The College of Business vision of "transforming the lives of students while positively impacting the business communities of Washington state, the region, and the world" will be actualized through initiatives around three focal areas integral to the College's success: Globally competitive business leadership, delivery of innovation, and positive societal impact.

Below are selected CB development initiatives:

Global Leadership
To position Washington State University as the premiere institution for the development of globally competitive business leaders, the CB must increase its international presence to offer students unparalleled learning experiences both locally and abroad. Goals in this area include:

• Doubling the current number of CB students studying business abroad;
• Formalizing a CB global internship program;
• Increasing by 50% the number of international campus sites for faculty-led programs to accommodate the student demand across all business degree programs;
• Enhancing opportunities for international faculty collaboration on research;
• Establishing a CB-operated campus abroad at which all CB students will participate in a required study abroad experience.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation
In order to ensure sustained national innovation and economic success, and sparked by a leadership pledge/gift from Gus Grant ('41, Electrical Engineering), co-founder of Sprint Corporation, WSU has embarked on an innovative, university-wide Entrepreneurship and Innovation initiative. The CB is leading this drive with its top-ranked business entrepreneurship program. The initiative will provide the infrastructure and impetus for the broad entrepreneurial thinking that allows students to be agents of change by capitalizing on their ideas in a fast-paced, technology-driven global economy. This will include a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of campus in addition to fundamental changes in academic programs across disciplines to focus on graduating students in any field with the entrepreneurial skills required to launch a start-up enterprise or to contribute to society in innovative ways.

School of Hospitality Business Management 75^th Anniversary
The upcoming year will be filled with excitement as we kick off preliminary events related to the 75^th Anniversary for the School of Hospitality Business Management. This WSU program is one of the top-ranked business college-based hospitality programs in the nation and offers an exceptionally well-crafted curriculum focusing on a broad-based business background with an emphasis in hospitality management and entrepreneurship. Clear priorities have been identified for investment to achieve our vision of a world-class School of Hospitality Business Management:  faculty, students and new equipment/renovated teaching facilities. Specifically, gifts for endowments and facilities are needed for an endowed directorship, faculty professorships and fellowships, scholarships, and of course, new equipment and facilities.

Marketing Research Center
Throughout the year, faculty and students in the Department of Marketing conduct research on a variety of topics with implications for theory, marketing strategy, public policy, and consumer welfare. While the department's faculty have been successful in guiding students in the research process and have produced quality research published in the field's top journals, the current marketing research facility, built in 1990, presents some limitations. A new proposed Marketing Research Center would support and enable technology-enhanced research in a cutting-edge environment designed for maximum applicability to a wide range of research studies. If funded, the new facility will:

• Enhance the educational experience of undergraduate and graduate students by increasing the number of students able to participate in research projects, supporting industry-sponsored research projects, and enabling undergraduate students to apply course concepts in a real research lab.
• Reduce materials and labor costs associated with data collection and data entry.
• Provide the Department of Marketing with a significant point of differentiation for attracting and retaining top students and faculty.

Real Estate Endowed Chair
In our most recent accreditation process, the CB College-wide program evaluation revealed the Real Estate program is smaller than the optimal program size, but the College is determined to retain this program because of its success and the significant student and industry interest. To strengthen this program, the College would like to attract an exceptional Real Estate faculty member. In an increasingly competitive academic market and in response to industry's rising need for well-educated graduates, major institutions are aggressively pursuing stellar faculty. An endowed chair offers CB the flexibility to attract and retain high-quality faculty by providing the financial support that allows for the significant research and meaningful professional advancement highly desired by top scholars. The holder of this chair would interact and have a pulse on the real estate industry and partner with our external audiences to assure the quality of the CB Real Estate program positions us to attain top rankings.

Financial Markets Center
The objective of this new center is to integrate financial research, investment education and practical application for CB finance students. The center will be a great venue for CB majors to interact virtually with prominent financial leaders. By bringing together information resources and intellectual capital in a world-class technology-driven center, students and faculty will connect to advance knowledge in the field. Perhaps you've heard of the Cougar Investment Fund - CB finance students manage $1 million in investments and have outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 for the past five years. This program is currently operated out of a small space with a desk, 3 chairs and a 10-foot ticker display. The new center will expand to include a classroom to accommodate 40 students and an LCD wall to broadcast various news and investment programs, a 20-foot electronic stock ticker, seven workstations and a Bloomberg terminal.

Corporate Partnerships
Business education plays an essential role in educating future leaders for a global society. Through corporate partnerships, CB is providing opportunities for organizations and members of the world's business communities to connect with WSU business students and be involved in the educational process at multiple levels through financial support and interaction. Corporate partners can engage with students from the recruitment phase all the way through to job placement upon graduation. These custom-made partnerships can be structured to focus on specific business disciplines, diversity, academic excellence, student leadership, or other criteria depending upon the Company's objectives.

Student Support – CB Scholarships
For many students, higher education is simply not an option. Lack of initial support or encouragement, ongoing financial support, and understanding of what an education can mean to their future can limit opportunities for many potential students. Scholarships make a difference. Every dollar invested in higher education pays tremendous dividends over time. According to a 2004 report by the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board (Key Facts About Higher Education in Washington), individuals with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual income of $35,000, compared to just over $20,000 for those with just a high school diploma or some college. Over a lifetime, this gap exceeds $1 million per individual. Those with college degrees have more career options and success, and investment in higher education also yields lower poverty rates, increased civic participation, greater tax contributions, and a stronger economy.