It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the School of Business Administration at Fort Lewis College. SOBA has been part of Fort Lewis College since its inauguration of four-year programs in 1962. From the beginning, quality programs have been an emphasis of SOBA, resulting in Fort Lewis College being the first public liberal arts college with undergraduate-only business programs to be accredited by AACSB International. Since its initial accreditation in 1974, SOBA has maintained accreditation for over 40 consecutive years. AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education, and has been earned by less than five percent of the world’s business programs. Fort Lewis College continues to be the only institution on Colorado’s Western Slope with this hallmark of excellence.
The advantages of preparing for your business career at SOBA go beyond AACSB accreditation. All of SOBA’s business courses, from the basic core to the discipline-specific upper division specializations, are taught in small classes, normally between 20-30 students. And, since we are an undergraduate-only program, all classes are taught by our experienced faculty members; we have no graduate assistants. This is all in accord with the overall focus of Fort Lewis College’s interdisciplinary approach to learning. Here, you won’t just learn a subject, you will engage in critical thinking and creative problem solving face-to-face with experts in the field.
SOBA offers degree programs in Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship & Small Business. Within the Business Administration degree, students can concentrate on areas such as general business administration, finance, international business, hospitality and tourism, and management. These majors and concentrations are in addition to the new ski operations and digital marketing certificate programs started in the Fall of 2019. SOBA also provides numerous hands-on learning opportunities such as internships, business plan completions, ethics case competitions, and the chance to be awarded ownership of your very own Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise.
Many of our faculty have industry experience in their areas of expertise, as well as on-going research activities. But, most importantly, our faculty members are committed to student success. Members of the SOBA faculty have won scholarships and teaching awards at Fort Lewis and other universities. The faculty is assisted by a quality administrative staff, including designated academic advisors and career counselors, who have also earned institutional awards.
While focusing on business connections in Colorado and the Four Corners area, SOBA faculty members also have an international business mindset. Many of our faculty members have studied or taught abroad, and in this era of globalization, such a combined local and international mindset is essential to teach students to succeed in the globalized world of business. SOBA students, through the Fort Lewis College International Programs Office, have the opportunity to experience a traditional international semester abroad experience. But SOBA also offers our unique summer session abroad program, where a group of 20-25 SOBA students travel as a cohort, led by SOBA faculty members, to an international location and complete Fort Lewis College courses taught by Fort Lewis College professors. This is truly a unique SOBA experience where students experience how their courses fit into the global environment.
The School of Business Administration has much to offer today’s students of business. I welcome you to compare the Fort Lewis College School of Business Administration to our peers. I have confidence that when you do, you will recognize that SOBA will do an excellent job of preparing you for your future business career.
Dr. Steven Elias Dean School of Business Administration