Starting in the summer of 2016, a group of community bankers will be descending on the Fort Lewis College campus for the Western States School of Banking.
The WSSB curriculum – which covers topics such as risk management; funds management; legal aspects; and sales, service and marketing – is taught by nationally recognized faculty, which will now include some FLC professors.
The bankers attend two eight-day sessions annually for two years and complete projects in between the sessions to earn certification from the program.
“The Fort Lewis College School of Business Administration is a strong school of business,” FLC President Dene Thomas said. “Bringing a fine school of banking to campus was a natural fit, one that we feel will benefit communities across the West.”
Thomas and School of Business Administration Dean Paul McGurr lobbied hard to get the school to FLC.
They were assisted in the effort by the Western States School of Business’ new executive director, Durangoan Gigi Baty.
Until July 1, Baty was the director of Continuing Education at FLC, a position she held for nine years.
Since 1974, the college has been one of the few undergraduate-only business schools to hold accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, the international accrediting body for business schools, FLC spokesman Mitch Davis said.
“Only a small percentage of business schools around the world earn AACSB accreditation,” he said.
The school holding classes at FLC will be another stream of revenue for the college, important for an institution receiving less funding from the state every year.
To be eligible to attend the Western States School of Banking, applicants must already be employed as an officer or in a supervisory position at a financial institution or at a state or federal agency which supervises financial institutions.
They must also have worked in banking or equivalent work for at least a year or have completed at least one year of university-level courses.
For more information, visit www.wssbonline.org.