Pictured | Alissa Le | B.S. in Business, Accounting / Minors in Business Analytics and Finance | Elkhart, Indiana (hometown)

Mission Statement

As the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics:

We are the business school where learning is transformative for a diverse body of Michiana students supported by faculty and staff delivering high-quality and innovative academic programs.

We seek to be the preferred and widely-recognized supplier of business graduates for the Michiana region based on the quality and innovativeness of our programs.

We are producers of a wide-range of academic knowledge relevant to practitioners and academics.

We are the facilitator and primary support provider of economic growth in the Michiana region through meaningful engagement in business development activities.

Vision Statement

The Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics at Indiana University South Bend aspires to be the best regional business school in the nation, recognized for academic excellence, and for contributing to the overall development of our region and our broader environment.

We will achieve this vision by:

• Providing rigorous and relevant programs that are intellectually grounded, innovative, integrative, technologically advanced, and global in perspective
• Preparing students for successful leadership roles
• Collaborating with stakeholders to align our teaching, scholarship, and service to the needs of the community
• Serving as a primary source for creating and applying business knowledge to promote regional economic development

General Information

Accreditation

The IU South Bend Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics measures its quality against the highest standard in business education: AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Established in 1916, AACSB International is the premier accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in business administration and management. IU South Bend stands among only 22 percent of national collegiate business degree programs that have achieved the level of excellence necessary to earn AACSB International accreditation. IU South Bend’s professional colleagues include AACSB International founders; the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and Yale University.

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) supports research activities of the Judd Leighton Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics and provides business and economic expertise to the public in the Michiana region, including government, business, and nonprofit organizations. The BBER maintains a database of local economic indicators, publishes a quarterly report on the local economy, conducts research on local and regional issues, and serves as a vital source of information on regional economic activity.

Center for Economic Education (CEE)

The Center for Economic Education (CEE) seeks to increase economic literacy in North-Central Indiana by helping prepare students to become informed and productive citizens by increasing their knowledge in economics. The Center seeks to achieve this objective by organizing and supporting activities designed to creatively integrate economics into the K-12 educational experience to help local schools and students successfully meet Indiana’s academic standards for economics. The Center regularly offers a comprehensive set of programs to North-Central Indiana classrooms with support from the Indiana Council on Economic Education (ICEE) and the Council on Economic Education (CEE), and American Electric Power Company.

Serving as the program arm of the CEE and ICEE, the Center provides important services to meet the economic education objectives of the CEE and its affiliated institutions. These services include: regular offering of on- and off-campus workshops and instructional programs in economics; an intensive graduate college-3-credit summer course for K-12 teachers and taught by leading experts from education, government, industry, and award-winning teachers; consultation for schools, colleges, and community organizations; developing and distributing economic education literature; and conducting research in economic education.

CTS Center for Experiential Education (CTS-CEE)

The vision of the CTS Center for Experiential Education (CTS-CEE) is for every business student at IU South Bend to have an expanded portfolio of experiential learning opportunities during their studies and, in the process, engage the entire business student body, in both South Bend and Elkhart, in serving our community and promoting the healthy growth of the Michiana economy. Field projects, internships, and faculty development are priorities of the CTS-CEE.

Entrepreneurship Program

The Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics maintains an active and high profile role with the small business sector of the economy. In addition to credit courses available to students pursuing business degrees, a symposia series is offered to the community; faculty and students also enjoy regular involvement with the Collegiate Management Assistance Program of the Small Business Development Center.

For over ten years, the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics has presented the Entrepreneurship Lecture Series. This series is sponsored by Lake City Bank. The speakers within this series showcase many of the area’s premier business organizations and their chief executives. Each speaker delves into an aspect of entrepreneurship. Topics Include | strategies, business plans, creating and organization, venture financing, and franchising

This series is part of the undergraduate course BUS-W 311 New Venture Creation and also is part of an Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) seminar course.

The most recent development within the Entrepreneurship Program is the Entrepreneurship Competition sponsored by Kem Krest. This competition awards prize money to the most deserving entrepreneurial projects that business students undertake. The competition will also put aspiring entrepreneurs in touch with experts and sources of capital that may further help develop projects.

Student Organizations

The faculty in business and economics recognize that student organizations contribute greatly to its programs. Some of these organizations are honorary in nature and facilitate recognition of outstanding performance. These organizations include Beta Gamma Sigma (the honorary business society), Omicron Delta Epsilon (the honorary economics society), and International Honor Society of the Financial Management Association (the honorary finance society). Organizations such as the Accounting Association, IU South Bend Advertising Club, Economic Forum, Entrepreneurship Club, Financial Management Association, Society for Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems (MIS) Club, and IU South Bend Marketing Club.

The Business Club and ENACTUS enable students to develop their interests in various fields through extracurricular programs.

Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma is the national honor society for business students. Membership in this organization is the highest scholastic honor that a business student can attain. Membership is restricted to students of high scholarship in institutions with degree programs accredited by AACSB International. To be eligible for membership, business majors of junior standing must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 or higher and completion of a minimum of 70 credit hours with at least 45 credit hours at Indiana University; seniors must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.65 or higher and completion of at least 45 credit hours at Indiana University; and graduate students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 and at least 27 graduate credit hours completed.

Omicron Delta Epsilon

Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE) is the International Economics Honor Society. Its objectives include: 

• Recognition of scholastic attainment in Economics
• Recognition of outstanding achievements in economics on the part of economists at all levels
• Establishment of closer ties between students and faculty in economics within their own colleges and universities
• Establishment of closer ties between students and faculty in economics on all campuses
• Publication of an official journal
• Emphasis on professional aspects of economics as a career field for service in academic, business, government, and international organizations.

ODE is dedicated to the encouragement of excellence in economics, and devotion on the part of its members as economists to the advancement of their science and to the scholarly effort to make freedom from want and deprivation a reality for all humankind.

Student Awards

The following awards are made to students in the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics | Excellence Award to one student in each of the major areas: accounting, advertising, economics, finance, health care management, human resource management, general business, management, marketing, and management information systems.

There are special recognition awards for work on outstanding Advertising and Marketing projects.

Other Excellence Awards

• ETS Undergraduate Excellence Award
• Global Marketing Award
• John R. Swanda, Jr. Ethics Award
• KADA McDonald's Advertising Award
• KADA McDonald's Marketing Award
• Villing Advertising Creativity Award
• Villing Marketing Communications Plan Award

Graduation with Distinction

Honors for excellence in scholarship are awarded at Commencement to a limited number of students graduating with the degree Bachelor of Science in Business and Bachelor of Science in Economics. The number so honored will not exceed 10 percent of the graduating class in the school for that year. Graduates whose minimum grade point averages are 3.9 and who complete at least 60 credit hours at IU South Bend are graduated with highest distinction; those whose minimum grade point averages are 3.8 and who complete at least 60 credit hours at IU South Bend are graduated with high distinction; and those whose minimum grade point averages are 3.65 and who complete at least 60 credit hours at IU South Bend are graduated with distinction. Graduates receiving these honors have them so noted on their diplomas and are eligible to wear the cream and crimson fourragére at Commencement.