Nowadays, students appreciate learning the challenges encountered by supply chain professionals working through the pandemic. The COVID-19 has altered supply chain organization, and also is having a lasting impact on supply chain education.
Growing Awarness of Supply Chains
Universities are finding increased interest in supply chain programs.
Because of the pandemic, programs are seeing an increase in interest from both students and parents. The value of strong supply chains has also become apparent to students in a variety of disciplines.
Since 2017, Kingshuk Sinha, chairman and professor of the department of operations and supply chain at the University of Minnesota, has developed a course on supply chain management in the health and medical device sector.
It attracts students from a variety of disciplines within the university, including business, medicine, public health, and science and engineering.
In 2020, the course focused entirely on the pandemic. The students examined the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, tests, personnel and capacity of the intensive care unit, among other topics.
Curriculum Reset
Supply chain students spend more time identifying, assessing, and responding to risk
Now, students and companies are more accepting of the benefits of proactive risk mitigation.
Supply chain resilience has also become an increasingly integral part of research and teaching. In education, this would be covered based on the level of redundancy and flexibility that can be built into the supply chain through choices made by policy and / or decision makers.
The pandemic also underscored how uncertain the world is and how future supply chain professionals must hone their ability to solve problems even amidst uncertainty.
Digitalization Focus
Technology and digitization in supply chains and supply chain education continues to increase.
This presence has led to a greater focus on advanced analytical techniques at the graduate level, expect to see more of these types of courses at the undergraduate level.Successful programs will continue to emphasize the relationship between business and technology, he adds.
Michigan State University added a supply chain analysis course as a requirement for all supply chain specialties. While many graduate programs already offered applied project work, it is becoming more common at the undergraduate level.
Omnichannel Education
Also, supply chain classes have largely moved to the Internet.
As teachers get used to working online and students to studying; As video technology advances, the quality of presentations continues to improve.
Teachers find that classes that focus on quantitative problems, such as developing a spreadsheet with a demand forecast, work well online. Online courses can also better accommodate students with work or other responsibilities.
In the same way, many students yearn for a traditional college experience. The different forms of teaching will allow universities to adapt the media to the subject and also adapt to the different needs of the students.
Inclusion
Thanks to the pandemic, teachers take more dedication, attention and time to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Many are integrating discussions of these topics with other content, recognizing that these are not stand-alone topics, but rather critical to operations.
It also covers the benefits of acquiring products from minority or women-owned businesses, as well as avoiding conflict minerals. In the case of companies, they are partnering with universities to support DEI initiatives.
Currently, GW offers Supply Chain Scholarships at three universities: Rutgers in New Jersey, the University of Illinois, and Loyola University in Chicago. With the aim of providing opportunities to those who do not have so many opportunities.
Source: InboundLogistics