The University System of Georgia Board of Regents, meeting in Atlanta Wednesday, approved Armstrong Atlantic State University’s request to offer a new Bachelor of Science degree in business economics beginning this fall.
Armstrong President Linda M. Bleicken said the university was “delighted” with the decision.
“This degree provides a blend of business competencies with much-needed communications and leadership capabilities demanded by today’s employers,” Bleicken said Thursday.
“We hope that students enrolled in our program will choose to seamlessly continue their education by enrolling in the M.B.A. program at Savannah State University, which allows us to maintain our long-term collaboration with that institution.”
The regents also approved the A.S. to B.S. in criminal justice, which allows for a seamless transition for those Savannah Tech students earning an associate of science in criminal justices degree to enroll in the B.S. in Criminal Justice program at Armstrong.
“What this is going to do is allow Savannah Tech criminal justice students to bring their associate’s degree to our criminal justice bachelor’s degree program with no loss of credit, allowing them to complete the B.S. program in just two years,” said Laura Barrett, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
While Armstrong already offers a bachelor’s degree in economics, the approval of the new business economics degree has generated a lot of excitement on campus, Barrett said.
“We offer three different tracks in our economics degree program now — general economics, business economics and international economics,” Barrett said. “Participation in the business economics track has grown by 45 percent in the last two years, so it seemed logical to offer it as a separate degree, building on Armstrong’s liberal arts foundation.”
The board of regents agreed, approving the new degree a month earlier than expected.
Business economics is a specialized area of the discipline that uses economic analysis to make strategic business and management decisions, according to Michael Toma, Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Economic at AASU and director of Armstrong’s Center for Regional Analysis.
“This business degree will incorporate the development of practical skills useful in addressing the complexity and ambiguity of human and resource management common in the workplace,” Toma said in a letter to alumni and supporters last year.
“The coursework will foster integrative thinking skills, allowing graduates to review many — often opposing — data and phenomena that bear upon a problem, find connections, determine patterns, and resolve conflicts.”
The degree also will emphasize the need for strong communication skills and ethical business practices and behavior, while paying particular attention to the development of students’ soft skills, Toma said.
“It will prepare graduates for a knowledge-based economy that relies on creativity and critical thinking while providing the quantitative skills essential for the analysis of business problems,” he said.
Additional coursework in a required minor will provide students with the background to be successful in specific workplace environments, such as tourism, health services, general management, performing arts and nonprofit management.
Barrett said the new business economics degree is designed to complement, rather than compete with, Savannah State University’s business programs.
SSU’s College of Business Administration offers programs of study leading to both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. Areas of specialization at SSU include accounting, computer information systems, global logistics & international business, management and marketing.
“We’ll be working with SSU to make sure the transition from our undergraduate program to their graduate program is as smooth as possible,” Barrett said.
Savannah businessman Cliff McCurry, founder of the Nick Mamalakis Emerging Leaders program at Armstrong, said the new degree will be a win for both students and the businesses that eventually employ them.
“This new degree embodies attributes employers are looking for — critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills,” McCurry said. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet a number of students coming out of AASU’s economics program, and they have all been very impressive.
“This degree will provide even more tools to help them succeed.”