About Falls School of Business
From television shows such as “Shark Tank” to the ability to buy, sell, advertise, fundraise, and market over the internet, career opportunities in today’s business world cover everything from number crunching to managing a professional sports team. The Falls School of Business at Anderson University offers as many opportunities possible to ensure that business-minded students not only find their niche in the market but also graduate with real-world experience.
Our Mission
The mission of the Falls School of Business is to create an environment that will enable and encourage our graduates to be professionally competent, ethically sensitive and informed by the Christian ideal of servanthood. This mission is realized through a commitment to teaching excellence and genuine concern for each individual student and is supported by a faculty commitment to continuous professional development and service to the community.
We also have big aspirations.
The vision of the Falls School of Business is to be known as the premier business school within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and to be recognized as a distinctive school of business within all of higher education.
The FSB Difference
AU is a teaching institution. What does that mean?
- Our focus is on you, and you will be taught by real-life professors. Not graduate assistants!
- Creative, hands-on instruction. The “salt and light” philosophy of education results in many opportunities to learn by doing, both through class assignments and through extra-curricular activities. Don’t be surprised if you are working right alongside the faculty members.
Advanced Credibility
- Anderson University Falls School of Business has the fifth largest MBA program in the state of Indiana. The program is known as the high-quality MBA for working professionals in Indiana.
- AU is the teacher for Christian business teachers across the United States and Canada. If you go to many other church-related or Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) member schools, there is a good chance that one of your professors has a doctorate (DBA) from Anderson University.
- Anderson University publishes the Christian Business Academy Review, a journal of the Christian Business Faculty Association.
Why AU?
The undergraduate experience at Anderson University is different for many reasons.
- “Salt and Light” philosophy.
- Options within the curriculum to fit individual gifts and aspirations.
- Hands-on practical experience.
- High level of personal faculty contact.
- Strong outcomes and placement with the 2015 class celebrating 98% of the graduates either employed in their field of study or in graduate school.
- With the Raven Fund, students manage real dollar investments in their classes and earn academic credit.
Put us in context:
Accreditation
Internationally Accredited Quality
Our commitment to quality is clear by the fact that the Falls School of Business is an Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). The Falls School of Business is accredited by ACBSP through 2023 when it will be up for re-evaluation. This accreditation requires stringent and ongoing outcomes measures be applied to ensure that the highest quality in the teaching/learning process is achieved and maintained. View the most recent Quality Assurance Report [PDF].
Anderson University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. A very positive report from the Higher Learning Commission was released in 2009. Anderson University has been reaccredited through 2019.
The Falls School of Business was accredited in 1994, the first member institution of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities to receive this prestigious accreditation.
All three levels, undergraduate, masters, and doctorate, are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, with the exception of our newest majors, Entertainment and Music Business and Sport Marketing, which have not yet been accredited.
Salt & Light
What do we mean by salt & light?
Yes, we are interested in success. But, we believe that success extends beyond profit … to purpose.
At the Falls School of Business, we believe that students in business can be “salt and light” in a world looking for hope, compassion, and meaning. Being Christian does not mean a compromise of competence. Being “in business” does not mean a compromise of character.
Simply put, “salt and light” means that faculty, staff, and students come alongside each other to experience ways in which what we are learning can be used NOW to improve the lives of people.
Read the original “Salt and Light” article (1992) that provided the guiding principles for education in the Falls School of Business and signaled a paradigm change among many Christian business educators across the country.
The “salt and light” model for business education was most recently updated in a 2006 article that is now being cited by educators at other institutions as a guide for their educational program. Read the article to give you more insight into what we mean by “salt and light” at the Falls School of Business.
History
The Falls School of Business had its inception in the 1942-43 school year, when Dr. Harold Linamen and Dr. Glenn Falls [pictured right with FSB Dean, Dr. Terry Truitt] joined the department and jointly provided strong leadership, excellent teaching, and stability until they retired in 1987.
AU made a commitment to being a premier business program under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Armstrong, who served as dean of the school from 1990 through the mid-2000s. The results of this commitment have shaped the direction and growth that continues today under the leadership of Dr. Terry Truitt.
- 1992 The School of Business is formed.
- 1992 MBA program is inaugurated. (The first graduate program outside of the School of Theology at Anderson University.)
- 1994 Anderson University becomes the first Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) institution to earn national business accreditation with Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
- 1995 MBA program also receives ACBSP accreditation.
- 1995 The School of Business launches the MBA program in Indianapolis.
- 1997 Corporate Partnership MBA Program starts in Indianapolis.
- 2001 School of Business moves into new facilities in Hardacre Hall. School of Business becomes the R. Glenn Falls School of Business.
- 2001 Doctor of Business Administration, aimed at individuals teaching business in college and university settings, is launched.
- 2003 Reaffirmation of ACBSP accreditation through the year 2013.
- 2004 Ranked in Business Reform magazine as #1 undergraduate business school.
- 2004 Dr. Terry Truitt becomes the new dean of the Falls School of Business
- 2005 Ranked in Business Reform magazine as #1 undergraduate business school for the second year.
- 2006 Flagship Enterprise Center opens, giving students direct access to business start-ups in Indiana.
- 2007 Residential MBA program starts in the new $7 million Anderson University Flagship Center.
- 2008 MBA Concentrations are added to the Professional MBA, allowing students to focus their education.
- 2011 Star Financial Bank Trading Room opens
- 2013 Falls School of Business receives full-affirmation of ACBSP accreditation through 2023 and the Doctorate of Business Administration receives accreditation
- 2014 New major in Entertainment and Music Business is launched
- 2014 MBA site in Center Grove and Speedway opens
- 2015 Excel Certification program added for all Falls School of Business students
- 2015 Emphasis in Personal Branding/Story is created (including StrengthsFinder coaching) for all Falls School of Business students
- 2016 New major in Sport Marketing is added to program
- 2016 100th DBA student completes their doctorate in the Falls School of Business
- 2016 MBA program launches an all-online option
