ACBSP Assessment
Roanoke College's Business Administration program enjoys accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) for our Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. This assures that you'll be learning the latest in business strategies and management.
Mission / Purpose
The mission of the Roanoke College Business Administration Program is to prepare academically and professionally well rounded students capable of continual independent learning and development in an ever changing global economy. Students will focus on the technical, theoretical, and practical components of a liberal arts curriculum, including the deeper aspects of critical thinking, analytical skills development, ethical decision-making practices, and intellectual communication. Our mission is implemented through (1) a strong core course program to establish the fundamentals, (2) selected concentrations in applicable fields of study to provide focus in areas of interest, (3) extensive experiential projects and programs to provide a connection to real world practice, and (4) a broad set of global enrichment and international opportunities that ease the integration of our students into the world economy.
Click here for 2019 to 2020 assessment final results in pdf.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
SLO 1: Oral Communication: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will be able to give effective presentations.
a. Oral Communications Rubric: At least 70% of students early in the program will be competent and at least 80% of students in the capstone course will be competent.
b. Oral Communications Rubric: At least 80% of students in the capstone course will be competent.
c. Capstone Project Panel Ratings of Oral Communication: At least 80% of our students will be competent.
SLO 2: Written Communication: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will be able to effectively present information in writing.
a. Written Communications Rubric: At least 70% of students early in the program will be competent and at least 80% of students in the capstone course will be competent.
b. Written Communications Rubric: At least 80% of students in the capstone course will be competent.
SLO 3: Critical Thinking: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will be able to critically evaluate, analyze, and interpret information to solve problems and make business decisions.
a. Problem-solving: At least 70% of students will be competent when applying concepts to cases in various business courses.
b. Capstone Project Panel Ratings of Critical Thinking: At least 80% of students will be competent.
SLO 4: Ethical Reasoning: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will be able to understand and evaluate ethical issues and situations.
a. Ethics Project in Marketing Management: At least 70% of students will be competent.
b. Major Field Test (MFT) - Legal and Social Environment Assessment Indicator: The average score on this section of the MFT will meet or exceed the national average.
SLO 5: Internships: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will have opportunities to pursue, and will be encouraged to complete, meaningful internships that offer both, practical experience and growth in soft skills.
a. Participation: At least 60% of students will complete an internship (including those for – or not-for-credit) before they graduate.
b. Satisfaction: At least 80% of students will be rated favorably by their supervisors and at least 80% of students will rate their internship experience as favorable.
c. Soft Skill Development: Students should find that their soft skills improve as a result of their internship and at least 80% of supervisors should find that the level of students’ soft skills are above average.
SLO 6-13: Business Functional Areas: Students graduating with a B.B.A. degree will have a broad and interconnected understanding of business, both in the more general fields of Management and Management Science, which do not have an associated concentration, as well as in the fields in which they can concentrate. These concentration fields include: Accounting, Business Information Systems, Finance, Global Business, Health Care Administration, Human Resource Management, and Marketing.
a. Embedded Final Exam Questions: At least 70% of our students will be competent.
b. MFT - Overall Score: The average score on each of these sections will meet or exceed the national average.
c. Capstone Project Panel Ratings of the Functional Areas: At least 80% of our students will be competent.
d. Concentration Assessments: 80% of students who concentrate in a specific field will be “sufficiently prepared” for an entry-level position in the field, measured against concentration-specific learning outcomes.
Other Outcomes (O/O)
O/O14: Student Satisfaction
a. Senior Survey: At least 80% of graduates will be satisfied with our program and its offerings.
Summary Analysis
October 2020
The Business Administration and Economics Department remains strong and healthy. The addition of new tenure track faculty provides an opportunity for the department to offer new courses and to enhance many of the existing courses and concentrations. This, in turn, has helped strengthen many of our concentrations and improve our curriculum. We strive to continually assess and improve our programs in order to provide the best education for our students while remaining true to the core values that have made our programs exceptional. As we have done in the past, we continue to evaluate our offerings and compare them to our peer and peer+1 schools' programs to see how we can maintain our differential advantage and stay competitive. Indeed, the number of business and economics majors continues to grow as does our positive image and reputation. Last May, we graduated a total of 91 majors of which 82 were business majors. As of October 1, 2020, we had approximately 250 declared business or economics majors. Our seniors have maintained their strong performance on the Major Field Test.. Students' average score of 159/200 for the 2020 academic year placed us in the top 11% of 515four-year higher education institutions that participated.
As it has always been the case, what gives us the advantage and makes us distinctive is our quality business and economics curriculum paired with our strong general education curriculum. This combined with an excellent group of caring, dedicated and highly qualified faculty make our programs highly appealing. As we move forward, our strategy is to capitalize on our strengths and take advantage of opportunities to attract high quality students to our programs.
In the past 3 years, the department placed its emphasis on Student Learning, Curriculum Development, Faculty Development and Growing Concentration. This has helped us improve our program offerings while supporting department faculty's teaching and professional development. As we move forward, we will strive to continuously improve the department while remaining responsive to the changes in the environment.
Roanoke College
221 College Lane
Salem, Virginia 24153
540-375-2500