On Starin Road sits Timothy J. Hyland Hall, home of the UW-Whitewater business school. The US News Report recently ranked UW-Whitewater’s College of Business and Economics (CoBE) as the best in Wisconsin. Just by the looks of Hyland Hall, you could guess great things are happening in the beautiful building.
The look of Hyland Hall is very intentional. According to CoBE Dean Paul Ambrose, that look is just one of the ways that CoBE helps students prepare for their careers. By going to class and working inside a building that simulates the feel of office spaces in metropolitan areas, students become accustomed to the types of places they may work. It’s just one of the many things that help make CoBE the best business school in the state.
“[The ranking] validates what we believe in,” Ambrose said. “In the sense that we need to make sure that students succeed.”
What is it that they believe in? People.
“You have to continually invest in people, processes and infrastructure. That helps us move forward,” Ambrose said.
CoBE brings in some of the best instructors, who often have done their fair share in the business world.
“They’ve been doing things for years and then came to teach to pass on the knowledge,” said senior finance major Jared Tews. “I think that’s super helpful compared to other schools where some people have never had the experience that these people do.”
Above all, CoBE believes in students. While Whitewater may not have the pedigree of other larger universities, UW-W still offers an education that allows all students to excel.
“We always say ‘come as you are, we will get you there.’ We will get you to the same level as a student from [UW] Madison or [UW] Milwaukee or any other school,” Ambrose said.
Thanks to great instructors, the open doors and great opportunities, students are able to gain all the skills they need to be successful.
“I don’t think education is the most important part, it’s the opportunities that it brings to us,” Tews said.
Tews, who originally came to Whitewater to study science, has taken full advantage of the opportunities that CoBE can provide.
“Even the orgs open doors,” Tews said.
Tews is the vice president of client services at Pi Sigma Epsilon, a member of the Real Estate Club and he does marketing for Bowers Lake Coffee. He is one of over 4,600 students in the business school, making it one of the largest in the nation.
A good handful of UW-W’s business students learn completely online, something Whitewater was ahead of the game on. In 1998, CoBE began offering MBA degrees through fully online classes. By investing in their online courses, they have stayed ahead of the curve.
“It helped us during the COVID time. People were trying to figure out how online works, we already knew,” Ambrose said.
Of course, just providing the resources doesn’t make for a top in the state ranking.
“It’s a two-way street,” A
mbrose said. “If you have a low graduation rate or a low success rate, you won’t get ranked. It shows that our students are taking advantage of what we put in front of them.”
Not only are the students enabled by CoBE, but by all the other great people around campus. Ambrose credited everyone from the chancellor and other colleges to res-life for making it possible for the business school and its students to be able to succeed. It’s the university as a whole that enables CoBE’s success as Ambrose and the college look to continue to grow and be innovative.
“We are well known, but we can become even better known.”
