovative solutions to eliminate barriers that bridge lifestyle, geography and affordability challenges to receiving a high-quality business education.
While residential instruction suits some students, the College understands that professional, family and other commitments prevent many from attending traditional on-campus MBA programs, so they offer alternatives to the traditional MBA.
The Mosaic experience allows students to engage in real time with their peers and faculty in the classroom, while the Online MBA empowers students to view professionally produced video in real time or on demand, as their personal and professional commitments allow.
Similarly, online students enjoy the flexibility of five start dates, the opportunity to balance course loads with their schedules, and they can complete their MBA in as little as 21 months or pace themselves for a five-year experience.
“The needs of business will continue to evolve, and CSU’s College of Business will continue to address the central challenges of access and affordability it strives to put an MBA within reach of everyone deserving of it.,” says Dr. Walker.
Building the skills to succeed in an evolving career landscape
The CSU College of Business is committed to working with alumni and industry leaders to improve and update their programs to ensure their students build the skills to succeed in an always-evolving career landscape. The College’s nationally recognized MBA program is built on five competencies employers seek in today’s business graduates: innovation, finance, leadership, data analytics and using business for a better world.
Just as students have the flexibility to choose the format that best suits them – live, online and live video – they may also customize more than 40% of the program’s 42 credits to fit their interests and career goals.
Recognizing that everyone’s career path is unique, the institution provides students with the latitude to develop an MBA experience that suits their personalized goals. Further, the Impact MBA allows students to choose between two tracks that develop the tools and sustainability perspectives to Dr.ive positive change.
The social entrepreneurship track prepares students to prepare a venture that addesses a social or environmental challenge, while the corporate sustainability track prepares students to lead sustainability projects from within existing organizations.
Both tracks in the 16-month program include experiential summer courses that provide a unique opportunity to build real-world experience and professional connections before graduation.
“Everyone’s career path is unique, and the CSU College of Business provides students with the flexibility and choices to create an MBA experience that suits their personalized goals.” says Dr. Walker.
Using business for a better world
The College’s focus on using business for a better world guided and accelerated its efforts to redefine business education. In 2006, it established the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) MBA, which became the foundation of the Impact MBA. This change was made long before employers were seeking corporate sustainability skills and expertise.
In addition, the college added a Marketing Data Analytics track to their MBA to prepare students to make data-driven decisions in the modern business ecosystem. And most recently, they updated the MBA curriculum across learning formats to give students more flexibility and customizability in their courses.
Their undergraduate and graduate courses incorporate ethics through theory and application, and sustainability themes are increasingly woven into curricula, addressing social, environmental and economic challenges.
The college also holds ethics case competitions including the OtterBox Ethics Challenge, Women in Business case competition, and more recently, the Justice Diversity Equity and Inclusion (JDEI) case competition, to give students the opportunity to apply their education to real world scenarios.
Transforming lives through impactful business education
“We believe business has the power to create meaningful change and solve complex challenges, so the College of Business seeks to transform lives through impactful and purposeful business education,” states Dr. Walker. “The needs of business will continue to evolve, and we will continue to address the central challenges of access and affordability as we strive to put an MBA within reach of everyone deserving of it.”
The college’s efforts have been grounded in student access, scholarly excellence and community impact from the beginning, and as a result, they are able to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to address social, environmental and economic challenges centered on the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.
Taking pride in the achievements of students & communities
The College’s professional centers bridge the gap between academics and the marketplace, building partnerships and serving professionals in real estate, cybersecurity, veterinary management, beverage industries and more.
The Institute for Entrepreneurship provides students and community members with insights and support for startups and, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it made a significant community contribution with its Pivot Larimer County program.
The program connected faculty with more than 115 local business owners to help them adjust and update their operations to adDr.ess pandemic-induced challenges and survive in dire circumstances.
Dr. Walker proudly shares that their students have excelled in case competitions in the last year. Most notably, a team of Impact MBA students collaborated with a political science PhD candidate to win the Hanken School of Economics HUMLOG Challenge, an international humanitarian logistics competition, besting students from 16 countries.
Where each graduation is a celebration
Dr. Walker believes that CSU’s College of Business is fortunate to have two foundational, purpose-driven missions associated with the college. Colorado State University is a land-grand institution, which guides the university toward access and inclusion.
This in tandem with the Business for a Better World ethos of the College, provides staff with ample inspiration and purpose. Many staff also take immense pride in their roles providing direct support and benefits to students – each graduation is a celebration for everyone involved.
The college’s academic advisors provide individualized, one-on-one academic planning to all students, including those in the Online MBA, while their instructional services staff takes great pride in filming, editing and publishing broadcast-grade lecture videos for online students.
Career counselors in the College’s dedicated Career Management Center play a key role in the success of students and alumni, providing job search and career development services to enable graduates to carry their success from the classroom into their careers.
Preparing students to meet the ever-evolving needs of employers
CSU’s College of Business aims to continue building on its strengths, leading the world in sustainability education and business research, and preparing students to meet the ever-evolving needs of employers across industries.
CSU’s College of Business will maintain its focus on implementing new technologies to improve access for students who are not well served by traditional programs. Its efforts have been grounded in student access, scholarly excellence and community impact from the beginning, and as a result, it is able to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to address social, environmental and economic challenges centered on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.
