NEW MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAM TO BE UNVEILED THIS FALL: ELMHURST TO OFFER M.S. IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
ELMHURST, Ill., December 18, 2000 - Elmhurst College will introduce a new master's degree program in supply chain management (SCM) beginning in the fall of 2001. This course of study, the sixth graduate-level program at Elmhurst, was created to address the needs of the new economy. It will build upon the superior location of Elmhurst College and the strong reputation of the College's undergraduate program in logistics.
At present, there are only a handful of colleges and universities in the nation offering a master's degree in SCM. "There's a real scarcity of qualified SCM people," said Dr. Gary Wilson, director of the Logistics and Transportation Management Program at Elmhurst. He added that despite the fast growth of SCM and the rising demand for qualified managers in this field, "half of the people now hired in SCM don't even have an undergraduate degree in the field."
Executive Search International agrees: "Companies are looking for supply chain managers," said Gayle Gorfinkle, a partner in that firm. "They ask, 'How can we do better?' and the answer is supply chain management. But qualified people - those with master's degrees in logistics or supply chain management - are scarce."
While there are numerous definitions of SCM, Dr. Wilson offers a simple and straightforward one. He calls it an integrated approach to procuring, producing and delivering goods and services. "It's the whole picture," he said, "from the suppliers' suppliers to the customers' customers."
This Elmhurst master's degree is designed for working, adult professionals -- generally those with five years of experience. Classes are expected to meet one evening per week, and the master's degree would be completed in 21 months.
"I am a firm believer in both the importance of supply chain management AND the need to have an advanced degree program for SCM," said John Caltagirone, vice president with the Revere Group in Deerfield, Ill. Caltagirone, a leading speaker on e-business, logistics and SCM, added that "the Elmhurst College program is filling an important need, for both the business and academic communities."
Elmhurst College's master's degree program in SCM will be a broad-based, career-advancement degree, rather than technical training for any particular job within a company. The curriculum includes a combination of information technology and practical SCM applications. Like all Elmhurst coursework, it is designed to strike a balance between current theory and practical business application.
Courses in SCM will be taught in a "cohort" or team-based fashion. All SCM students will take their classes together, from initial enrollment to graduation, thus affording the opportunity to learn about team development in a supportive group environment.
Elmhurst's faculty is superbly qualified to lead such a program. Dr. Wilson has authored more than 30 journals or books on logistics and SCM over the last eight years, in addition to delivering over 80 speeches nationally on these topics.
In addition, Elmhurst College is also a pacesetter in SCM as it has offered coursework in SCM's "predecessor" disciplines (transportation management and logistics) for decades, and it is located near the nation's transportation hub, Chicago.
One more important element of SCM is the Internet economy. "E-business is going to make SCM even more important - it is the infrastructure of any business," said Dr. Wilson. Although receiving orders quickly and globally is easy in the Internet age, the staggering challenge of filling and delivering those orders is a task for SCM.
SCM has been used for several years (primarily by the automobile and grocery industries) as the evolved successor to "just in time" distribution. However, e-commerce will soon bring SCM into the plans of more and more industries.
Caltagirone knows this from his days as senior vice president and chief logistics and operations officer with online grocer Peapod Inc. "One of the fastest growing fields in the new economy is supply chain management," he said. "We are now faced with the challenge of developing qualified leaders, and I am very pleased to see Elmhurst College step to the forefront to meet that demand."
An earnest Dr. Wilson feels that today's business environment is in flux, and that SCM is one strategy to competitively position a corporation. "We're not just looking at one company's ability to deliver a product any more, we're looking at ALL the parties involved," he said. "SCM addresses the entire process: materials, cash flow, information systems and more."
For information, contact Elmhurst's office of graduate admissions at (630) 617-3030, or (800) 581-GRAD. Also, please try www.elmhurst.edu/Prospect/GS/GSIndx.Elmhurst College offers five other distinctive master's degree programs: computer network systems; professional writing; industrial and organizational psychology; professional accountancy; and early childhood special education. Founded in 1871, Elmhurst College is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
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