To thrive in today’s competitive and ever-evolving job market, business leaders across sectors need to recognize how fundamental business ideas, combined with industry insight and research developments, can generate fresh approaches to business problems. Just as importantly, future industry leaders must believe that business has a vital role to play in making the world a better place.

Colorado State University’s College of Business offers MBA programs that teach students all that and more through innovative, immersive, challenging programs. Through its programs, students can learn core business concepts across disciplines, from accounting to management to finance, and how to use those concepts to solve real-world business challenges.

Promising and Innovative MBA Programs

CSU’s College of Business is a national leader in advancing business to create a better world and is renowned for its MBA programs that increase access to an exceptional education. This Fort Collins-based business school’s focus on impact, excellence, and access sets it apart from other institutions. Its “MBA Your Way” approach offers professionals three delivery formats, so they can choose the MBA best suited to their needs.

Starting in Fall 2020, the College will be the first U.S. business school to offer MBA students three options through one classroom experience – on campus through the Evening MBA, on-demand with the Online MBA, or in real-time online through the Mosaic MBA, a truly immersive technology that allows online students to participate in the classroom with on-campus students. With the virtual Mosaic MBA, remote learners will have the option to synchronously participate in classes with Evening MBA students, asking questions and engaging in group work.

Additionally, CSU’s College of Business offers two MBAs for professionals seeking to develop more specialized skillsets. The Online MBA – Marketing Data Analytics capitalizes on the growing need for data-informed decision making by teaching students to use relevant data-collection tools and interpret that information to drive organizations forward. The College’s recently launched on-campus Impact MBA teaches students the critical business skills needed to drive organizational change and create ventures that incorporate the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

No matter what MBA they choose, College of Business graduates gain the business skills and knowledge necessary to manage people, projects, and financial resources at the highest levels of the industry.

Upholding Standards While Increasing Student Access

Since its inception, CSU’s College of Business has concentrated on making quality education accessible to anyone committed to learning, so it approaches admissions decisions holistically. The college evaluates the entirety of a student’s experience—undergraduate degree, work, and travel experience, and demonstrated skills and goals—to determine who they are and what they would bring to its programs and community. This approach upholds the college’s strong academic standards while making its MBAs accessible to students from all walks of life and creating rich classroom and online experiences.

Connecting Students and Faculty Inside and Outside the Classroom

College of Business faculty takes deep pride in being available to students outside the classroom. Students in online programs can connect with faculty through virtual office hours, synchronous learning experiences, discussion boards, and email. On-campus students can interact with faculty through the same means or via in-person office hours and scheduled appointments. Moreover, each MBA course has dedicated Instructional Coordinators to support students through their learning experience. These individuals are highly trained industry professionals who reinforce the content of the course, provide real-world insight, and lead discussions to promote learning. This robust level of support helps MBA students stay on track and achieve their academic goals.

Incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility into Programs

The College of Business’s mission is to use business education, scholarly research, and community engagement to make the world a better place, and its MBA programs reflect that. Its recently introduced Impact MBA features two tracks – social entrepreneurship and corporate sustainability – that let students explore ways to connect purpose and profit through new and existing ventures. The corporate sustainability track trains students to be “intrapreneurs” who complete a fellowship that lets them apply the skills they learn in the classroom to leading sustainability initiatives within established organizations. Students in this track can also obtain a Carbon Management Certificate by taking classes in greenhouse gas management and climate change impact. In the social entrepreneurship track, Impact MBA students gain hands-on experience designing business models, creating financial projections, and pitching ideas, ultimately launching a team-based business venture that tackles a global, social, and/or environmental challenge.

The College of Business’ Online MBA and Evening MBA programs examine corporate social responsibility through a variety of lenses, from accounting to marketing. Furthermore, faculty regularly incorporate real-world examples of how businesses can lead the way on social responsibility into lectures and coursework. College of Business faculty are also engaged in groundbreaking research that demonstrates the ways businesses can solve some of the world’s most intractable challenges. For example, Professor Tom Dean’s article on business and biodiversity, published in Science in 2018, makes a strong argument for the crucial role the private sector can and should play in preserving the world’s biodiversity, and Associate Professor John Macdonald will use a National Science Foundation grant to examine the ways to disrupt illegal wildlife trafficking supply chains.

The College’s strong commitment to teaching and researching the role of business in global social responsibility prepares the next generation of business leaders to create a more sustainable, responsible world through business.

Staying on Top of Business Trends with Emerging Courses and Programs

To match pace with the changing demands of the global business marketplace, CSU’s College of Business is constantly evolving its programs and offerings. This top-ranked business school has several online certificates that expand credentials in a variety of areas, including marketing and finance, and is creating additional certificates in up-and-coming topics such as cybersecurity and application development. It is also developing a new suite of two-day executive education courses that will provide mid-level professionals with just-in-time learning and skills development on topics ranging from design thinking and capital management to women in leadership. These offerings are excellent avenues for advancing professionals to increase their skill sets and marketability.

Outstanding Awards and Recognitions

In recent years, CSU’s College of Business and its outstanding faculty and staff have won numerous awards, all of which bear witness to its commitment to provide its students with the best business education in the world. Following are some of them:

• In January 2020, its Online MBA and Online MCIS were named #1 in Colorado by U.S. News and World Report.
• Its GSSE MBA (now the Impact MBA) received the prestigious MBA Roundtable Innovator Award in late 2019 in recognition of its commitment to innovative business education.
• In 2019, Dean Beth Walker was named one of the 25 most powerful women in Colorado by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce for her inspiring leadership.
• The director of its Institute for Entrepreneurship, Scott Shrake, was named one of Colorado’s Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals by ColoradoBiz magazine in 2020 for his zero-barriers approach to entrepreneurship.
• In 2019, Professor Margarita Lenk was awarded the AAA/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize, a national honor recognizing her as one of the top accounting instructors in the world.

These awards showcase that the College’s faculty and staff are passionate, dedicated professionals who place student success and innovative learning at the heart of everything they do.

A Veteran Educator Aligning Teaching Practice with His Research Interests

Dr. Sanjay Ramchander is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs at CSU’s College of Business. Recalling his memories, Ramchander says, “Growing up in a country with near-autarkic economic policies and the relative absence of market-based incentives, I’ve always been fascinated about the role of business and financial markets in the economy.” After earning a Bachelor of Commerce at Osmania University (India), he decided to pursue an MBA degree at Saint Louis University followed by a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Cleveland State University. Ramchander served in teaching roles at several other universities before accepting a teaching position at the College of Business, which offered him the perfect opportunity to build his academic career and have an impact on the learning community.

As a financial economist, Ramchander’s research examines macroeconomic dynamics in emerging markets, traces global contagion and spillovers across capital markets, and identifies investor and asset price behavior in speculative and investment markets.  His teaching practice closely aligns with his research interests while carrying an important international dimension. Ramchander comments, “In my current role, I lead the College’s academic programs strategy, innovation, and partnership development that advances our mission of Business for a Better World. As someone who has personally experienced the transformative power of higher education, I am excited about extending this opportunity for all our students.”

Must-Have Skills in a Changing Business Landscape

As a veteran educator, R

amchander believes that

students need a variety of skills to thrive in the ever-evolving business landscape. The three most important are the ability to find creative solutions to difficult business challenges, knowledge of how to analyze data and use it to make informed choices, and strong ethical decision-making skills. The emerging business world challenges can be solved by professionals who can continually expand their business knowledge and skillsets. Keeping this in the mind, the premier business school offers students with educational options that foster lifetime learning.

Read Full Magazine The 10 Best MBA Institutes of 2020