School of Business Offers New Major in Supply Chain Management

Today, manufacturing facilities may be half the world away from the assembly plants. Getting these linked together can make or break a company, and more and more individuals managing supply chains for businesses need a highly technical education.

The School of Business and Economics (SBE) at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh will roll out a new major in Supply Chain Management (SCM) in fall 2007.

Dr. Colin Read, dean of SBE, said students in SBE's Supply Chain Management program would learn the complexity of dealing with markets that operate on a global scale.

"Manufacturing is not as big a deal now," said Read. "There is a more global implication (and) we're tending to leave a lot more (of the manufacturing) to developing countries like China, India and Malaysia."

Read said Boeing, for instance, may use workers in 50 different countries to produce parts that make up their planes. These parts are then shipped to an assembly plant where the final product is put together.

"Getting all these links connected is the whole idea behind supply chain management. When Boeing needs parts from one country, they arrive when they're needed, and the company doesn't have to store them," Read said. It also means order taking, outsourcing and keeping it all connected in a world that is increasingly becoming more connected.

The new Supply Chain Management program will be piloted by two new associate professors who bring a wealth of experience to the School of Business and Economics.

Dr. Kwangseek Choe earned his doctorate in management from Kent State University in Ohio. He held positions at Keene State College in New Hampshire and the University of Alaska Fairbanks before joining the team at SUNY Plattsburgh.

In addition to teaching courses, Choe is also the internship director for the program and hopes to create a network of firms in the region that will utilize SUNY Plattsburgh interns.

Choe said his primary duty at the School of Business and Economics for the program is to teach supply-chain management courses. "We will encourage and eventually require SCM majors to do internships in the field of supply chain. As internship director, I plan to develop a network of supply-chain-related firms in this region so that our majors can be taken as interns by those companies."

Dr. Brian Neureuther is originally from Plattsburgh and returned to his hometown to teach courses in Supply Chain Management and help administer the program as well. He earned his doctorate from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Neureuther said he has been teaching in the supply-chain area for almost eight years now. "I came to (SUNY) Plattsburgh to be a part of the new supply-chain major and to help it become an area of distinction for the School of Business and Economics."

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SUNY Plattsburgh's Admissions Office can now promote the new program, which received final approval from the New York State Education Department last month, with prospective students considering applying for fall 2007. Students currently attending SUNY Plattsburgh will also be able to apply to change their majors if the new program interests them.

Read said students in the new program will also benefit from the College's distinctive location.

"We think Plattsburgh is unique, with the lake, rail, its proximity to the border and the eastern seaboard. With that, we can offer something distinctive and put our resources behind it."

While students will gain from the program, Read also said that the new program will strengthen a very good business school and make it a distinct business school. "Only 10 percent of those business schools with AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation have Supply Chain Management programs."

For more information about the Supply Chain Management major or other programs in the School of Business and Economics at SUNY Plattsburgh, contact Dean Read, phone: 518-564-3185 or by email. [email protected]
     
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