The Walsh College Business 360 certificate program is offered to people who don't have a formal business education. Through a series of seven classes, this educational program introduces the fundamental business concepts and tools needed by everyone in the working world today. Past participants have been high school graduate landscaping business owners, attorneys with liberal arts undergraduate degrees, engineers moving into management, displaced workers changing careers. There are no admissions requirements for this program, no application process, no homework or tests, and no exceptional computer skills needed.

New for Fall 2012

• Seven weekly sessions
• 6 - 9:30 p.m.
• Classes begin Tuesday, October 2 at the Troy Campus
• (No class on Tuesday, November 6.  Instead, class will be held on Wednesday, November 7) 
• Only $1295 for 24 hours of instruction.

The Walsh Business 360 program has had a total makeover by our esteemed Walsh College faculty. Seven modules cover the basics in business.

Understanding Financial Statements
Learn how to read, understand, and analyze a firm’s financial statements. Financial statements covered include the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. This session covers profitability and liquidity ratios, asset and debt utilization, and many other aspects to measure a firm’s performance. Students will learn how to identify strengths and risks which can impact the firm’s ability to achieve its financial goals. Instructor: Adjunct Professor Jeff Ruedisueli, CPA.

Capital Budgeting and Financing
Learn the techniques used by financial managers to select optimal long-term projects, along with related capital budgeting basics. From project analysis to securing sources of financing, this session provides a solid foundation for choosing, managing, and paying for your most important business assets. Instructor: Professor Greg Todd, CMA.

Investments and Capital Markets for Business
Learn the manner in which U.S. equity and debt markets operate and the way in which companies access those markets. From identifying capital sources to determining the price of capital, participants will gain an understanding of the dynamics of capital markets and how managers can prepare for and take advantage of unexpected changes. Instructor: Professor John Moore, CPA.

Business Process Improvement
Passion for process is the core of true quality improvement. This series will cover the fundamentals of process improvement in multiple environments. It will lead its participants down the path of process versus people in that the process is more likely to fail versus the individual. It will begin with a demonstration of an activity that is designed to fail, the Deming Red Bead Experiment. It will continue with an introduction of the key principles of process improvement focusing on prevention versus detection all while protecting the end consumer. Wrapping up, the session will include methods of prediction and experimentation to build a better method with the ultimate goal of creating and maintaining a high quality standard. Instructor: Professor Richard Radners Ed.D.

Preparing a Business Plan
This seminar will cover the major elements essential to developing and executing a powerful operational plan, including: an examination of key planning processes and the factors associated with their successful implementation; how to appropriately allocate resources to realize the plan; and how to develop measurable objectives to effectively track progress. The focus will be on insuring an understanding of key concepts and illustrating how these concepts can be applied to a variety of planning conditions. Instructor: Professor Glenn Hodges, Ph.D.

Business Strategies
Change is inevitable, ubiquitous, and increasing rapidly. The individuals and businesses that will succeed going forward are those that learn how to keep adapting more quickly, more effectively, and more strategically than their competitors. These sessions will cover some basic concepts of strategic thinking and behaving that are universally useful for individuals and businesses. Williamson’s Nobel Prize winning explanation for why organizations exist in a market environment will be wedded to the “marketing concept” philosophy of management to reveal some simple but powerful first principles of successful business strategy. The use of systems thinking and organizational learning skills to put principles of strategic success into effective practice will be explained. Finally, some common business strategies will be described, and some guidance will be given on how to choose the right strategy for a given situation. Instructor: ProfessorJames C. McHann, Ph.D.

Marketing and Branding
This session examines how a business conveys the value of its products and services to customers through the study of contemporary marketing. The primary concepts in this course include brand management to build a distinctive image and marketing strategies to communicate that image to potential customers. Both business to consumer marketing and business to business marketing will be considered. Instructor: Professor Michael Levens, Ph.D., F.C.I.M.

Here's what these participants had to say about the Business 360 program:

"My fellow students were great to work with. The materials and charts the professor brought for the class were excellent."

"Many kudos to the college and staff and instructors."

"Another great session with the familiar group of participants. Small size
works well."

"I think the business 360 is a great overview and does what it is intended. Anyone who plans on being an expert in any one of the subjects should not plan on walking away an expert, but should certainly know where they want or need to take a deeper dive."

"Just wanted to say I loved the Finance course on Saturday, can't wait to take the other courses in the fall. Business 360 is like getting an MBA in 10 days."   Godfrey Nolan, pilot class participant 

Prefer to register by phone? Call Cindy Rush at 248-823-1238.
Prefer to register by mail? Download this form for instructions.
Need help navigating the registration system? Here's a step by step guide.