Thanks to a new partnership with Rize Education, Wittenberg is now enrolling for new majors and minors in the newly renamed department of business and economics, as well as other new concentrations aimed at providing students with expertise in high-growth skill areas starting in the Fall 2022 semester.
The two new tracks that will be part of the Rize partnership, built in collaboration with the Lower Cost Models Consortium (LCMC), are within Wittenberg’s management major and include supply chain management and project management. These new tracks would make use of courses available through the LCMC on the Rize platform, along with revised courses in the business curriculum. The regular management major will continue to be an option for students.
“We are pleased to be able to provide students with additional options within our business major that are designed to help them learn the skills employers seek,” said Interim Provost Brian Yontz, Ph.D. and professor of education, who was recently quoted in an Inside Higher Education article about Rize. "Created in partnership with industry experts, these new programs will also help prepare our students for exciting careers in these fields.”
Rize, a higher education company, utilizes a course-sharing model that helps private colleges and universities expand educational opportunities for students while streamlining and lowering institutional costs. The Rize consortium helps schools create new shared majors, using top-quality curricula developed and taught by leading experts from industry and academia. With the help of Rize, Wittenberg can adopt high-demand programs.
The LCMC is a strategic partnership of private colleges and universities across the country collaborating with Rize Education to provide access to a cutting-edge curriculum that prepares students for successful careers. By combining the existing bachelor of arts degree in business with proven, career-oriented courses in project management and supply chain management, Wittenberg can better prepare students to thrive in the fastest-growing fields.
Wittenberg’s current management major is a broad-based, general management approach; however newer statistics point to companies wanting a well-rounded graduate with a diverse education. Global and technological advances solidify the need for systems thinking and new approaches to organizational management. Having concentrations in these in-demand areas would help Wittenberg students to compete better on the job market. These concentrations are also designed to provide students with a more in-depth skillset while also maintaining ample room in their schedules for foundational courses imperative for their long-term success.
The fundamental goal of the management major with a concentration is to help students learn the skills necessary to secure entry-level positions in SCM or PM, while also providing the educational background necessary for them to grow in their careers in the years to come. In tandem with existing business core curricula, students electing a SCM or PM concentration, will learn the skills necessary to work in these specific entry-level roles in today’s economy. Wittenberg will continue to offer the economics major to expand business offerings.
According to the Project Management Institute, an average of 2.2 million new project-oriented roles will be available each year through 2027. Rize concurs, noting that project management is one of the most requested skills by employers across several industries, and that in the next five years, employers will need 87.7 million workers in project management roles. Wittenberg students enrolling in the project management major will be fully prepared with the skills and insight to meet that need as they lead a work team to achieve goals and meet success criteria – something 97 percent of organizations agree is critical to the success of the company. Students who complete the project management program will also be eligible to sit for the Certified Associate in Project Management exam – a credential that will distinguish them in the job market.
The global supply chain industry, a foremost challenge of the past three years, has never been more important or in more need of qualified graduates. Wittenberg’s new program was built in collaboration with industry juggernauts Ryder and Harry’s Razor, and provides students with a unique, behind-the-scenes look at real-world problems faced by these companies. With six job openings for every qualified graduate, careers in supply chain are in high demand, and growth is only expected to continue.
Additionally, in order to keep up with workforce demands, Wittenberg will be looking at other academic programs, including those surrounding public administration, neuroscience, and public health in partnership with Rize.
According to Rize statistics, the healthcare sector accounts for nearly 20 percent of GDP and needs management knowledge just as desperately as it needs care providers. The median annual salary for medical and health service managers at $104,280. Wittenberg’s project-based program will use real-world problems as the core for a job-focused curriculum, built in collaboration with industry experts. Furthermore, with the increasing age of the Baby Boomer generation, the number of jobs in this field is expected to increase by 32 percent over the next 10 years, positioning graduates of the program for a lucrative future.
The field of public health ranges from infectious disease response to the utilitarian world of seat belt laws. From fresh air and fresh drinking water to the fight to decrease infant mortality rates, the opportunities are expansive. Wittenberg’s new program will be built in collaboration with experts from The World Health Organization around the real-world problems facing our planet, taught using state-of-the-art and project-based coursework. Public health spending has soared, and with it, job growth. Graduates will be poised to make an impact in their world and a great salary doing it.
Wittenberg University offers more than 80 majors, minors, and special programs, an exciting new Connections Curriculum, and has a total student enrollment of around 1,300 students. To schedule a visit, click here.
About the Lower Cost Models Consortium (LCMC):
The LCMC is a national consortium of over 130 fully accredited, non-profit colleges and universities formed in 2015. Members of the LCMC are committed to working together to address the challenges of increasing costs in higher education by implementing innovative programs and reducing institutional costs for these programs to pass along savings to students. In this way, the LCMC hopes to develop new models of higher education that benefit students while simultaneously contributing to the sustainability of accredited, nonprofit, 4-year institutions.
