July 13, 2023
The new B.B.A. in Business and Law provides business students with an understanding of legal topics
St. Mary’s University has created a collaborative major for undergraduate students interested in the intersection of business and law, unique among San Antonio’s universities.
The B.B.A. in Business and Law has just begun enrolling its first students for the Fall 2023 semester, appealing to those who want to be leaders of new and evolving professions that require a broad business education and an understanding of the legal environment.
This innovative program is a collaboration between the University’s Greehey School of Business and the School of Law, giving students the unique opportunity to take between five and 15 credit hours of School of Law courses for undergraduate credit taught by law faculty.
“We live and work in uncertain times,” said Rowena Ortiz-Walters, Ph.D., Dean of the Greehey School of Business and Professor of Management. “Through the B.B.A. in Business and Law’s interdisciplinary foundation, the program will prepare students with the in-depth knowledge necessary to lead in a complex and ambiguous world.”
Rowena Ortiz-Walters, Ph.D.“Through the B.B.A. in Business and Law’s interdisciplinary foundation, the program will prepare students with the in-depth knowledge necessary to lead in a complex and ambiguous world.”
The B.B.A. in Business and Law major will prepare business students for a broad spectrum of professional careers and graduate programs for which an understanding of business and legal topics — such as human resources, risk management, compliance and real estate — is essential.
“I am 100% interested in the program,” said Layla Dickerson, a St. Mary’s University freshman in the Greehey School of Business. “The major will open the door for numerous opportunities for those of us who want to pursue business and law.”
Layla Dickerson“The major will open the door for numerous opportunities for those of us who want to pursue business and law.”
Operating in an ever-expanding environment of federal, state and administrative regulations, organizations have a significant interest in recruiting and retaining employees who are familiar with a variety of legal topics, including corporate formation and formalities, contract law, commercial paper, legal procedure, payroll and employment law, entrepreneurship, products liability, business communication, personal injury, compliance, identity theft, corporate intelligence, negotiation and insider trading, as well as the corresponding tax consequences of each.
“If you had two of these graduates, I would hire them right now,” said Paul Hensley, senior vice president of finance and CFO at HOLT CAT and Chair of the Greehey School of Business Advisory Council of Executives.