The School meets the needs of our diverse stakeholders by adhering to our core values of academic excellence in business education, collaboration with the business community, and encouragement of lifelong pursuit of knowledge and understanding. To that end, this mission is expanded to internal and external constituents as follows:

To Our Students - The School seeks to create an academic environment emphasizing collaborative learning enhanced through interactive instruction which encourages student ownership of the learning process.  We value each student as an individual and provide personalized attention to all students from admission, through classes and into their professional careers.  All programs, while specifically designed to meet the requirements of our regional traditional and non-traditional students, ensure our graduates are not only competitive in the global economy but also embrace the concepts of lifelong learning and ethical behavior.

To Our Faculty and Staff - The School seeks to foster continuous professional growth for our faculty and staff by encouraging synergy between their individual professional goals and institutional goals. Intellectual contributions across the spectrum of pedagogical, practice-oriented and discipline-based forms are valued, as is the dissemination of knowledge through innovative teaching methodologies.

To Our Community - The School recognizes its responsibility to help advance the economic base of the Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee region.  Our greatest contribution is providing regional employers with well-prepared graduates who demonstrate a lifelong love of learning. By reaching out to and working closely with the business community, we serve as a catalyst for intellectual, social, economic and technological advancement.

We value academic excellence in professional education, which includes:

• Offering continuously improving educational and support programs characterized by a collaborative relationship between professor and student in a small class environment that is efficient and affordable;
• Providing students with the knowledge and ability to enhance their career prospects with particular emphasis on written and oral communication, reasoning and critical thinking, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and integration of functional knowledge;
• Instruction in the benefits of technology in a global economy, demonstrated through our own application of interactive teaching methodologies that encourage student ownership of the learning process; and
• Pedagogically oriented research, publication and development by the faculty designed to improve the educational process.

We value collaboration with the business community, which involves:

• Outreach to regional business and community organizations that encourages participation from key external constituents in the planning and execution of our programs;
• A close working relationship with the business community that encourages corporate responsibility and involvement in the delivery of professional education; and
• Faculty research, publication and development that promotes practical application of theoretical advances in business knowledge.

We value encouraging lifelong pursuit of knowledge and understanding, which comprises:

• Embracing diversity in students, faculty and the business community;
• Encouraging ethical behavior on the part of faculty, staff and students and promoting corporate social responsibility;
• Offering education programs that reflect our role as the primary source of business education and research in the region; and
• Faculty research, publication and development that advances knowledge in the various fields of business administration.