Business Administration

About the program

• Augustana College offers a major in business administration; each business major also completes a concentration in one of five areas: management, marketing, finance, international business or management information systems. At Augustana, a strong liberal arts foundation combined with pre-professional study equals a valuable experience for business majors, especially when they add an internship to their experience.

Ann E. Ericson, associate professor in Business Administration, uses a "smartboard" during a class in the newly renovated Emmy Carlson Evald Hall.

• Before beginning coursework in their concentration, all business majors complete general courses in economics, statistics, accounting and business writing in addition to a broad business curriculum of management, finance and marketing.
• Business administration is one of Augustana’s largest, most popular academic programs. The department has 11 full-time faculty members, nine of whom hold a Ph.D.
• The department’s focus on written and spoken communication is reinforced by small, interactive classes that encourage discussion among peers and faculty. The average class size for business administration classes generally ranges from 7 to 34 students.
• All students complete Senior Inquiry, a capstone project or paper in which students draw from their comprehensive learning experience. Each student develops his or her Senior Inquiry in partnership with a professor or internship mentor.
• In fall 2008, the newly renovated Emmy Carlsson Evald Hall opened as a spectacular academic building for the departments of accounting, business administration and economics, as well as education and psychology. The building houses classrooms (including smart classrooms), offices, computer labs and study areas, as well as the impressive Great Room for gatherings and a large veranda with a view toward the Mississippi River.

Outside the classroom

• Augustana’s full-time director of business internships works closely with students to place them in their ideal internship settings, both national and international. Ninety percent of Augustana business students complete internships, compared with 75 percent nationwide. Recent placements include AT&T Global Accounts, Caterpillar, Chicago Bears, Deere & Company, Edward Jones, Kraft Foods, American Red Cross, and many others.
• The college’s three-term academic calendar provides the flexibility that allows so many students to pursue internships and international study. The college offers a great variety of international programs around the world, including an eight-week business internship program in Sydney, Australia.
• The college offers more than 150 departmental, professional and student organizations, and business majors choose from a number of extra-curricular clubs and groups to suit their particular interests, such as Business Club, the Augustana Accounting Association and Advertising Developers (ADs).
• During the annual Business Day, students take a day out of the classroom to job-shadow and spend one-on-one time with Quad-City employers, giving the students valuable insight into possible future careers.

What students say

Eric Janssen ’08, intern at John Deere Harvester Works:
“People complain that a business department should not be a part of a liberal arts college. They are completely incorrect.… most employers are impressed that I have been educated in the liberal arts environment. In a world of increasing and complex problems, employers are seeking those who can analyze, interpret and solve those problems from multiple perspectives. I would say that liberal arts and business are completely complementary, especially in the world of today, and definitely in the world of tomorrow.”

Dena Haag ’08, graduate student at Northern Illinois pursuing a master’s degree in accounting:
“I became very involved with the business department and my professors and advisors did a great job of becoming mentors for me. Their encouragement and support led me in ways I could not have imagined. I took the opportunity to participate in internships at institutions such as John Deere & Company, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Deloitte Tax LLP—opportunities that would not have been possible without the connections through the business department and the Career Center.

"Along with these internships, I was also able to get involved with Business Club by planning our annual trip to Chicago. As a club this past year, we visited Caterpillar, John Deere Harvester Works, McDonald’s Corporation, Accenture, Merrill Lynch, Embassy Suites and Sara Lee. By getting this type of exposure, I was able to network and build my own professional career, even before I graduated.”