BA MAJOR & MINOR

What You’ll Study

Our interdisciplinary business program integrates sustainability and social responsibility throughout a traditional business curriculum, rooted in the liberal arts. You’ll become a leader in sustainable social entrepreneurship, prepared to create a positive net impact in your community by presenting the business case for sustainability and the integrated bottom line.

And you’ll study the theories and practice of management, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, sustainability, accounting, economics, data science, finance, marketing, and leadership, culminating in a consulting project to solve a real business problem for your applied learning capstone. Through our Work and Community Engagement programs, you’ll develop effective personal and community leadership skills while developing your civic identity as a business leader. You can deepen your learning by focusing on either Sustainability or Social Entrepreneurship.

In the Warren Wilson Business Program, you will cultivate practices to ensure that making a profit is not at the expense of our environment or other people’s wellbeing.

Alumni Entrepreneurship

Many Warren Wilson alumni are entrepreneurs. Here are just a handful of the alumni connections between Warren Wilson and local Asheville business:

Electives to Complement

“The Business Program at Warren Wilson is not a siloed business school. Instead, it is integrated into the whole of your Liberal Arts education. You are able to take courses outside of business that count as electives and complement the major. You can create your own focus. So for example, if you are interested in governmental issues, you can pick electives focused in political science. If you want to manage a human services nonprofit, your electives can be in social work. If you want to start an outdoor adventure company, you can take electives in Outdoor Leadership. You have many possibilities.” – Wendy Seligmann, Business Program Faculty

Explore Classes in This Program

BA 3000

Strategic Marketing

What will make someone want to buy your product or service? This course is an overview of marketing from a managerial perspective. You’ll learn customer-oriented marketing strategies and how to make good decisions about product quality, distribution, promotions, and pricing. You’ll explore environmental concerns, global marketing, consumer behavior, business-to-business marketing, target market selection, e-business, marketing channels, advertising, marketing management, and marketing research. Social responsibility and ethical decision making is integrated throughout the course, and you’ll examine case studies with local, national, and international perspectives.

BA 4000

Applied Learning and Consulting Project

This course synthesizes the knowledge you’ve learned in the business discipline with the core competencies you’ve gained in marketing, management, and finance. You will step out of the classroom and into the business world by acting as a consultant for a community organization or business. You will apply what you have learned by addressing a specific problem or area of growth with your community partner. You will develop your critical thinking skills in this course and culminate your experience with a comprehensive project presentation.

BA 3904

Introduction to Sports Management

Are you considering a career as an athletic director, team manager or owner, sports agent or recruiter, or a marketing and public relations professional for an athletic franchise? In this course, you will get an overview of the sport business industry and examine the principles of athletic business and entertainment management in professional, collegiate, and Olympic sports. You will focus on the business principles of collegiate and professional sports, with additional focus on leadership in athletics and diversity and ethical issues in sports.

Still curious? See the Curriculum
Meet Our Faculty

Warren Wilson students are drawn to lives of purpose. There is nothing I love more than helping a student find ways to connect their head and heart, that is, to discover how they want to make meaning and change in the world.

Wendy Seligmann, MBA
Meet Wendy Seligmann See all Social Sciences Faculty
Wendy Seligmann, MBA

This is a community where students, faculty and staff can explore a wide range of interests. It's exciting to work with students on issues where they are passionate and help them fuse these interests with education, community engagement and work experience.

Justinn Steffe, MBA
Meet Justinn Steffe See all Social Sciences Faculty
Justinn Steffe, MBA
Faculty Member Jack Ingelman stands smiling outside of Orr Cottage.

The commitment by Warren Wilson staff and faculty to provide our students with meaningful, hands-on learning is unmatched in higher education. Our approach provides students an opportunity to explore, create, and think critically about the world and to become well-rounded thinkers, problem-solvers, and innovators.

Jack Igelman, MS
Meet Jack Igelman See all Social Sciences Faculty
Faculty Member Jack Ingelman stands smiling outside of Orr Cottage.
Jack Igelman, MS

Hands-on, All-in

Environmental Work Crew
Leadership Opportunities 
Through our Work Program, you will have opportunities to gain leadership and management experience with our 12 and 16-hour leadership positions.
Students stand in front of a window wearing formal clothes
Integrated Internships 
Alumni Jamie and Amy Ager stand smiling in front of cows at their farm Hickory Nut Gap
Alumni Businesses 
Our Alumni have gone on to own farms, breweries, art stores, and more!

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