Sault university expands business programming: School of Business and Economics launched last July.

• Date: 01 January 2019
• Author: Kelly, Lindsay

When Algoma University announced in July it was establishing a School of Business and Economics, faculty members were unprepared for just how popular its new programming would be.

During the first intake of students this past September, executive director Nadine Landon was hopeful to enrol 20 post-graduate students and 12 more studying their Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree. But the school very quickly blew past those expectations.

More than 100 post-grads and 28 BBA students are now enrolled at the school's Sault Ste. Marie and Brampton campuses.

"So we're dealing with a much larger intake and everything that goes along with being prepared for that large intake: student services, physical space, faculty, classrooms," Landon said. "We hadn't anticipated the numbers we received."

But for the university, which has offered business studies as a pathway since 2010, formalizing its popular business programming is the culmination of a long-term vision.

Cathy Denomme, director of the School of Business and Economics, said the move gives the business school more self-direction, enabling it to introduce...