The College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University provides a focus for educational excellence which promotes the intellectual and personal growth of participants and enhances their contributions to individuals, organizations, and society. In most respects the activities and operations of the College are not regionally restricted, as the western part of Illinois is an integral part of a unified social and economic infrastructure which extends across the United States to the world. The essence of educational excellence involves a qualified and scholarly faculty, a diverse student body, small class sizes, the use of current technology, the best aspects of a small college atmosphere, and a positive learning environment. Intellectual and personal growth includes cultivating scholarly virtues, promoting the concept of life-long learning, encouraging faculty development, and generating and sharing information and knowledge.
Participants are students, faculty, graduates, and all others involved in the educational process.
Everyone is an active learner and teacher through shared responsibility, collaboration, and mutual respect. The College contributes to the success of future and current leaders, managers, and professionals in the global community. Annually, a wide variety of lectures, symposia, and discussions designed to augment classroom work are presented. While many of these professional programs appeal primarily to businessmen and business and technology students, increasingly emphasis is being placed on the broad social spectrum of business endeavor. The goal of these varied programs is to engage students in the concepts of social responsibility and ethical business practice while encouraging the use of quantitative, technical, and theoretical approaches necessary for problem solving in the complex milieu of today's global business environment.