From the day the College of the Rockies (COTR), or East Kootenay Community College as it was then known, opened its doors, offering its own degrees was a dream. On June 16, 2010, the “dream” became a reality.

College CEO and President Dr. Nick Rubidge was beaming from ear from ear to ear last Wednesday as he announced to an enthusiastic crowd that COTR will being this fall to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Sustainable Business Practices.

The “BBA Degree” will be a four-year undergraduate degree combining arts and science courses with a diploma in accounting, marketing or aboriginal financial management. It will be followed by upper level business specialization courses at COTR and its accredited partner institutions.

The BBA degree will be uniquely a COTR degree and is not being offered anywhere else at this time. Of that, the entire community can be proud, Rubidge says. “This has taken some real innovative work by our faculty and the designers of the program. It was a challenge I threw them and they did a great job.”

Sustainability in all fields is becoming bigger every year including the mainstream business environment, Rubidge says. In light of this, it only makes sense for the college to make sustainability the focus of a business degree.

“I see the skills of our graduates being used in a whole variety of businesses, not just a niche in environmental business, but in all businesses. All business practices need to start by building a business model that includes sustainability and environmental issues.”

Rubidge says other degrees are likely to come in the future, but it’s too early to say now. “We want to be able to walk before we run.” That’s why the program has been designed to work with a small number of students initially and then grow as the need develops, he says.

Students will take most of their BBA degree courses from COTR instructors, but they will also be able to take on-line courses from other institutions like Thompson River University and Athabasca College to complete their degree, Rubidge says

“All the other business programs require you to have a group of 50 students or 30 students to make it economically viable. We’ve found a way to do this by making use of technology and making use of partner institutions.”