By Danielle Dolan
The College of Business and Public Administration (CBPA) is celebrating 50 years of success this year. Founded at the University of Louisville in 1953, it has seen tremendous progress and national recognition.
The school is one of only 159 colleges with international certification in business and accountancy from The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), which, according to its website is “the premier accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting.”
The CBPA prides itself on the fact it has graduated more than 19,000 students since its induction to U of L, and has some of the best masters programs in the country. In fact, schools and companies in Germany send their students and employees here for their MBAs.
Senior business school student Angela Stengal who is also an art major said that she had no plans on going into business when she first started college. “I was here for the Art program, but I decided to get into business and the school has been really beneficial to me,” she said.
The school has also received a number of honors and ranks over the years. In 2001, the CBPA was ranked 13th among the “Top 50 Business Schools for Entrepreneurs” by Success Magazine. Also in 2001, the school was designated by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship as the National Model MBA Entrepreneurship Program.
The business school has been educating many entrepreneurs over the years and it has seen many wonderful additions and changes.
Dr. Alexei Izyumov, who has been with the Department of Economics for eight years said that he has seen an “increase in international business education programs with MBA affiliates in Asia, Latin America and Europe and more joint research with international partners.”
Management professor Bob Myers feels that “the addition of public administration and the development of our international programs has been a major change fromthose earlier times,” when asked what changes he had seen. Myers has been with the business school since 1965.
Sophomore John Carbone says that he really likes the program that he’s in. “I came to this school because it was convenient but I really do appreciate all that it has taught me,” he said.
The CBPA offers undergraduate degree programs in Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Finance and many others. However it is most recognized for its MBA programs including a master’s degree in Urban planning which is the only school to offer this program in Kentucky. This program was instituted only a few years ago.
“Given the tightness of the budget for education in Kentucky, I think the business school should concentrate on doing the best job possible with current offerings. It is not the time to add new undergraduate programs, unless it is done at the expense of some lesser need program,” said business school professor Arthur Adams, who has been with U of L for more than 20 years.
The school has been largely ignored on some of the more popular college ranking systems such as the U.S. News and World Report annual college rank list. However there is still the possibility of the school growing and becoming one of the best business schools in the nation.
Marketing professor Dr. Charles L. Sharp said, “The U of L College of Business & Public Administration certainly has the potential to become on of the best business schools in the country. The process of becoming the best is a long and protracted journey. However, with an initial and ongoing commitment to excellence, with the related commitment of resources from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with private sector donations, and with the ongoing flow of other revenue streams pursuit of the best indeed exists within the realm of possibility.”
