Dr. Millicent
Lownes-Jackson
Associate Dean


 

Hello, and welcome to the College of Business website.  We invite you to use this site in order to learn more about us. Our mission is to educate business professionals of the future through a complementary combination of teaching, research, and service focused on contemporary business operations, entrepreneurship, and urban economic development. Such information as program offerings, faculty and staff resources, student organizations, and outreach services to the business community are provided.  As an AACSB International accredited business school, we are very proud of the many past accomplishments, as well as the commitment of our faculty and staff to continuous improvement in the future.

Building upon a strong tradition of planning, a new strategic plan was adopted in 2003 to guide new College initiatives for the next five years.  This plan, developed with the input of all major stakeholders, has eight major strategic goals, 52 objectives, and 125 action steps.  It calls for an initial investment of approximately 1.4 million dollars.  The College is fortunately in the position to benefit directly from additional fees approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents to help implement the new plan.  Also, almost one million dollars in special funding has been received to implement three of the plan’s academic program initiatives, i.e., undergraduate concentrations in e-Business, enhancement of the MBA Program, and development of a master’s program in Business Information Systems.

Nearly 1500 students at Tennessee State University are majoring in business.  This represents a 61.5 percent increase in FTE enrollments over the past eight years.  The undergraduate majors are offered in the following four academic departments: Accounting and Business Law, Business Administration, Business Information Systems, and Economics and Finance.  There are several concentrations and tracks within these majors as well.  At the graduate level, the Master of Business Administration is offered, drawing upon all four departments for required coursework. 

While student enrollment increases have been strong, the College of Business has been able to maintain relatively small class sizes for a state university.  Class sizes are currently averaging about 30 for undergraduate classes and less than 20 for classes in the MBA Program.  Small class sizes reflect the traditional emphasis at TSU in individual attention to students.  Students also benefit from various enrichment programs, numerous clubs and organizations, ready access to local businesses, and a structure for input into to operations of the College.

To help serve an expanding student population, the College of Business has been fortunate in recruiting several new faculty members with excellent teaching and research credentials to augment a superb existing faculty.  Other key resources include two endowed Chairs of Excellence, the Nashville Business Incubation Center, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, the Office of Business and Economic Research, and the Office of International Business Programs.

We look forward to the continued development of the College of Business as a major resource focused on educating business professionals of the future and serving the needs of the Nashville area business community.

Dr. Tilden Curry
Dean