Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Coles College of Business


Michael J. Coles College of Business

Academic Policies Specific to the Coles College of Business

A summary of some of the most significant admission, progression, and graduation policies for business majors is provided below. For additional information, visit the Business Undergraduate Advising Center on the fourth floor of the Burruss Building and check other sections of this KSU Undergraduate Catalog.

Requirements for B.B.A. Degree

All business majors should take the following courses as part of their KSU General Education requirements:

MATH 1111 College Algebra (or MATH 1112 - College Trigonometry or MATH 1113 - Precalculus)
MATH 1160 Elementary Applied Calculus (or MATH 1190 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus I)
ECON 2100 Principles of Microeconomics

All business majors must take a calculus course, which is part of the Coles College Sophomore GPA Requirement (see later section) and also a prerequisite to several business courses. Most students will take the MATH 1111 and MATH 1160 sequence. Students with stronger math aptitudes or backgrounds, or students considering graduate school, should take MATH 1113 and MATH 1190. Students who can start with Calculus should meet with a Coles Professional Advisor to discuss which MATH courses to take. All students must take ECON 2300 (Business Statistics) and not MATH 1107.

International Business Majors have a 12-hour foreign language requirement involving the 2001, 2002, 3302, and 3303 courses in an approved language (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, or Spanish).  If you need to start your language at the introductory level, you should take the foreign language 1002 course as part of your General Education requirements (Area B2).

Leadership and Career Program

The Leadership and Career Program is a sequence of three courses you must complete as part of your B.B.A. degree.  This program is designed to help you succeed in your Major and to effectively compete in the job market.  The three required courses are:

  • BUSA 2150            Discovering My Major and Career
  • BUSA 3150            Developing My Career Essentials
  • BUSA 4150            Driving My Success

You should take BUSA 2150 as soon as you have completed its prerequisite of ENGL 1102.  Successful completion of this course is a requirement for admission to the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program (see later section).  The second and third courses cannot be taken until after you are admitted to Coles.  BUSA 3150 is a prerequisite for BUSA 4150.

Sophomore GPA Requirement

Before a business major can be admitted to the Coles College Undergraduate Professional Program and enroll in any upper-division business courses (3000-4000 level), she or he must meet the Coles Sophomore GPA Requirement. This involves earning an Adjusted GPA of 3.00 or greater for the following eight courses:

MATH 1160 Elementary Calculus with Applications (or MATH 1190-Analytic Geometry and Calculus I)
ACCT 2100 Introduction to Financial Accounting
ACCT 2200 Introduction to Managerial Accounting
ECON 2100 Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 2200 Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON 2300 Business Statistics
IS 2200 Information Systems & Communications
BLAW 2200 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
  • Regardless of whether the courses are taken at Kennesaw State University or at another acceptable accredited institution, the grades earned will be used to check this GPA requirement. If any of these courses are transferred in and are not awarded three credit hours by KSU, that difference in hours will affect the GPA calculation. A course may be repeated if necessary. However, KSU has limits on the number of course withdrawals a student may have and on the number of times a student may repeat the same course.

Admission to the Coles College Undergraduate Professional Program

Admission to the Coles College Undergraduate Professional Program is separate from admission to Kennesaw State University. Students must successfully complete BUSA 2150 and the Coles College Sophomore GPA Requirement prior to application for admission to Coles. Details about other admission requirements may be obtained from the Business Undergraduate Advising Center (BB 431).

Business majors must apply for and be accepted for admission into the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program in order to take upper-division business courses and to graduate with a B.B.A. degree.  The application should be completed and submitted online through your OwlExpress account.

The B.B.A. degree will not be awarded to anyone who has not met the Sophomore GPA Requirement and been admitted to the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program, or to anyone who has not completed our required Leadership and Career Program.

Other KSU Requirements

In order to receive a degree from Kennesaw State University, a student must meet KSU’s residency, grade, and graduation requirements. Some of those requirements are summarized here for convenience. Students should check other sections of this KSU Undergraduate Catalog for a complete listing of KSU requirements.

Business majors must earn a minimum of 45 hours of credit in upper-division business courses. Business majors must complete at least 33 hours of business courses in residence at KSU. All business majors except for Accounting must complete at least 12 hours of their Major Field Requirements and Major Field Electives at KSU. Accounting Majors must complete at least 18 hours of their Major Field Requirements and Major Field Electives at KSU. All students must complete at least 20 of the last 30 semester hours immediately preceding graduation at KSU.

Certain B.B.A. courses must be taken at Coles, and there are restrictions on the business courses that may be taken via education abroad options. Students should check with a Coles College Professional Advisor about these restrictions prior to signing up for a study abroad course or semester abroad. Credit for courses taken at other colleges and universities (whether in the U.S. or abroad) will not be given if:

  1. the institution does not have acceptable accreditation,
  2. the courses were not taken at the same or higher level than comparable courses offered at Kennesaw State University,
  3. the courses do not have substantially the same content and rigor, or
  4. the courses are too old.

All business majors must earn a grade of “C” or higher in all business courses counted toward their degree.  All business majors must earn a grade of “C” or higher in any non-business courses counted in the Major Field section of their degree.  Accounting Majors must earn a grade of “B” or higher in ACCT 2100 and ACCT 2200.  International Business Majors must earn a grade of “C” or higher in all courses used to satisfy their Foreign Language Requirement and their Education Abroad Requirement.

Students must always meet current course prerequisites, regardless of when they first started at KSU. Always check the most recent KSU Undergraduate Catalog for current course prerequisites. Students will also be expected to meet the current admission requirements for the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program at the time of admission, regardless of when they first started at KSU.

Timeliness of Degree Completion

KSU requires all graduating students to meet the program requirements in a Catalog that is not more than ten years old at the time of graduation. Students who do not complete their degree within ten years of starting at KSU must move up to a more recent Catalog. If a student does not attend continuously and is required by KSU to apply for readmission in order to return, the student will have to move up to the Catalog in effect for the readmission term. In addition, KSU requires students who change majors to move up to the Catalog in effect in the term of change.

Coles requires business majors to successfully complete the B.B.A. degree requirements and graduate within no more than six (6) calendar years after first being admitted to the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program. If a student does not complete the degree within six calendar years, courses may have to be repeated and new B.B.A. program requirements may have to be met prior to graduation.

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Programs

Certification

Formal Minor

Courses

School of Accountancy

(470) 578-6084

The School of Accountancy aspires to be a nationally recognized leader in influencing the accounting profession by educating our students, performing relevant research, and engaging with the profession.

The School of Accountancy offers an Accounting major that prepares students for careers in the field of Accounting. Graduate programs are also offered (described in the KSU Graduate Catalog). The State of Georgia requires everyone who wishes to be licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to have five years of education (150 semester hours), including a baccalaureate degree. Completion of 123 hours is required to earn the Bachelor’s degree; hence 27 additional hours are needed to become a CPA. While these can be undergraduate hours, the faculty recommends that prospective CPAs earn a specialized Master’s degree in Accounting to satisfy the five-year requirement.

The primary objective of Accounting is to provide useful information for economic decisions. It involves measurement, communication and analysis of financial data. Accounting provides the system for collecting and interpreting the information and reporting it to those who need it, whether inside or outside of the organization.

Upon graduation, Accounting majors have a wide range of job opportunities. Many go into public practice (CPA firms), which involves independent auditing, accounting, consulting and tax services provided to clients. This is the traditional path for becoming a CPA. Others choose private accounting, becoming financial, tax, systems or managerial accountants or internal auditors in business and industry. Still others enter the specialized fields of not-for-profit or governmental accounting. Accounting also serves as a solid background for graduate work in any business area or law. Many find rewarding lifetime careers in Accounting; others use it as a stepping-stone to high-level management positions.

All business majors at Kennesaw State University take two Accounting courses, which provide the basic understanding of accounting necessary to support any business program of study. Success in business requires an understanding of accounting. Non-business majors also benefit from taking introductory accounting courses because they learn basic concepts useful in running a business, investing and so forth. The Coles College business law faculty are also housed in the School of Accountancy. All business majors must take one Business Law class. Elective courses are offered in areas such as consumer law, real estate law, and negotiation. Minors are available in both Accounting and Business Law.

 

Programs

Baccalaureate

Formal Minor

Courses

Economics, Finance and Quantitative Analysis

(470) 578-6091

The Department of Economics, Finance & Quantitative Analysis offers curricula designed to prepare students for careers in the fields of economics and finance. B.B.A. majors are offered in Economics and in Finance. Minors are offered in both areas also.

Economics is the study of how households and businesses decide what to produce, how to produce it and how to distribute it. It examines how individual households and firms within the economy operate. The emphasis in Economics is on using analytical methods to determine the most efficient means to reach various goals.

Economics graduates have been successful in securing positions in management, sales, financial research, economic planning, and personnel with employers in industry, trade, banking and government. They are also prepared for graduate study in economics, law and business. Within the Economics Major there is a broad range of intellectual challenges. Branches of Economics overlap such diverse areas as politics, mathematics, finance, sociology, history, international business, management and psychology.

Finance has evolved into an analytical discipline dealing with the acquisition and disbursement of funds. The field of Finance shares common borders with at least three other disciplines. Imports include financial analysis from Accounting, risk quantification and valuation theory from Economics, and financing techniques and market savvy from Investments.

Many financial executives rise to the top of the organizational chart. Those with an aptitude for finance include bankers, stockbrokers, financial analysts, portfolio managers, financial consultants, investment bankers and personal financial planners.

 

 

Programs

Baccalaureate

Formal Minor

Courses

Information Systems

(470) 578-7763

http://coles.kennesaw.edu/departments_faculty/is.htm

The Department of Information Systems offers three degree programs: (1) a Master’s of Science in Information Systems-a 36-hour applied program which prepares graduates to excel as IT leaders in the global economy; (2) a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Information Security and Assurance; and (3) a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Information Systems. Both baccalaureate degree programs lead to careers in the field of information technology.

In addition, the Department offers two Certificate programs: (1) a Certificate in Information Security, and (2) a Certificate in Information Systems. The Certificate in Information Security prepares students to protect the information and technology assets of organizations. The Certificate in Information Systems prepares students to use technology in their workplace, with foundation skills in web development and database. Both Certificates allow the students to increase marketability and add an important credential to their resume.

The Department offers courses in a variety of formats to meet the needs of traditional and non-traditional students. Courses are offered in the traditional, face-to-face format, as well as online or in the hybrid format (part in-class and part online). The Department also has an active co-op/internship program that allows students to gain valuable experience in the IT field.

Programs

Baccalaureate

Certification

Formal Minor

Courses

Management and Entrepreneurship

(470) 578-6552

The Department of Management & Entrepreneurship curriculum is designed to prepare students for leadership roles in the field of management. The Department offers a B.B.A. major in Management, and minors in Management and in Operations & Purchasing. The B.B.A. Management major can be completed online.

Management is the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling activities in an organization that will result in the achievement of a common goal. Managers make decisions and direct resources so that organizational goals and objectives are achieved.

Within the Management major, students may choose a general program of study or choose to specialize in a particular area of management such as: Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship, or Operations and Supply Chain Management.

Programs

Baccalaureate

Formal Minor

Other Programs

Courses

Marketing and Professional Sales

(470) 578-6060

The Department of Marketing and Professional Sales curriculum is designed to prepare students for a career in the dynamic and exciting field of marketing and sales. B.B.A. majors are offered in Marketing and in Professional Sales. Minors are offered in both areas also.

Marketing is concerned with the development, delivery, promotion and exchange of a company’s goods and services. As a result, marketing is the pivotal function within the firm that generates income for the business and delivers a standard of living.

The term “marketing” in a broad sense includes individuals’ or organizations’ activities which encourage and facilitate exchanges of values. This includes many non-promotional activities such as research, physical distribution and pricing as applied to goods and services, in both profit and nonprofit contexts.

Career opportunities include such diverse areas as retail store management, industrial selling, marketing research, advertising and others. In addition to a general marketing program, the department has designed three specialized tracks or areas of concentration which focus on Professional Selling, Promotional Communication and Retail Management.

The Professional Sales degree program can lead to a personally satisfying and financially rewarding career in sales, sales management and marketing. Professional Sales is the most common entry-level position in many companies for college students. Further, there are more job openings in professional sales than in any other marketing area. Thus, the Professional Sales degree program provides an avenue of entry into corporations and positions in other marketing functions.

The focus of the Professional Sales Program is on business-to-business or organizational marketing. In addition, the program addresses relationship selling, establishing long term mutually satisfying business relationships. The foundation for this is providing creative and cost effective solutions to the customer’s important problems.

Programs

Baccalaureate

Formal Minor

Other Programs

Courses