Accelerating our Impact

on Arkansas, the United States, and the World
Explore Our Strategic Plan
9,854

Student Enrollment

#1

Supply Chain Program
by Gartner

25th

Best Public Undergraduate
Business Program
U.S. News and World Report

1,700+

Annual Graduates

About Walton College

The Walton College is one of the world's best business schools. The numbers and rankings bear this out. Students are increasingly choosing the Walton College to get a world-class business education and to launch their careers. In fall 2022, almost 2,500 freshmen chose the Walton College, bringing the College's total enrollment to over 7,500 students. By fall 2024, enrollment had grown to 9,854 students.

Ranking organizations are increasingly recognizing the Walton College. U.S. News & World Report recognized the College as the 25th best public undergraduate business program and 36th among public and private institutions. Based on an analysis of federal student loan data, The Wall Street Journal found that the Walton College MBA program is one of the best values in the country, ranking it 11th in return on investment.

The Walton College's supply chain management program is consistently recognized as one of the best in the world. In 2020, 2022, and 2024, Gartner ranked the Walton College undergraduate program as #1 in North America, and in 2022 and 2024, ranked its graduate program as #2 in North America.

The global reputation of the Walton College faculty continues to grow as well. World-renowned experts are choosing to make the Walton College their academic home, and several academic departments have recently been recognized for their research productivity.

The information systems department is ranked sixth in the world in research productivity.

The management and strategy, entrepreneurship and venture innovation departments, when considered jointly, were ranked 16th overall in the Texas A&M University/University of Georgia Management Department Research Productivity rankings.

The accounting department was ranked 38th overall in the BYU 2020 accounting research rankings.

The supply chain management department was most recently ranked fifth in research productivity by the Supply Chain Management Journal List.

Our Vision

The vision of the Sam M. Walton College of Business is through our teaching, research, and service, we will be a thought leader and a catalyst for transforming lives in Arkansas, the United States, and the World.  Clearly, we are steadily progressing toward this vision. 

Each year, the College graduates approximately 1,700 students who enter the workforce or start their own business. Our alumni are leading some of the world's largest companies, including:

  • Shelley Simpson
    - President & CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport Services
  • Doug McMillon
    - President & CEO of Walmart Inc.

Walton College faculty are highly cited by researchers throughout the world. Ten of our faculty members have been cited at least 10,000 times, and Walton faculty account for 13 of the top 25 most cited scholars at the University of Arkansas.

Each year, the College graduates approximately 2,000 students who enter the workforce or start their own business. Our students are equipped with knowledge and skills in their chosen field. They know how to communicate and think critically. Our alumni are leading some of the world’s largest companies. To name a few, alumna Shelley Simpson is president and CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (one of the world’s leading transportation companies) and alumnus Doug McMillon is President and CEO of Walmart Inc. (the world’s largest company by revenue).

As the College moves forward toward its 100th year in 2026, our objective is to accelerate the impact we are making on our local, national, and global communities. Students throughout the United States are increasingly choosing the Walton College to prepare for and launch their professional journey. Faculty are increasingly seeing the Walton College as a platform to be a thought leader in business.

We are positioned in Northwest Arkansas, one of the most dynamic regions in the United States, and due to focused brand-building and marketing efforts, the Walton College is climbing in reputation and rankings.

The time for accelerating our impact is now. The pieces are in place. Our future is one of even greater impact than we only recently imagined.

To accelerate our impact on Arkansas, the United States, and the World, we launch a stakeholder-focused, capability-driven strategy. This strategy is informed by our stakeholders. Its formulation has included our faculty and staff, students, alumni, and our business partners. The impact of a business school primarily occurs through and by its stakeholders. We will focus on further building the capabilities needed to serve, equip, and leverage our stakeholders.

Our Strategic Goals

 

Elevate the Student Experience

The Walton College student experience should be transformative, easy to navigate, and full of opportunity.

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Empower Faculty and Staff

To best serve our students and all stakeholders, faculty and staff must be at their best.

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Grow Partnerships

Growing partnerships with business and alumni to build a committed community.

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Increase Impact on Society

Business can be one of the world's greatest forces for good.

Learn More

Detailed Strategic Plan

 

Goal 1: Elevate the Student Experience

The Walton College student experience should be transformative, easy to navigate, and full of opportunity for those with the mindset, skills, knowledge, relationships, and experiences needed to thrive in a future that is uncertain and ambiguous.

Action 1.1.1
Metric 1.1.1.1: # of students who graduate with at least one internship
Action 1.1.2
Metric 1.1.2.1: # of courses that engage with industry and community partners through collaborative projects
Metric 1.1.2.2: # of students that engage with industry and community partners through collaborative projects
Action 1.1.3
Metric 1.1.3.1: # of Walton College students engaged in innovation and entrepreneurship programs
Metric 1.1.3.2: # of non-Walton College students in innovation and entrepreneurship programs
Action 1.2.1
Metric 1.2.1.1: $ secured through internal sources
Metric 1.2.1.2: $ secured through external sources
Action 1.3.1
Metric 1.3.1.1: Combine academic advising and programs, undergraduate recruitment and enrollment management, student engagement, career connections, Arkansas engagement, and the business communications lab into a unified student success unit
Action 1.3.2
Metric 1.3.2.1: Redefine and expand the Career Champions role and align to specific departments
Metric 1.3.2.2: Add career recruiter
Metric 1.3.2.3: Increase knowledge rate of career outcomes
Action 1.3.3
Metric 1.3.3.1: # of overrides reduced
Metric 1.3.3.2: # of unnecessary appointments reduced
 

Goal 2: Enhance Faculty and Staff

To best serve our students and all stakeholders, faculty and staff must be at their best. They need the skills, knowledge, opportunities, and passion to carry out our teaching, research, and outreach missions.

Action 2.1.1
Metric 2.1.1.1: Identify funding source and build into the annual budgeting process
Action 2.1.2
Metric 2.1.2.1: Endowed $ raised
Metric 2.1.2.2: % of spendable $ utilized per year
Action 2.1.3
Metric 2.1.3.1: External research $ received
Metric 2.1.3.2: Criteria for evaluating faculty performance related to external funding
Action 2.2.1
Metric 2.2.1.1: Build AFPR and Peer Review Committee (PRC) documents that report instructor evaluations, course evaluations, and GPAs
Action 2.2.2
Metric 2.2.2.1: Build AFPR documents that report # of students who complete projects that represent at least 20% of course grade
Metric 2.2.2.2: Build AFPR documents that report class sizes taught, levels taught, and grade distributions
Action 2.2.3
Metric 2.2.3.1: # of new faculty workshops offered (e.g., ACUE)
Metric 2.2.3.2: # of new faculty who participate in onboarding workshops as presenters and learners
Action 2.2.4
Metric 2.2.4.1: # of teaching workshops offered (e.g., CTE, TFSC)
Metric 2.2.4.2: # of faculty by type (e.g., lecturers, tenure-track) participating as presenters and learners in teaching workshops
Metric 2.2.4.3: # of workshops introducing emerging, innovative topics (e.g., AI with grading, Kahoot with engagement, Packback for forums)
Action 2.2.5
Metric 2.2.5.1: # of departments that engage with industry and community partners through collaborative projects
Metric 2.2.5.2: # of faculty that engage with industry and community partners through collaborative projects
Metric 2.2.5.3: # of faculty that engage with industry and community partners through externships
Action 2.2.6
Metric 2.2.6.1: % of departments/programs that have passing scores of 80% or higher
Action 2.3.1
Metric 2.3.1.1: # of social/networking opportunities offered by the Walton College for faculty and staff
Action 2.3.2
Metric 2.3.2.1: % of non-tenure track faculty who promoted in rank
Action 2.3.3
Metric 2.3.3.1: Overall departmental workload percentages aligned with a 40/40/20 faculty profile.
Action 2.3.4
Metric 2.3.4.1: % of staff mapped appropriately
 

Goal 3: Grow Partnerships with Business and Alumni

Being a business thought leader and a catalyst for transforming lives requires more than just a committed, passionate faculty and staff. It requires a community of alumni, benefactors, corporate partners, small businesses, entrepreneurs, faculty, and staff who are committed to the mission of advancing and disseminating business knowledge through world-class teaching and research. Through the interconnectivity of these stakeholders, opportunities will increase, and outsized impacts can be achieved.

Action 3.1.1
Metric 3.1.1.1: # of members
Action 3.1.2
Metric 3.1.2.1: # of events hosted
Metric 3.1.2.2: # of attendees
Action 3.2.1
Metric 3.2.1.1: # of participants in the executive in residence program
Action 3.2.2
Metric 3.2.2.1: # of business leaders and alumni engaged through Dean’s social media, video series
Action 3.2.3
Metric 3.2.3.1: # of companies engaged in Walton student programs
Metric 3.2.3.2: # of individuals engaged in Walton student programs
Metric 3.2.3.3: $ contributed to support student programs
Action 3.3.1
Metric 3.3.1.1: 500 quality visits/interactions - per year
Metric 3.3.1.2: 75 major gift proposals - per year
Metric 3.3.1.3: 500 new major and annual donors
 

Goal 4: Increase Impact on Society

Business can be one of the world’s greatest forces for good. Business can lift people out of poverty, increase society’s standard of living, include previously unincluded people, and unleash creativity to solve our biggest societal challenges. Through our students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Walton College positively impacts society through business, particularly Arkansas.

Action 4.1.1
Metric 4.1.1.1: # of people engaged in-person and digitally in the five selected communities per year
Action 4.1.2
Metric 4.1.2.1: Land of Opportunity scholarship program $ raised
Action 4.1.3
Metric 4.1.3.1: # of articulation agreements in place with community colleges in Arkansas
Metric 4.1.3.2: # of students matriculating in online degree programs
Action 4.2.1
Metric 4.2.1.1: # of students enrolled in professional graduate programs
Action 4.2.2
Metric 4.2.2.1: # of Executive Education instances
Metric 4.2.2.2: Executive education revenue
Action 4.3.1
Metric 4.3.1.1: # of articles published
Metric 4.3.1.2: # of reads
Action 4.3.2
Metric 4.3.2.1: # of grant proposals submitted by Walton College faculty and staff
Metric 4.3.2.2: $ awarded to Walton College faculty and staff

By focusing on (1) elevating our student experience, (2) enhancing our faculty and staff, (3) growing our partnerships with business and alumni, and (4) increasing our impact on society, we will accelerate the Walton College impact where our vision demands – Arkansas, the United States, and the World.