RRU Bachelor of Business Administration focuses on social impact

Apr, 2018

VICTORIA, CA

Many programs at Royal Roads University (RRU) aspire to influence social change through their teaching and research. The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) exemplifies the type of change-making work at RRU. Yet, the BBA program recognized its need for guidance to strategize and track progress of their impact. BBA Program Head, Dr. Todd Thexton, approached Brian about collaborating to articulate a Theory of Change for the BBA program. Thexton learned about the Sustainability Research Effectiveness (SRE) team’s work in social impact assessment through the Climate Action Dialogue and Royal Roads’ journey to become accredited as an Ashoka Changemaker Campus. Belcher saw this as a learning opportunity for the team to apply the tool in a higher education context. This enabled our team to gain better understanding of how higher education programming contributes to change and social impact.

The Workshop

We planned to hold a workshop to articulate a Theory of Change (ToC) with members of the BBA Steering Committee. Brian Belcher, Rachel Claus, and Rachel Davel facilitated the workshop, providing a conceptual overview and walking through each ToC component. The workshop took place in November 2017. Together, we drafted a Theory of Change framework, documenting a roadmap of the diverse ways in which the BBA program aims to realize social impact.

The ToC identified four interconnected pathways the BBA program will pursue:

  1. A marketing, recruitment, and admission pathway;
  2. A teaching and mentorship pathway;
  3. A faculty scholarship and engagement pathway; and
  4. An institutional change pathway.

The marketing strategy intends to attract students with the aptitude and interest in sustainable change for business. The Steering Committee expects this will enhance the reputation of the BBA program and Royal Roads. The overall program strategy focuses on curriculum and teaching oriented around intended learning outcomes for students. In addition, the program aims to foster attitudes toward sustainability. Workshop participants theorized that attitudinal change will influence students’ everyday behaviour and guide their practice in future careers. The BBA program aims to support its faculty through the scholarship and engagement pathway. Thus, it will enable faculty to engage in research and collaborate with external actors, such as First Nations and Chambers of Commerce, as well as with other departments in the University through the development of crossover courses. In the final pathway, the program aims lead Royal Roads to break down disciplinary silos, first between business and sustainability.

Reflections

The BBA program found the exercise valuable as a way to define strategy, and they plan to continue developing and refining the Theory of Change. “This process opened up dialogue among the program’s academic leadership through which we explored both our goals and the activities undertaken to achieve these goals. The team helped us identify our levers for impact, as well as provided a clear structure to think about program development. In addition, we now have a foundation upon which we can build a system for measuring and reporting on our impact,” said Thexton. Lessons from the process were shared with colleagues at a “Roads to Research” session on April 18, 2018, which provided insight into some opportunities for expansion.

Learn more about the BBA Program. Read more news posts from the Sustainability Research Effectiveness Program.

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