Rawls College of Business: A Comprehensive Overview

The Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration, commonly referred to as Rawls Business, stands as the business school of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. For more than 75 years, the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University has provided students with an in-depth understanding of business and given graduates the tools necessary to succeed in a global workforce. This article delves into the college's history, academic offerings, facilities, strategic goals, and overall impact.

Historical Context and Evolution

Established in 1942, Texas Tech's business school was initially known as the Division of Commerce. In 1956, the school was renamed the College of Business Administration. The college experienced a significant transformation in 2000 when it was formally renamed as the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration, following a $25 million gift from alumnus Jerry S. Rawls. This generous support from alumni and friends has enabled the Rawls College to recruit and retain distinguished faculty while also attracting some of the best and brightest students.

Academic Programs and Departments

Rawls Business offers curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate students (including doctoral). The college is organized into five departments, called areas, and a separately accredited professional accounting school.

Undergraduate Programs

Students may pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration in various fields, including:

Accounting
Energy Commerce
Finance
Information Technology
Management
Marketing
Supply Chain Management
General Business

Graduate Programs

The Rawls College offers an MBA in multiple formats, four Master of Science programs, and multiple certificates at the graduate and undergraduate levels including an excellence in banking program that provides students a direct career path into this important sector. Our Ph.D. program offers concentrations in accounting, finance, management, information systems, and marketing. In addition, Rawls Business also offers dual degrees in conjunction with architecture, agriculture, foreign language, law, medicine, pharmacy, and environmental toxicology. A combined MD/MBA “is a unique opportunity providing the experience and preparation for a future in healthcare administration or private practice.”

MBA Programs:

Busy West Texas professionals seeking an MBA program with “affordable tuition, friendly professors, and a broad curriculum” may find a home at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech. Rawls’ MBA program offers evening courses to part-time and full-time students. In addition, Executive-style MBA programs offer the option of a convenient block scheduling system that students like (“We meet twice a year for six days straight, eight hours a day”) or a one-weekend-a-month calendar. Rawls has custom designed a number of combined degrees and Executive-style MBA programs to fit the needs of professionals of all stripes.

The Rawls MBA is praised by students for “the flexibility it offers to working professionals” and for a “benefit/cost ratio much greater than similar programs” in the area. They are especially effusive about the administration, which “takes care of everything for the students. They register us for classes, feed us, and provide us with all of the materials and resources needed for our classes.” As one student puts it, “The administration is a joy to work with. If you have any questions about courses, registration, etc. As a group, they have been very helpful in making sure that my workload is effective in the curriculum and works with my schedule.”

Rawls has custom designed a number of combined degrees and Executive-style MBA programs to fit the needs of professionals of all stripes. A combined MD/MBA “is a unique opportunity providing the experience and preparation for a future in healthcare administration or private practice.” Dual business degrees are also available in architecture, foreign languages, law, personal financial planning, pharmacy, and environmental toxicology.

Instructors in these programs “are beyond knowledgeable in their fields and are also easy to access for questions about course work or the job market in their particular field.

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Health Organization Management (HOM) Program:

The Health Organization Management (HOM) program is part of the Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business.The program teaches students about the business side of health care. It awards a degree in Master of Business Administration in Health Organization Management, or MBA(HOM). The MD/MBA in Health Organization Management (HOM) allows medical students the opportunity to obtain both an MD and MBA degree over four years and is ranked in 2009 by Business Week as 19th among such programs.

School of Accounting:

In 2013, the Area of Accounting became an independent professional school within Rawls Business. In 2013, the Area of Accounting became the School of Accounting, the first separately accredited accounting school in the state. In 2023, Terry and Susan Lyons, loyal supporters of Texas Tech University, made a significant gift to the School of Accounting in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business.

Campus and Facilities

Rawls Business is located on the Lubbock campus of Texas Tech University, which is situated in the rural, South Plains region of West Texas. The campus of Rawls Business sits on the northwest gateway of the Texas Tech campus, near the 9th Street bridge over the Marsha Sharp Freeway and across from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center campus and University Medical Center.

The Texas Tech campus “has excellent facilities overall.” The Rawls Building, which was completed in December 2011, achieved LEED Gold certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use. The classrooms are state of the art with billboard size projection and sophisticated wi-fi.The rest of the “beautiful” Tech campus is “filled with art from around the world,” and “its Spanish-style architecture is unique and beautiful.” Campus amenities include “a gym [that] has outstanding equipment and a library [that] has an extensive availability of resources, including media resources and things through interlibrary loan (the staff is very helpful with this).” It’s a welcoming atmosphere on campus, according to one student: “I have always felt comfortable on Tech campus, especially walking around at night.” It’s a busy place; “there are always sporting events to attend on the weekends and the Center for Campus Life and Student Government Association [is] always hosting free events for students. The graduate association also makes sure students are involved with monthly socials, philanthropy events (especially during the holidays), and cam- pus-wide events, like tailgating before football games.

Prior to the current building, Rawls Business occupied the now College of Media & Communication, and the former English-Philosophy building. The new 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) building includes classrooms, breakout rooms, student lounges, study areas, food service, and a career management center.

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Rawls Business Building

The new Rawls Business building opened in 2012. The building was constructed on the site of the former Thompson/Gaston Hall. The building is constructed in Spanish Renaissance theme and creates a north campus gateway.

Construction on the previous Rawls Business building broke ground in 1966 and opened in 1968. It has 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2), 176 offices, and 36 classrooms spread across 13 floors, including a basement.

LEED Gold Certification:

The Rawls College was built in 2011 and achieved LEED Gold certification for energy use, lighting, water and material usage, as well as for incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. The building saves 20 percent of energy and 23 percent of energy costs as well as 47 percent of water usage for a like-sized building not built to LEED standards. Parking lots and roofs are green as well. Special parking spaces exist for low-emission car owners and carpoolers.

Art Installations:

The Rawls Business Building grounds feature three sculptures, including two from the percent for art program used to fund public art on campuses of Texas Tech University System member universities. The installation art located in the eastern courtyard, We are in the Business of Changing the World by Joe Barrington and Tara Conley, was commissioned to coincide with the opening of the building; the sculpture features a bronze bear and stainless steel bull on either side of an illuminated archway of two sets of stainless steel pipes with identical bases that tendril either upwards or downwards at their ends relating to their adjacent market trend-inspired statues.

Strategic Goals and Vision

As we seek to become an internationally recognized institution of thought leadership in business, we have embarked upon an aggressive plan: the Rawls LEADER 2020 Strategic Plan. Our goal for 2020 is ambitious - to be among the top 50 business schools in the United States.

As a comprehensive, research-based business school, the Rawls College of Business:

Advances knowledge through impactful research.
Educates and develops resilient graduates who will shape the workplace of the future.
Provides curricula and experiences that are in demand, engaging, accessible, and that provide students with a strong return on investment.
Serves and engages with our communities, from local to global, and provides value to practitioners.

Faculty and Research

Our faculty produce high quality research, develop strong relationships with students, and engage extensively with community partners. Students are taught by award-winning faculty who are leaders in their respective fields of expertise.

Student Body and Support Services

Our diverse student body includes approximately 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students who have the opportunity to pursue futures in accounting, finance, health organization management, energy, information systems and quantitative systems sciences, management, and marketing.

To ensure our students' success, the Rawls College has established a number of dedicated support services, most notably a Career Management Center that boasts job placement rates well above the national average.

Alumni Network and Career Opportunities

We have more than 51,000 alumni worldwide and a job placement rate greater than 90 percent. Our students intern and work with business innovators such as Amazon, BDO, CBRE, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Dell Technologies, Deloitte, Enterprise Holdings, EY, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, Goosehead Insurance, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, L3Harris, PlainsCapital Bank, Phillips66, Pioneer Natural Resources, PWC, and Texas Instruments.

Many of the students in the MBA for Working Professionals Program attend at the expense of their employers and intend to remain with those employers after graduation. Companies likely to employ Texas Tech MBAs include Accenture, Amegy Bank, Bank of America, BNSF Railway, C.H.

Notable People

Deans:

Carl H. Stem
Allen T. McInnes (September 2001)
Margaret L. Williams

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