College of Business & Technology

CEO Project Meeting Sponsored by Business and Technology

Supporting CBT is EASY!

Supporting Success

Preparing tomorrow's business and technology leaders for professional careers and lifelong learning in a globalized economy is challenging. With your help, we can deliver an innovative, applied education that fosters the highest level of academic standards, integrity, and ethics for our students.

#1 CBT Student Success Initiatives

Student-facing success initiatives can take many forms. The College of Business and Technology is committed to its primary purpose of "Preparing the next generation of business and technology innovators to thrive in an evolving, interconnected global economic environment." Student group travel, retention initiatives, micro-credential acquisition, and professional development programming each help our students grow personally and professionally.

#2 CBT Technology Enhancement

The rate of technological change is increasing at an increasing rate. This is an indisputable fact of the current business environment. Our faculty and students must be conversant and able to effectively use the best technology we can provide. Student facing experiences relating to course content, experiential learning, augmented reality, require continuous improvements to our college's technology portfolio.

#3 CBT Innovation and Distinctiveness

The College of Business and Technology presents a unique, value added proposition to all of its constituents. Building a stronger brand to continue the tradition excellence in business and technology education requires investment in programs that support our ability to differentiate ourselves in the educational marketspace. Investments in new curriculum based on discipline based synergies are the best way to strengthen the Western Illinois University CBT brand.

CBT Leatherneck Success

Engineering Technology for the Future
School of Agriculture

Since its founding in 1910, the School of Agriculture has continued the tradition of innovation and "hands-on" learning that is the hallmark of quality. "Sustainable agriculture that fuels industry and society" is the goal that drives our students and faculty towards amazing levels of success.

  • $10 Million Bio-Fuel Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to investigate the use of the alternative crop, Pennycress, as a new winter-annual cash cover crop in the Midwest for use by the biofuel industry.
  • A world class competititve education resulting in year-after-year of strong student performance in livestock judging and agronomy competition. Noteworthy high recognition at both the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Contest and the North Central Weed Science Society Competition
  • WIU Agricultural Education academic program awarded the Region 4 Outstanding Postsecondary Agriculture Program by the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).
School of Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Decision Sciences

The School of Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Decision Sciences leverages the synergies of quantitatively oriented disciplines through collaborations with industry partners, advisory board members, and alumni. The school's driving passion is “preparing business students for a data-driven world.”

  • An undergraduate curriculum that's carefully benchmarked to industry standards and meets the rigorous requirements of AACSB Business accreditation, as well as those set forth by the supplemental AACSB accreditation in Accountancy. Only 5% of programs worldwide maintain both Business and Accounting accreditations.
  • A managerial accounting curriculum endorsed by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
  • Career preparation as demonstrated by integrated internship experiences, portfolio-worthy capstone projects, and micro-credentials in Alteryx, Azure, AWS, AI in Accounting, Salesforce, and Tableau.
  • Extreme levels of student engagement through award-winning student groups including Beta Alpha Psi (33 years in a row), National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Student Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (SCIMA), and a Finance Club rated in the 10% of Kiva investors.
School of Computer Sciences

“Safeguarding the integrity of data assets” requires full engagement of an evolving technology environment. The School of Computer Science develops world-class talent that create and protect the most critical data assets of households, business, and government

  • designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (NCAE-CD) for its Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity. The NCAE-CD program is managed by the NSA's National Cryptographic School, with federal partners including the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
  • Curriculum focus on object oriented languages, server-side web development, UNIX, Graphical User Interface, computer security, big data, and digital circuit design.
School of Engineering and Technology

From "Concept to Completion", the STEM driven fields in the School of Engineering and Technology creates physical reality from conceptual designs. All aspects of additive manufacturing, circutry design, construction management, and manufacturing process control drive student engagement supported with a full spectrum of equipment to verify solution integrity.

  • $750,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant titled “Improving Career Readiness for Engineering Students Through a Mentored Living Learning Community”. Funds will be used to support the recruitment and retention of high-quality students supported by the formation of a Living and Learning Community focused around the engineering and technology programs.
  • ABET Accredited in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, and General Engineering assures confidence that our curriculum meets standards essential to prepare graduates to enter critical STEM fields in the global workforce.
School of Management and Marketing

The multidisciplinary nature of the School of Management and Marketing leverages the complementary nature of several business disciplines: Human Resource Management, Management, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management to affect a more engaged and holistic approach to business education. In collaboration with industry partners and alumni, we are “Catalyzing Students for Global Engagement and Growth” delivering high impact outcomes for all constituents.

  • With curriculum informed by our industry partners, and rich with micro-credentialing opportunities, our students are learning from experts inside and outside of the classroom in preparation for today’s careers in business.
  • Our ProChat Series, a collaborative effort among the business disciplines, hosts interactive workshops led by content experts in areas such as networking, professional communication, financial literacy and civic engagement cultivating relationships and strengthening our students’ business profiles.
  • Based on a platform of strong engagement between faculty, students, and industry, we build experiential learning into our programs. Field trips, site visits, conferences, and internships provide opportunities to experience firsthand the intersection of knowledge and practice.

How to Help

For the W

The College of Business and Technology needs your support. Your generosity allows us to advance our student facing business and technological capabilities and invest in the latest tools and resources for our students. Please consider helping us to continue to innovate, engage and reach our goal of providing a technology-driven, value added educational experience designed to train tomorrow’s business and technology leaders.

donate to CBT matching gifts

To learn more about getting involved with College of Business and Technology initiatives, please contact:

Craig Conrad, Dean at 309.298.2442
Tara Feld, Associate Dean at 309.298.2442
Liz Nolte, CBT Director of Development, E-Nolte@wiu.edu