The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree at Wilfrid Laurier University enrols approximately 6,000 undergraduate students each year. With 20,000 students annually, business students make up 30 per cent of Laurier’s student community.
With a 95 per cent employment rate after graduation and close interaction with many versatile companies, Laurier is a top choice for many students interested in business. The BBA program encourages community inside and outside of the classroom as students collaborate through various teamwork centric assignments and simulated work experiences.
Companies such as Google, Facebook, Scotiabank and others source their employees from Laurier directly after graduation. Every year, students compete in a ‘case-competition’ where Laurier brings a company to the school with an issue needing to be solved.
Students must listen to the problem, discover a solution and present their findings accordingly. This creates potential future relationships necessary for the business career.
“I want to try running a business, I guess it’s a good introduction but if I’m running a business, I’m not going to pull my textbook and look for Porter’s five forces,” said Kasper Hatami, a first-year BBA student at Laurier.
“A lot of the work is common sense, if you have some general accounting, economics and business knowledge, you’ll be fine,” Hatami said.
“If you are thinking about a business degree, Laurier has got to be the place, because you are in the business world from day one. You are learning about real companies and working with real companies,” said Chima Mbagwu, the associate dean of business at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.
Kyle Murray, the dean of business and economics at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics explained his personal perspective of the program.
“A lot of people have told me it’s cutting edge without being cutthroat and I think that’s true. A lot of business schools are very competitive, and Lazaridis is less so,” he said.
“It’s more about collaborating to achieve a goal as opposed to who’s going to get to the top of the mountain,” he added.
“It’s a lot of work, very time consuming and you have to stay on top of things. It’s rigorous and mentally taxing but fun at the same time,” says Anthony Moretti, a first-year student in Laurier’s BBA program.
Many students from the BBA program graduate into fields like accounting, banking, marketing and business management. However, there are many non-traditional paths.
Shadrach Kabango, stage name ‘Shad’, graduated from Laurier with a business degree, using it to pursue music. In 2011, he won a Juno for his efforts and is arranging a partnership with Laurier’s music program.
“The community here is wonderful, and you hear that from alumni as well,” Murray said. “A big part of what they’re excited about when I talk to them is the experience they had here and about the football team winning the cup. If I talk to 100 alumni from Alberta, I bet I’d be unlikely to find one even who knows what the football team’s record is, here it’s a little bit different.”
The BBA program trains young aspiring entrepreneurs but with so many classes, what is the most important thing a student can learn through BBA?
“Critical thinking.” Mbagwu said. “I always say the business degree can set you up to be anything you want to be, it gives you the tools to be able to think about problems and solve them logically.”
Laurier’s business program is a pillar stone of the University, there is a great sense of pride for those in and outside of it.
Photo by Victoria Panicci. Opening of Lazaridis Hall in 2016.
